“Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.”
My Notes
What Does 1 Chronicles 29:13 Mean?
"Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name." The prayer that began with attribution (verse 12) concludes with thanksgiving: we thank You and praise Your name. The thanks follows the attribution — you can only genuinely thank God for what you've genuinely attributed to Him. The attribution produces the gratitude. The seeing-where-it-came-from produces the thanking.
The word "therefore" (attah) connects the gratitude to the recognition: BECAUSE riches, honor, power, might, and strength all come from You... THEREFORE we thank You. The gratitude is logical, not merely emotional. It flows from the theological acknowledgment that preceded it. The thanking is the reasonable response to the recognizing.
The "glorious name" (shem tifarteka — name of Your beauty/glory) means the name itself is glorious. David doesn't just praise God. He praises God's name — the accessible identity through which God makes Himself known. The name carries the glory. The praise goes to the name because the name carries the person.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What recognition of God as the source needs to produce a 'therefore' of thanksgiving?
- 2.How does logical gratitude (therefore we thank You) differ from emotional gratitude?
- 3.What does praising God's 'name' rather than God's 'essence' teach about how we access Him?
- 4.What would your prayer look like if it moved from attribution to thanksgiving the way David's does?
Devotional
Therefore: thank You. Praise Your glorious name. After listing everything that comes from God — riches, honor, power, might, strength — the only logical conclusion is gratitude. The 'therefore' makes the thanksgiving rational: BECAUSE it all comes from You, THEREFORE we thank You.
The gratitude is logical, not just emotional: David doesn't say 'we feel thankful.' He says 'therefore we thank You.' The thanksgiving flows from the attribution the way a conclusion flows from premises. If everything comes from God (premise), then thanking God is the only rational response (conclusion). The gratitude is as logical as the theology.
The 'glorious name' receives the praise because the name IS how you access God: you can't praise God's essence directly. You praise His name — the identity He's revealed, the character He's made known, the reputation He's established through His acts. The name carries the glory. The glory is praised through the name.
David's prayer ends where all prayer should end: in thanksgiving and praise. The prayer began with recognition (You are the source of everything). It ends with response (we thank You and praise Your name). The complete prayer moves from seeing to thanking. The seeing without the thanking is incomplete theology. The thanking without the seeing is uninformed emotion.
What theology — what recognition of God as the source — needs to produce a 'therefore' of thanksgiving in your life?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
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Cross References
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