1 Chronicles 16:23
All the earth, telling His salvation
- The gospel’s word בָּשַׂר basar · to bear tidings
Original
Translations
Sing to the LORD, all the earth. Proclaim His salvation day after day.
Sing unto the LORD, all the earth; shew forth from day to day his salvation.
Sing to YHWH, all the earth, Proclaim His salvation from day to day.
온 땅이여 여호와께 노래하며 구원을 날마다 선포할지어다
온 땅이여, 주께 노래하며 그분의 구원을 날마다 전할지어다.
Commentaries
Matthew Henry on 1Chr 16:7-36 as a whole
Let God be glorified in our praises. Let others be edified and taught, that strangers to him may be led to adore him. Let us ourselves triumph and trust in God. Those that give glory to God's name are allowed to glory in it. …
Read the whole commentary →Wesley
Nothing on this verse itself.
Read the whole commentary →
Note
On the day the ark of God came into Jerusalem, David gave Asaph and his fellow Levites a song of thanksgiving. In the middle of it Israel turns to the whole earth and calls it to carry the news of the LORD's salvation, every day.
The first attempt to bring the ark up had ended when Uzzah took hold of it and died (1 Chronicles 13:9–12). The ark stayed with the family of Obed-edom for three months. Then David, the elders and the commanders "went with rejoicing to bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the house of Obed-edom" (1 Chronicles 15:25). Once it was set in the tent and the offerings were made, David appointed Levites to remember, thank and praise the LORD, and "On that day David first committed to Asaph and his associates this song of thanksgiving to the LORD" (1 Chronicles 16:7). The song, verses 8–36, is found again in the Psalter: its first part in Psalm 105, its middle part, where this verse stands, in Psalm 96, and its close at the beginning and end of Psalm 106.
"Proclaim" is , a piel imperative in the masculine plural, baseru. The ones commanded are not a single herald of Israel but "all the earth," named in the line before. The news is "His salvation," yeshuato ( with ‘his’), and it is to be told "day after day," in Hebrew ‘from day to day.’ This is not a bulletin announced once and filed away; it is told again each time the day turns. The next line widens the field at once: "Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples" (1 Chronicles 16:24).
Basar appears only twice in Chronicles. The first time, the Philistines carry Saul's head and armor around their land "to proclaim the news in the temple of their idols and among their people" (1 Chronicles 10:9). This song answers those idols directly: "For all the gods of the nations are idols, but it is the LORD who made the heavens" (1 Chronicles 16:26).
The English versions agree on the sense and differ in tone. The KJV's "shew forth from day to day his salvation" pictures salvation displayed, set out for everyone to see. The BSB and the LSV have "Proclaim His salvation," a public announcement. In Korean the 흠정역 says 전할지어다, ‘pass it on,’ and the 개역한글 선포할지어다, ‘proclaim.’ Each catches one side of basar: a message handed on, and a message cried aloud.
Matthew Henry reads the line as the gospel's own: "Show forth from day to day his salvation, his promised salvation by Christ" Matthew Henry. And he gives the reason it must be daily: "We have reason to celebrate that from day to day; for we daily receive the benefit, and it is a subject that can never be exhausted" Matthew Henry. Wesley notices the word "first" in verse 7: it implies that David afterwards gave the Levites many other psalms, "to be sung by them to the praise of God in his public service" Wesley. In Chronicles the good news is first of all something sung by the gathered people.
The song sends its news out to "all the earth." When the risen Lord sent His disciples out, the field was the same: "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15). Whoever hears that news today is part of "all the earth," and it is news worth hearing again tomorrow.