When they brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, there was a lot of singing and music. Did they have a Praise Band – an actual marching Praise Band – with guitars and percussion? Actually, it really is pretty close to that, with lots of singers, along with harps and lyres, cymbals, and trumpets (I Chronicles 15:16, 19, 21, 24, 28): all of these musicians gathered together “to raise loud sounds of joy” (15:16).

The words they sang are recorded here (16:8-36) and in three separate psalms (Psalm 105:1-15; 96:1-13; 106: 1, 47-48). The instruments played, and the singers lifted up their voices to exhort everyone in the world: “Sing to the Lord, all the earth. Tell of his salvation from day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!” (I Chronicles 16:23-24). We are used to thinking that “the covenant” is for the covenant people, but this shows that the glory of the Lord is actually for all the peoples – all the nations of the earth.

It’s important for us to see this point: from a thousand years before the time of Christ, the faithfulness of God’s people includes both worship and evangelism. Those who know the Lord lift up their voices in exuberant praise, and they tell the story of God’s gracious love to those who have never heard about it.

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We come to you, O Lord, singing the glory of your steadfast love! We offer our hearts in devoted worship to you. We proclaim to all the nations the power of your grace to transform us all, throughout this needy world.