Designated Praise

"And he appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, to commemorate, to thank, and to praise the Lord God of Israel" {1 Chronicles 6:4}

King David is a truly remarkable figure of the Old Testament. It is noted in Scripture that he was a man after God's own heart. He wasn't perfect, but God took note of his heart.

God used David to establish Israel as a kingdom that would give praise to His name. In 1 Chronicles we find that one of the first things that David did was to bring the ark of the covenant into the city. This was something that was never done under the rule of Saul. But we must remember that in Saul that God gave the people what they wanted. They wanted a king like all of the other nations. In David, we have God's man.

After bringing the ark of covenant back into Jerusalem, David set up a tabernacle to house it and designated the Levites to minister before it. The most notable aspect of all this is that part of their job description was to do more than just offer sacrifices according to the law of Moses. David actually set apart certain men to play the musical instruments. Horns and stringed instruments were continually playing before the presence of God. Songs were being sung by men that were set apart for this service - those who were skilled in singing. And we cannot forget those whose ministry was to give praise to God for all the good things He had done.

The praise ministry of Israel was established under David. The king said: Some of you will offer the sacrifices. Some of you will play and sing songs. Others of you will commemorate our God, thank Him for all that He has done, and literally give praise from your mouth.

Once David got everyone into position, he gave a psalm of thanksgiving to Asaph so that it could be used in rendering thanks unto God. We find it here in 1 Chronicles 16:8-36:
"Oh, give thanks to the Lord! Call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples! Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him; Talk of all His wondrous works! Glory in His holy name; Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord!...For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised...Give to the Lord the glory due His name; bring an offering, and come before Him. Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!...Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; and let them say among the nations, 'The Lord reigns.'...Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever...Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting!"

Let's put this into perspective. If God truly dwelt in a church building then when you drove by you could hear songs being played, songs being sung, praise being given, and you would see smoke rising from a chimney where sacrifices were being offered. However, God doesn't work that way anymore. We are His temple. God has chosen to dwell within each of us through His Holy Spirit. We do not need others designated to give praise for us. We are told to offer unto God the sacrifice of praise continually - the fruit of our lips - giving thanks unto His name (Hebrews 13:15).

Here's what we need to take away from this teaching:
God enjoys the praises of His people
God is worthy of the praises of His people
It is our choice whether God will receive praise

Chris Rice came out with a song several years ago called "The Cartoon Song". The whole song was filled with the sounds of praise that would come out of certain cartoon characters: Fred Flinstone, Scooby-Doo, the Jetsons. The song is a lot of fun but has an awesome message. Chris goes on to say that the point of the song is that cartoons were not created to praise God. We were created to praise God. So let's sing "Hallelujah!!!"

Designate some time today to REMEMBER all that God has done for us - THANK Him for His mercy that endures forever - and give PRAISE to His name.