1 Chronicles
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1 Chronicles 29: 11-12
Yours, O Lord, are the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heavens and on the earth is yours; yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might; and it is in your hand to make great and to give strength to all.
Read 1 Chronicles 29: 11-12 “Take-Aways” »
Read The New Interpreters Bible Commentary »
Take-Aways
Every week, congregations across the globe join together to sing the familiar words of the Doxology, “Praise God from whom all blessings flow.” The Chronicler appropriately reminds us that God is the author of “all that is in the heavens and on the earth” and, therefore, it is right, and good and proper for us to give God praise. Creation is a blessing God has bestowed upon us. We must not take this blessing for granted, think it is owed to us, or in any way claim credit for it. Rather the blessing should be cause for us to continually direct our thoughts to God in praise and gratitude.
The New Interpreters Bible Commentary
‘And now’ typically marks a transition to the main point, here to thanksgiving directed to the God who acts not only on a universal plane but also as “our God,” dispensing wealth to Israel. King and people could claim no credit for their own generous giving. They were channels of resources first given by God, “What comes from your hand” (v. 14). Everything depended on God’s prevenient grace. The people of Israel, like the patriarchs, lived as aliens in the promised land (cf. 16:19-20). The land–and all the resources in it–”is mine,” declared the Lord; “with me you are but aliens and tenants” (Lev 25:23) or “aliens and transients,” as the NSRV renders the same Hebrew nouns. Whereas in 16:19-20, the term “alien” had a political sense and in Lev 25:23 a socioeconomic connotation, ‘here’ involves a spiritual meaning. Although David and Israel were firmly in possession of the land, nothing belonged to them by right. They were stewards of God’s property, spiritual counterparts of the royal stewards in 27:25-31 (p468).
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