TRANSCRIPT


Give Thanks To The Lord, For He Is Good! (1 Chronicles 16:7-36)
A Sermon by Elise Beatrice - Thursday 5 June 2025


Holy Father, thank You so much for this song of Praise from Your servant David. Lord, I know that on that day You were feeling so much joy, hearing them gathering there for You, especially since they were doing this to also make peace with You, Lord, and to repent of their sins, because they had not previously handled well the Ark of the Covenant as they were supposed to. So, coming together like this before You with this praise, that is when Your Holy Spirit is in him, glorifying You and praising You, at the same time, interceding on our behalf. 
Lord, it is always so refreshing to have faithful people, devoted to You, in the assembly, especially those who are coming because they have understood they have sinned against You. So, my Lord, please help us to read this in a way that will make You feel like You felt that day. Look at us as You looked at them that day, Father God Almighty. 
We are all standing here as some people, and those who will hear this will hear as other people who have all sinned against You in the past, Lord, even if now they no longer practise sin. Everyone has sinned against You at one point in their lives. They will understand this passage and see this moment as a moment they can learn from, Father, and come to You and do the same thing King David did, gathering his people, so that they could come and give You this praise, because they had realised they had not handled the Ark Of The Covenant as You had commanded them to. 
So, we ask You for Your forgiveness, Lord, for You to forgive us for every time in our lives we have done things wrong. I’m sorry for all the times I have done things not in the way I should have done. And I’m praying here for You to forgive us and those who are praying to say the same sorry to You because they have done many things in their lives they were not supposed to. So, Lord, we thank You for Your Love, and Your marvellous Kindness, Your grace and deliverance from the darkness and the enemies who continuously seek to cause us to do things carelessly when we should instead do them well always. 
Father God, please give us victory over these oppressors. Please forgive us all in the Name of Your Son Jesus. Amen. 

And now, it is not The Ark of the Covenant, it’s anything that we do, whether with the words of the Lord, we compromise them, whether with the teachings of Christ, and we compromise them, whether with any Commandment of the Lord, and we do our own way, or whether to love our neighbour and we do our own way, or to bring harmony in our home, but then we bring quarrell instead. So, there are always many things we must apologise for, for every day, people are sinning against the Lord, some even without realising that it is sin. So, as we read this, let’s bring our minds, our hearts and souls to the Lord as these people who are sorry and they come to give this praise to the Lord. Because they realise also their dependence on God, that without God, they are nothing, without His forgiveness, they are nothing, without His love and peace and joy, they are nothing, without His protection, they are all lost, and without    
His salvation, we all perish. So, let’s praise our God as if we were there that day with King David, repenting for the same sin, including all the sins in our lives, we may do daily without realising. 

1 Chronicles 16:7-36,
“7 On that day David gave to Asaph and His fellow Levites this song of thanksgiving to the Lord:
8 Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim His greatness.
Let the whole world know what He has done.
9 Sing to Him; yes, sing His praises.
Tell everyone about His wonderful deeds.
10 Exult in His holy name; rejoice, you who worship the Lord.
11 Search for the Lord and for His strength; continually seek Him.
12 Remember the wonders He has performed,
His miracles, and the rulings He has given, 13 you children of His servant Israel, you descendants of Jacob, His chosen ones.
14 He is the Lord our God.
His justice is seen throughout the land.
15 Remember His covenant forever—
the commitment He made to a thousand generations.
16 This is the covenant He made with Abraham
and the oath He swore to Isaac.
17 He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree,
and to the people of Israel as a never-ending covenant:
18 “I will give you the land of Canaan as your special possession.”
19 He said this when you were few in number,
a tiny group of strangers in Canaan.
20 They wandered from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to another.
21 Yet He did not let anyone oppress them.
He warned kings on their behalf:
22 “Do not touch my chosen people,
and do not hurt my prophets.”
23 Let the whole earth sing to the Lord!
Each day proclaim the good news that He saves.
24 Publish His glorious deeds among the nations.
Tell everyone about the amazing things He does.
25 Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise!
He is to be feared above all gods.
26 The gods of other nations are mere idols,
but the Lord made the heavens!
27 Honor and majesty surround Him;
strength and joy fill His dwelling.
28 O nations of the world, recognize the Lord,
recognize that the Lord is glorious and strong.
29 Give to the Lord the glory He deserves!
Bring your offering and come into His presence.
Worship the Lord in all His holy splendor.
30  Let all the earth tremble before Him.
The world stands firm and cannot be shaken.
31 Let the heavens be glad, and the earth rejoice!
Tell all the nations, “The Lord reigns!”
32 Let the sea and everything in it shout His praise!
Let the fields and their crops burst out with joy!
33 Let the trees of the forest rustle with praise,
for the Lord is coming to judge the earth.
34 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
His faithful love endures forever.
35 Cry out, “Save us, O God of our salvation!
Gather and rescue us from among the nations,
so we can thank Your holy name
and rejoice and praise You.”
36 Praise the Lord, the God of Israel,
who lives from everlasting to everlasting!
And all the people shouted “Amen!” And praised the Lord.” 

Lord, You Say, 
“If my People who are called by My Name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear their prayer from Heaven, and I will forgive their sins, and I will heal their land, and now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers made in this place.”
And You have always been doing that, Lord, for You are a God who is faithful, You are a God who always keeps His promises, You are a God whose words do not return void, and for that we praise You and love You forever. And we thank You for loving us forever. And we thank You that people will let You forgive them and take their sins away, and bless them with that beautiful eternal Life, because Your Son Jesus died on the Cross for us, so that You could do that, Father, so that You would do that for us, and forgive us whenever we come to You, truly repenting and turning from our ways. Lord, we love You and we bless You. Thank You so much for this, my Lord. Thank You, Father. Please hear my prayer in the Name of Your Son, Jesus, Amen.