Summons to Worship
Psalm 96:1-13
Do you realize that tomorrow, May 24th, will mark eleven consecutive Sundays our Church has not assembled for corporate worship? In our church office the never used worship bulletins from March 15th are stacked on the office shelf and remind me of how long we have waited for this virus-exile to end. How greatly I have missed our corporate worship! Psalm 122:1 says, “I was glad when they said unto me, let us go to the house of the Lord.” Our hope is that very soon we will all be glad to return to the Lord’s house to worship.
Corporate worship is a delight as well as a duty. In worship we find fulfillment of the things that are deepest in us, especially when our souls are exalted in Christ as we ascribe to Him the glory due His name.
1 Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. 2 Sing to the Lord, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. 3 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. 4 For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. 5 For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. 6 Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary.
Three times we are commanded to sing. Sing a new (or fresh) song to Yahweh because His mercy is new every morning. Christians are singing people. Here in these verses is the vision of congregational singing and the reasons why we sing.
The target audience is really the Lord God and our congregation sings to please Him. Everyone is to get in on the singing. Martin Luther wrote, “Next to Jesus, music is God’s greatest gift.” For 1600 years the Church understood worship music as singing Psalms exclusively and a capella. I respect this view and love singing psalms, but I want to sing hymns and songs about Jesus Christ as revealed in the New Testament.
Worship in both the Old and New Testaments includes much singing. Music should be directed to our hearts and minds, especially hymns and songs that express gospel truth, gospel joy and heart felt emotions. “Sing of His salvation day after day,” we are commanded. Singing is helpful for discipleship and shapes our thinking as we bring gospel truth to our fears and painful times. You see, our hearts move toward the things we sing about. We all miss singing together.
Psalm 96 is the great commission of the Old Testament. Verse 3 says, “Declare His glory among the nations; His marvelous deeds among all peoples.” We are to tell the nations of the King’s glory and His marvelous deeds and summon them to worship. Is there a more marvelous deed than the good news of Jesus Christ?
The glory of the Lord is spelled out in verses 4-8. The word glory is hard to define. It is the majestic aura of His presence or the “splendor of His holiness.” The Hebrew word means something that is heavy or weighty beyond measure. His glory is who and what He is in Himself. His wonder as Creator can be seen in what He has done. His glory is such that he is to be worshipped above all the gods of earth (v 4) because they are nothing compared to the real God.
Then, if He is your creator, you owe Him everything. This truth alone is a fire that should burn in us and bring us to worship. “Worthy of praise” means you see His worth and then you give Him what He is worth (yourself, your praise, your desires, your life). When the worth of the lord Jesus Christ catches fire in us we give Him glory and get the focus off ourselves.
7 Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 8 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come into his courts. 9 Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth. 10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.” The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity. 11 Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it. 12 Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy. 13 Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness.
Three times the nations are called to ascribe (or give) glory, strength, offerings and come into Yahweh’s courts. Notice it is the Gentiles, whose gods have been dismissed in verse 4-5, who are invited to worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness and tremble before Him (v 9).
In our worship we are to warn the nations that the King is coming in judgment. It is the Lord who reigns (v 10) and all history is His-story. The theme of joy to the world began this psalm and now ends it as all creation is called to sing for joy because the King is coming. “Let the heavens and the sea, the fields, and the trees of the forest all sing!”
The perfect King is coming who will decisively deal with evil and establish His righteousness in the earth.
A prayer for the Church:
Most loving Father, we humbly ask that you would look down from heaven. In great mercy upon your whole Church, and every member of it. Be favorable to Zion, and build up the walls of Jerusalem. Look with an eye of pity on the great ruins and desolation of your Church. Heal up the wounds in all the nations, regard it as your own flock, be gentle as to your own family, care for it as your own vineyard, love it as your own spouse. Bless it with your grace, guide it with your spirit, and defend it always with your mighty power. Scatter, confound, and overthrow any forces that fight against the Church, and have mercy on the church in this land. Bless it with true faith. Deal with us, and with those who come after us, in your grace and favor, for the sake of your great name, and for the sake of our only Mediator Jesus Christ, to whom be all praise and glory, with you and the holy Spirit, now and forever, amen.
Arthur Dent