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That day David first committed to Asaph and his associates this psalm of thanks to the Lord:
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Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name;
make known among the nations what He has done.
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Sing to Him, sing praise to Him; tell of all His wonderful acts.
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Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
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Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always.
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Remember the wonders He has done,
His miracles, and the judgments He pronounced,
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O descendants of Israel, His servant,
O sons of Jacob, His chosen ones
. 1 Chronicles 16:7-13 NIV
Sometimes God uses different people from different angles at different times to get through to the same person, and sometimes it’s even with the same exact words! His Word!
“Pastor, I heard in a song that same Bible passage you preached on. Then a friend sent me a note with the very same words.
God
must really be speaking to me!”
A devout member of the church has a lifetime of fervent prayers for a family member they have been blessing, loving on and wooing towards God for years. Then someone else says the same thing to that family member and all of a sudden they start becoming active in the faith and going to church. The devout one marvels at this, even as they praise the Lord.
Marketers have said that when a person receives the same message in different ways at least 7 times, then they are much more moved towards action; or something like that. Thank God we have a God who uses 70x7 for each of us! These Lenten devotions have been following a similar theme and many of them with the same words from different sections of God’s Word. God is using His team to speak to you and me. Today’s text is the chronicler’s wording that David first committed to Asaph’s team. These same words are recorded in several different psalms. So picture this: a sprite, teenaged Solomon excitedly comes up to David. “Dad, do you know what Mr. Asaph said? He said, ‘
give thanks to the Lord’
and ‘
make known among the nations what He has done..
.’ Dad, that Mr. Asaph sure speaks words of gold, doesn’t he?!”
Friend, who can you employ on your “outreach team” to reach the person you’ve been trying to reach? God may be prompting a person you haven’t thought of yet to be a part of the team. Ask for their help. They may be that seventh voice. And keep faithfully doing your own part, especially today. You’re on God’s team and He is always at work!
Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ, thank You for you did everything for us at the cross and the empty tomb. Thank You for commissioning us on the team of making known among the nations what You have done. Do Your work in me and through me again today. Amen.
Rev. Charles T. Reich, Sr. Pastor
Grace Lutheran Church and School, Winter Haven, FL
Vice President, Region III
