1 Chronicles 16:3

And He dealt to every one of Israel, both man and woman.

Individuality

I. The great event itself does not absorb all. We can easily understand how the bringing of the ark to Jerusalem would have absorbed all minor considerations, but it does not. Israel is not generalised into simply the male heads of the families; the bread and flesh are distributed to “both man and woman.” God was being glorified, and simultaneously the people blessed. Diffusion is what God delights in; He connects the blessing of many with His own glory.

II. There was a special provision here for personal enjoyment. The placing of the ark in its tent of rest was not to be a mere historical fact, involving no personal enjoyments. It is not in bare abstractions that God delights, but in their bearing upon individuals. Perhaps one reason why the future glory of Christ is so unsubstantial to many, and operates so little on their feelings, and raises so few thoughts of joyousness in them, is the fact that they see so little of its bearing upon themselves. The beams of this glory are to light up every individual; every believer has actually a personal interest in them. Each man has his own independent existence with its longings and aspirations, and no generality will satisfy them. He must have for his own very self. This is not selfishness; it is a law grounded on the very constitution of our nature. No future lies before God’s people in which God Himself absorbs everything. He will pervade all, which is a very different thing.

III. We are struck with the distinct individuality of each. We cannot be too particular in preserving our individuality. It is the foundation of our responsibility, of His closest dealings with us, of all our capacity for happiness or sorrow in the time to come. Every man is to give account of himself to God; every man is to receive according to his works.

IV. The consciousness of individual life is the foundation of individual effort. Let us be encouraged, then, to have individual expectations. Let us link ourselves individually with the great events of God. Both man and woman triumphed in the bringing up of the ark; and both had the portion of bread and flesh and wine. (P. B. Power, M. A.)