1 Chronicles 16 Study Notes

16:1 This tent was a special place for the ark where priests could offer sacrifices. The company offered burnt offerings, signifying total commitment to the Lord, and fellowship offerings, indicating the covenant between God and his people.

16:2-3 David’s coronation banquet had been a carry-in dinner, but now when David blessed the people and sent them home, each person received a small packet of food.

16:4-6 The site of the ark was not the main place for worship, which continued to be the tabernacle in Gibeon. As a symbol of the presence of God in their midst, the ark needed to be surrounded by people who praised the Lord. David appointed permanent musicians for this task. This group included Asaph on the cymbals, a string ensemble featuring Obed-edom, and the trumpeting priests Benaiah and Jahaziel.

16:7 Music had probably been a part of Israelite culture and worship for some time, but David made it an integral part of worship before the ark and at the tabernacle. In Jerusalem, he instructed Asaph to lead in thanksgiving songs, and he composed a psalm for the occasion. It had three parts that were later incorporated into the book of Psalms. Verses 8-22 constitute Ps 105:1-15; vv. 23-33 are Ps 96:1-13; and vv. 34-36 are Ps 106:1,47-48. The entire psalm as represented in 1 Chronicles comprises four segments exhorting the people to praise God, interspersed with three segments describing God’s faithfulness, glory, and creatorship.

16:8-13 The first exhortation to praise is a call to remember what God had done and to proclaim his deeds. In the Bible the praise of God often involves recalling and proclaiming what God has done in the past.

16:14-22 The first intermediate segment of David’s psalm is a reminder of God’s covenant with Abraham and how God had kept the covenant by bringing his people into the promised land.

16:23-24 These verses repeat Israel’s obligation to praise God. They add the dimension that this praise should be done among the nations. The people who had not directly experienced God’s guidance would learn about it from the Israelites.

16:25-27 This second segment describes the difference between God and idols. Because idols are man-made they do not have the power and majesty of the Lord.

16:28-30a To ascribe something to someone is to acknowledge they have that attribute. This exhortation to praise connects praising God with worshiping him with offerings. Just as praise of God is connected with his works, praise from the worshiper is connected with active service.

16:30b-33 In this segment of the psalm, the power of God is recognized by the firmness of the world, the witness of the heavens, the proclamation of the sea, and the shouts of joy of the trees. The created order gives testimony to the Creator’s glory.

16:34-36 The fourth and final exhortation to praise combines another reminder of God’s glory with the need to rely on the Lord for salvation.

16:37-42 The Chronicler once more focuses on the service at the ark in Jerusalem and the service at the tabernacle in Gibeon. The ambiguity caused by having two sacred sites shows that a temple that unified worship was badly needed. Zadok, with the assistance of the musicians Heman and Jeduthun (Ethan), continued the sacrifices that were commanded by the law at the tabernacle. Just as David had instituted a more consistent regimen surrounding the ark, he ordered similar provisions for the tabernacle.