1 Chronicles 16:31 (WEB)

Passage

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice! Let them say among the nations, “Yahweh reigns!”

Nearby Context

1 Chronicles 16:29 Ascribe to Yahweh the glory due to his name. Bring an offering, and come before him. Worship Yahweh in holy array.

1 Chronicles 16:30 Tremble before him, all the earth. The world also is established that it can’t be moved.

1 Chronicles 16:31 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice! Let them say among the nations, “Yahweh reigns!”

1 Chronicles 16:32 Let the sea roar, and its fullness! Let the field exult, and all that is in it!

1 Chronicles 16:33 Then the trees of the forest will sing for joy before Yahweh, for he comes to judge the earth.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "heavens", "glad", "earth", "rejoice", "nations", "yahweh", and "reigns". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "heavens" and "glad", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 30's "Tremble before him all the earth The..." into verse 32's "Let the sea roar and its fullness...", so "heavens" and "glad" belong inside that flow. In 1 Chronicles context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "heavens" and "glad" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.