Daily Devotional | A Decree to Remember

Whether with a card, email, or text, remembering the birthday of a loved one often leads us to write words of gratitude and praise to that person. But have you ever thought about doing the same thing for the Lord?

After the ark of God had been recovered from the Philistines, King David prepared for worship by appointing specific musicians among the Levites (1 Chron. 15:16–24). When the ark was finally placed inside the tent, David made offerings and called the music ministers to a threefold command for worship. They were to extol, thank, and praise God (16:4).

It is important to remind ourselves that when we enter a time for worship, the desire of our hearts ought to be of gratitude and praise toward the One we are to love above all else (Deut. 6:5). He is the One who is love (1 John 4:16). But this desire of our hearts to love God is not possible without a conscious choice in our minds. Like the musicians in 1 Chronicles 16, we are to extol, remember, and be mindful. In the Bible, the sin of God’s people often begins with a forgetfulness, which leads to forsaking God and His commands.

Are we any different? In the busyness and distractions of life, it is easy not to remember God and not to be mindful of His Word. We cannot thank or praise God unless we extol Him, not just in a worship service but amid our day-to-day, hour-to hour activities. On the day when David decreed that praise (same Hebrew word for thanksgiving) be sung to the Lord (v. 7), God gave us the lyrics to a song of thanksgiving and praise, one that reminds us to “seek his face always” (v. 11) and to “remember the wonders he has done” (v. 12).

Go Deeper

Does God and His Word dwell daily in your thoughts? Write a “song” of gratitude and praise to Him today, using both your mind and your heart.

Pray with Us: Father, thank You for the legacy of the great classical composers—Bach, Handel, Mendelssohn, and many others—who wrote their music for You. They help us, in the busyness of our lives, to be mindful of You and Your Word.

BY Brian Lee

Dr. Brian Lee is a professor of Music at Moody Bible Institute. He serves in music ministry at Maranatha Bible Church in Chicago and is an active classical pianist as a soloist and chamber musician. He earned a doctorate from The Juilliard School and has been invited as a guest artist, adjudicator, masterclass teacher at many institutions, competitions, and festivals. He and his wife, Helen, are the parents of three sons.