”Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.
1 Chronicles 29:13New International Version (NIV)
1 Chronicles 29:13 Devotional
God, we give you thanks
“God, we give you thanks” (1 Chronicles 29:13) is a call to praise and thank God. But why does the ending of David’s prayer (1 Chronicles 29:10-13) exhort us to praise and thank God?
David praised and thanked God
David praised and thanked God for who He was (had been) and what He had done in his life. He, therefore, calls us to praise and thank God because he had experienced God’s power and ownership of and rulership over all creation.
God had consequently enabled David to amass the building materials of His Temple. He had enabled David to gather the building materials that Solomon used to build the Temple. And it is no wonder that pastor Vernon McGee remarked that David’s payer was “One of the greatest prayers in the Scriptures and certainly in the Old Testament.”
Praising God is necessary
Therefore, as David was wrapping up his reign, and preparing to hand over the baton of leadership to Solomon, he felt it necessary to acknowledge God as being powerful. He also acknowledged that God is the Creator of all, thus, the owner of all things. More so, the things that were required to build the Temple, which God had enabled him to put together.
Consequently, Solomon, who had the herculean task of building the Temple, would be well-resourced as he built the Temple. No wonder God merited David’s praise.
God’s power and kingship in your life
When you take time to meditate on your life, you will realize that God was and is working everything out for good (Romans 8:28). You will also realize that nothing separates us from His love, and you are completely in His loving hands and plans.
This is why, David, nearing the end of his life, admitted that everything good that had happened in his life had happened because of God. God had manifested His power and rulership in his life and dealings.
Therefore, David clearly recognized that his kingdom was really God’s kingdom. He also probably remembered his humble beginnings as an unknown, unimportant shepherd boy in Bethlehem. And how God had raised him to be king of His treasured people.
Consequently, who he had become, and what he had achieved, especially for God, he directly attributed to God. And I believe, who you are, and what you have achieved is directly attributable to God.
Prayer/Blessing
Father God, Your Name is mighty. And I know that all knowledge, all power, and all glory is in You alone. Blessed be your Name.
Indebted I am, to your gift of salvation through your Son Jesus. Thank you and praise be to your Holy name.
I, like David in 1 Chronicles 29:13, lift up my hands and voice today with thanksgiving for all You have done for and continue to do in and through me. This is my thanksgiving in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
May you join with David and confess that your God is great and good. And thank Him today for His love and faithfulness. Amen.
Daily Bible Reading
Jeremiah 15-18 (see How to Read the Bible in One Year or How to Read the Bible (for Beginners))
