GIVING GLORY AND STRENGTH TO GOD
1 Chron. 16:7-36
Prayer
David wanted to build a Temple for God.
But God would not let David build a Temple because he was a man of war.
So David set up a tent.
He appointed the Levites to serve at that tent.
They placed the Ark of the Covenant there;
Gave offerings there;
Gave glory and strength to God there.
That's what I want to talk about today: Giving glory and strength to God.
And I want to deal with two questions:
ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ 1)---Why should we give glory and strength to God? And
ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ 2)---How do we give glory and strength to God?
1st---Why should we give glory and strength to God?
I find 7 reasons in our text.
1st ---We should give glory and strength to God because He is faithful.
David said, ìBe ye mindful of His covenantî (Verse 15).
And he went on to explain that he was talking about the Covenant that God ÝÝ
made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.It was a Covenant to turn Israel into a nation;
A Covenant to bless the whole world through Israel.
On the occasion of our text, Israel WAS a nation.
Israel WAS prosperous and strong.
David was saying, ìWe should give glory and strength to God because He ÝÝÝ
keeps His covenants.î
We can depend on Him.
Let's notice something here.
Many years had passed between the time that God made the Covenant with Ý
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the time that David said this.
Many years passed before Israel became a nation;
Before Israel prospered;
Before Israel became strong.
Israel's history was an up and down situation with many good things and ÝÝÝÝÝ
many bad things.
But God brought Israel through.
God did what He promised to do.
This is the point.
God has made promises to us.
But sometimes it seems like those promises are never going to come true.
Don't think that way.
God is faithful.
He will fulfill every promise He has made to us.
A criminal was standing before a king who was overseeing his execution.
The criminal was afraid and shaking.
The king said, ìGive this man a glass of water.î
But the criminal was shaking so hard he couldn't drink it.
The king said, ìCalm down.î
ìI won't order your death before you drink all of that water.î
The wise criminal thought for a minute.
Then, he threw down that glass of water spilling it everywhere.
The king said, ìI have to keep my promise.î
ìI canít have you executed because you can never drink all of that water.î
That's the way God is.
He keeps every promise.
It may not be at the time of our choosing.
But His Word is His deed.
2nd---We should give glory and strength to God because He is holy.
David said, ìWorship the Lord in the beauty of holinessî (vs. 29).
We have difficulty understanding the holiness of God because we are sinners ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ
living in a world of sin.
But God is holy.
Everything around God is holy.
It is pure;
Undefiled;
Unlike anything we know.
He is separate from all sin.
He cannot lie to us.
He cannot deceive us.
Everything He says is true.
3rd---We should give glory and strength to God because He is good.
David said, ìO give thanks unto the Lord; for He is goodî (vs. 34).
In the one hundredth Psalm, he said, ìEnter into His gates with thanksgiving,
and into His courts with praise:î
ìBe thankful unto him, and bless his name.î
ìFor the Lord is good.î
This gets down to the basic character of God.
He doesn't have to be good to us.
But He is.
A prince was looking for a young lady to be his future queen when he spotted ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ
a pretty peasant girl.
He thought, ìI can order her to marry me and she will have to obey me.î
ìBut I donít want to force her to marry me.î
He thought, ìI can tell her I'm the prince and she will me because of my ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ
position and money.î
ìBut I don't want her to marry me because of my position and money.î
So he moved into her village and pretended to be poor.
He got a job, worked hard and asked her for a date.
He was good to her and she learned to love him.
That's the way Jesus is.
Heís the Prince who left heaven.
He became poor.
He lived and worked among us to seek us for His bride.
He is good to us and we should love Him.
4th---We should give glory and strength to God because He is merciful.
David said, ìHis mercy endureth foreverî (vs. 34).
One Psalm says, ìOur God is mercifulî (Psa. 116:5).
Another says, ìThe earth, O Lord, is full of your mercyî (Psa. 119:64).
Paul declared that God ìis rich in mercyî (Eph. 2:4).
His mercy involves many things.
For one thing, God's mercy involves His patience.
He's not quick tempered.
Heís slow to anger.
Are you involved in sin?
You can be thankful that God is merciful;
Thankful that He gives you time to repent;
Thankful that He gives you many chances to repent.
For another thing, God's mercy affects how He chastises people.
When He decides to chastise us, He treats us better than we deserve.
He restrains Himself.
For another thing, God's mercy produces forgiveness.
Heís always willing to forgive us.
We can bow and ask for forgiveness right now.
Dr. Woodrow Kroll was preaching one time.
And a woman from India waited around to talk to him.
She told him that she had switched from Hinduism to Christianity.
Dr. Kroll asked why she would switch from a religion with very high morals Ý
to Christianity.
She said she switched because she wanted forgiveness for her sins.
She had heard the gospel.
And she understood that it is possible to have very high morals.
And still need forgiveness.
You may be a good person.
But you still need forgiveness.
You may be the best person on earth.
But you still need forgiveness.
Thatís what Jesus does.
ìThough your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;î
ìThough they be red like crimson, they shall be as woolî (Isa. 1:18).
5th---We should give glory and strength to God because He reigns.
David said, ìLet the heavens be glad and let the earth rejoice:î
ìAnd let men say among the nations, the Lord reignethî (Vs. 31).
Thereís no power greater than God.
He possesses all authority;
Rules over all things;
Controls times and events;
Nations and people.
He's all-powerful.
We may wonder why we are sick or why our loved ones are sick, if God is ÝÝ
all-powerful.
But more than needing to know ìwhyî we need to know that God is in ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ
control;
That God reigns;
That nothing is greater than God.
