Word of Encouragement (10/15/2024)
Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength! 29 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him! Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness; 30 tremble before him, all the earth; yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved. (1 Chron. 16:28-30)
David calls on “families of the peoples” to ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. To ascribe is to accredit or attribute something to someone. He is calling on “families of the peoples”—all the people of the world—to ascribe glory and strength to the LORD, the God of Israel. He can feel his heart expanding to the point of exploding as he reflects on God’s glory and strength. Even in his God-saturated bliss, he senses the utter inadequacy of his praise to God; he knows that the LORD deserves so much more. So, he is telling all the people of the world to join him in his praise of God. This joy of praising God is too good to keep it for himself. God’s glory is too great to receive praise from just one person even though he is king and his praise is all sincerity.
David calls on all the peoples of the world to ascribe glory and strength to the LORD. Even though the LORD is the God of Israel, He is also the sovereign Lord of all peoples. For He made the world and all that dwell in it. They were made for God’s glory and delight. “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen” (Rom. 11:36). Even though they refuse to acknowledge God as their Maker, they still owe God worship and praise. One day, they will have to pay the penalty of neglecting this creaturely duty. There is no greater urgency for them than to repent of their sinful rebellion against God and ascribe glory and strength to their Maker. David must have known that this call of his would fall on deaf ears. He is yearning for that eschatological time when all will bow before God and honor Him with their praise and worship.
David calls on all the peoples of the earth to ascribe glory and strength to the LORD. These two are not the only attributes of God, of course. Maybe David highlights these two because they are what pagan worshippers universally recognize as essential divine attributes. They worship their gods and goddesses because they fear them to be powerful and glorious. David by this call points them to the One, who is truly powerful and glorious and is alone worthy of their worship. Whatever we fear, whatever we desire, is but a faint shadow of the ultimate Object of our worship and desire. When we are afraid of something, when we feel an intense desire for something, we should look deeper and beyond those things to God and seek to be right with Him or content with Him first.
Through the redeeming work of Jesus Christ, David's call has reached to us, who were once Gentiles in the flesh. Now, we can come to the one and only true God and render Him the praise that is due Him. We can experience the kind of delight David found in the LORD as we reflect on His glorious attributes. We, too, should call on others to join us as we ascribe to Him glory and strength!