Write it Down

When David became king of Israel, with a big parade and great fanfare, he moved the Ark of the Covenant from obscurity in the house of Abinadab to Jerusalem. After many years, David wanted to return the ark to the center of Israel’s national consciousness. He wanted to emphasize the presence and glory of God in Israel.

At this time, David established new jobs for the Levites, to establish an ongoing tradition of praise and worship.

Following are two versions of 1 Chronicles 16:4:

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. (New King James Version)

And he put some of the Levites before the ark of the Lord as servants, to keep the acts of the Lord in memory, and to give worship and praise to the Lord, the God of Israel. (Bible in Basic English Version)

What a great job - to remember and keep a record of great things God has done!

Charles Spurgeon wrote and preached a fantastic sermon on this verse entitled The Recorders. Following is an excerpt:

"Those who were to conduct the praising and the thanksgiving are mentioned after these recorders.

But what is the raw material of which praise is made but the record of what God is and of what He has done for His people? I think whenever they wanted to sing, they would turn to these remembrancers and recorders and say to them, “Tell us something of what God has done,

for the simple record of Jehovah’s acts is the noblest Psalmody.” Do you notice that whenever we praise God best, we simply declare what He is, for the bare fact about God is the highest praise—you have only to mention what He does in order to produce the most sublime poetry—the grateful mention of His glorious acts is, in itself, adoration! You cannot adore the Lord better than by devoutly rehearsing His mighty acts—so good is His name,so blessed are His deeds. (Spurgeon,http://spurgeongems.org/vols22-24/chs1308.pdf)

That thought has stayed with me - what better way to give heartfelt praise to God, than to look back through a record of all the amazing things He has done in our own lives?

Start writing them down - make your own book, like mine pictured above! Every blessing, every miracle, every time God does something good in your life - write it down. Look back through it, share it with friends and family and leave it as a legacy for your great-grandchildren.

Our memories are short and this book may turn out to be a great source of encouragement during difficult times. It's also possible that, as you look for things to add to your book, you start to recognize more things God has done for you. Remembering the great things God has done may begin to cultivate an expectancy of great things God will do.