6th---We should give glory and strength to God because He is coming to judge ÝÝÝÝÝÝ
the world.
David said, ìBehold He cometh to judge the earthî (vs. 33).
This is an awesome thought.
Multitudes live like there is no God;
Like they think they are not accountable for their sins;
Like they think Jesus will never come back.
We truly live in a day when scoffers ask, ìWhere is the promise of His ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ
coming.î
But there is a God.
We are responsible for the way we live.
We are accountable for our sins.
Jesus is coming back.
He will judge the earth.
And if we are really on our toes we will be prepared.
It's a mistake to risk an unfavorable decision.
Heaven and hell are not gray areas in the Bible.
7th---We should give glory and strength to God because He saved us.
David called God, ìThe God of our salvationî (vs. 35).
The Psalmist said, ìshow forth His salvation from day to dayî (Psa. 96:2).
What would you pay for some of your loved ones to be raised from the dead?
What would you pay for some of your loved ones to receive a new body?
To receive eternal life?
To stay out of hell?
Salvation is a wonderful thing.
And one reason why we are here right now is to thank God for what H e has
done for us.
Notice, that David called God, ìThe God of OUR salvation.î
Satan can call God, ìThe God of Salvation.î
But he canít call God, ìThe God of OUR salvation.
He can call Jesus the Saviour.
But he canít call Jesus ìmy Saviour.î
Can you call Jesus ìmy Saviour?î
If you can, you should give Him glory and strength.
The 2nd question was, ìHow do we give glory and strength God?î
I will quickly list 5 ways.
1st---We give glory and strength to God by seeking God.
Vs. 11 says, ìSeek the Lord and His strength, seek His face continually.î
David is urging us to pray.
Prayer is a way of recognizing the existence of God.
We praise Him by relying on His knowledge; His power;
His faithfulness;
By giving Him an opportunity to show us what He can do.
When we say ìthank you Godî we are saying, ìwe believe in you.î
2nd---We give glory and strength to God when we testify of Him.
Vs. 8 says, ìMake known His deeds among the people.î
God has demonstrated His power and love to us.
We can read all of the prophecies about Jesus;
That Jesus was to be born in Bethlehem and He was;
That Jesus was to be born of a virgin and He was;
That He was to go into Egypt and He did;
That He was to heal the sick and He did;
That He was to die on a cross and He did;
That He was to rise from the dead and He did.
We have ample proof of the power and love of God.
That's what the prophecies of Jesus are all about.
It's the same when we study about what's going on in Israel today.
The Jews are suppose to return from many nations.
And they have.
The Gentiles are suppose to help them return.
And we have.
God's deeds are before our very eyes.
The Bible says make them known among the people.
I saw a cartoon that caught my attention
People were standing in line to watch a movie called ìThe Lost World.î
The caption under the cartoon read, ìIf Christians spent more time witnessing ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ
to the lost world, and less time being entertained by the lost world, perhaps the
lost world wouldn't be so lost.î
What do we say?
Make known His deeds.
God sent His Son.
Jesus died for our sins.
Jesus rose from the dead.
Israel has returned.
God will judge the world.
God saved people in this church.
God is helping people through this church.
3rd---We give glory and strength to God when we sing to Him.
Vs. 9 says, ìSing unto Him, sing psalms unto Him, talk ye of all His wondrous
works.î
Vs. 23 says, ìSing unto the Lord, all the earth;î
ìShew forth from day to day His salvation.î
Paul told us to, ìsing and make melody in our hearts to the Lordî (Eph. 5:18, 19).
I canít sing.
Many times, I don't even try to sing because my voice gives out after preaching
Ýtwo or three times a day.
But when Iím alone I sometimes try to sing to God.
He's worthy of our singing.
We have much to sing about.
Vs. 33 says, ìThe trees of the woods will sing out at the presence of the Lord.î
What does this mean?
God doesn't have to have us to sing to Him.
He can cause the trees to sing, if He wants to.
But He wants us to sing to Him.
Itís a privilege to sing to Him.
Itís worship when we sing to Him.
4th---We give glory and strength to God when we fear Him.
Vs. 25 says, ìHe is also to be feared above all gods.î
This word ìfearedî is our word ìrespect.î
God wants our respect.
If you want to enjoy life, respect God.
If you want a productive life, respect God.
If you want to be able to cope with the problems of life, respect God.
We are nothing, if we don't respect God.
Our future is hopeless, if we don't respect God.
We will regret the day we were born, if we don't respect God.
How do we respect Him?
ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ 1. We believe His Word.
ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ 2. We give up our sins.
ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ 3. We accept Christ.
ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ 4. We allow Him to change us.
ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ 5. And we make His will our will.
Finally, we give glory and strength to God by giving to His work.
Vs. 29 says, ìBring an offering and come before Him.î
John Wesley said:
Gain all you can.
Save all you can.
And give all you can.
My thoughts go back almost two thousand years.
Jesus was sitting at the Temple watching how the people gave.
I wonder, ìDid He watch how we gave today?î
ìWhat did He think about what He saw?î
ìDid our giving give glory and strength to God?î
ìWhy should we care?î
We should care because giving is an opportunity to be involved in God's ÝÝÝÝÝ
work.
Itís also an opportunity to enhance our relationship with God and with those
who are hurting in our, community.
We canít give and purchase salvation or any of the benefits of God.
But if we give generously and cheerfully, it wonít go unnoticed by God.
I close with the words of verse 13, ìNow therefore our God, we thank you, Ý
and praise your glorious name.î