Can you please help me understand 1 Chronicles 16:22?
1 Chronicles 16:8-36 is a psalm of David. Verse 7 tells us, “Then on that day David delivered first this psalm to thank the LORD into the hand of Asaph and his brethren.” It was written on the occasion of David bringing the ark into the tabernacle (Verses 1-6). This is a wonderful psalm of thanksgiving and praise to the Lord. We read in verses 8-10, “Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk ye of all his wondrous works. Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD.”
This psalm is naturally divided into two parts. In verses 8-22, he is addressing the nation of Israel. In verses 23-34, he is addressing all other nations. In verses 35-36, he again addresses Israel, exhorting them to cry unto the Lord for His care. I encourage you to read this entire chapter to get a sense of how special this time was and how that praise to the Lord was rendered because of His mercy and goodness.
To answer your good question, let’s read 1 Chronicles 16:18-22, “Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance; When ye were but few, even a few, and strangers in it. And when they went from nation to nation, and from one kingdom to another people; He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes, Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.” This speaks of how the Lord delivered the Jews out of Egypt, gave them the land of Canaan to possess, and protected them while they wandered in the wilderness. It gives warning to those who would harm the Lord’s people. Who are the anointed ones spoken of here? I believe it was the entire nation of Israel. While we might think this is speaking of the anointed priests, let’s consider that in view of Exodus 19:5-6, “Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.” The words of the Lord to Noah show that the Lord’s desire was that ALL the Israelites would be priests. The kingdom of Israel would be a kingdom of priests. They would all be anointed. Sadly, the Israelites failed the Lord, and so He appointed the tribe of Levi to be the priests among His people.
In our present day, the priesthood of all believers is not conditional. Let’s consider 1 Peter 2:5, “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, AN HOLY PRIESTHOOD, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” Let’s also read 1 Peter 2:9, “But ye are a chosen generation, A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.” This belongs to each believer in the body of Christ. We are HOLY priests so that we might make spiritual sacrifices of worship to the Lord. We are ROYAL priests so that we might witness to others of our Lord who deserves to be praised. May we learn to appreciate and function as holy and royal priests of the Lord. (267.8)