Psalm 96

1 Oh sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth!

2 Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.

Psalm 96 and 98 are a pair of psalms that summon us to worship with song. Three times the command to sing is issued. The theme of our singing is YHWH himself. A three-fold repetition is a Hebrew way of expressing totality. First, we are to sing a new song. The only way you have new songs to sing is when writers write them. It requires creativity. Thus the first way in which we are to sing is with creativity, that quality of God that is woven into all that He made. Creatures from humans to viruses have learned to adapt to their environment creatively. It is part of our nature. And so we are to take that creativity and express worship to God in new and fresh ways, “new songs” being a specific example. Second, the psalmist invites “all the earth” to sing as well. Given the context, this is likely referring to the natural realm. Only humans can sing a “new song”. Creation just sings that same song it has been singing from the beginning -- everything pointing to its Creator. Honestly, creation doesn’t need to be compelled to worship. It happens naturally, so perhaps the author is just reminding us humans that the new song that we sing is really just a version of the ancient song that all of creation is singing. Third, we are told to “bless his name.” The “we” here could be both humanity and nature joining together in sort of a “humans take the first verse, nature take the second, all joining on the last.” The end result of our singing is that the name of the LORD is blessed, honored, and praised. The last line of verse 2 compels us to do the one thing that nature cannot do, “tell of his salvation from day to day.” In order to tell of God’s salvation, one has to use words, and only people have that capacity. 

3 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!

4 For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods.

The command in verse 3 to “declare his glory” follows the command in verse 2 to “tell of his salvation”. And the third thing we are to voice are his marvelous works. His saving acts, the beauty and weightiness of his being and the fantastic things he has done -- these are to be the theme of our songs. The audience for these songs is to be “all the peoples”, every ethnic group on planet earth needs to hear these truths about YHWH. For he is great and greatly to be praised. He is to be feared above all elohim. There are many things that the psalmist sings of in these pages. There’s quite a bit of lament, lots of wisdom and teaching, but the bulk of the poetic material in the psalter is this very thing. It is central to the psalms and thus to our lives. No matter what lamentable situation we are going through, no matter what we are learning, the attention through it all belongs to God. He is at work, saving us. He is at work, showing off his beauty and weightiness (glory). He is at work doing fantastic things that are beyond explanation. These miracles are only happening because he is the living God. The gods of this world, the mighty ones of which the psalmist speaks, pale in comparison to the surpassing greatness of YHWH. For this reason, our primary posture toward God is to be reverent fear. Yes He has saved us and loved us and given us many tender images of his tenderness in scripture (husband, shepherd, father, mother bird), but ultimately He is God, and he is to be feared. I think this may be one of our mistakes in modern worship. We are always walking this tension between intimacy with God and reverence for God. They are both present in scripture, but tend to gravitate toward one over the other. This psalm reminds us to approach God with reverent fear as the One who has ultimate authority over our lives as well as the entire cosmos, visible and invisible. 

5 For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the LORD made the heavens.

6 Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

The psalmist declares YHWH’s superiority over all gods by virtue of the fact that He made the heavens. The gods of men inhabit the heavens and the earth and were thought to influence the forces of nature, but YHWH is the maker of heaven and earth (a frequent title of YHWH, particularly in the Songs of Ascents). The builder is greater than the house (as the writer of Hebrews would say). And as Rich Mullins said, “every house must have its builder. I awoke in the house of God.” God’s sanctuary is the earth and while he had a dwelling on earth in the psalmist’s day (the tabernacle and later the temple), he dwells everywhere in his sanctuary, his holy place that he has made. The earth itself shows forth God’s splendor, majesty, strength, and beauty. These are the four throne attendants, these characteristics surround him as mighty men might surround a king on his throne. The contrast between YHWH and the gods of men is also accented linguistically. The Hebrew word for “idols” literally means “worthless, insufficient”. The gods of the people are idols, and idols are by definition insufficient, empty vessels, unworthy of the honor and value that we give them. There is also significant word play happening here. Verse 5 is literally, “the elohay (gods) of the people are elilim (idols)”. The two words are very similar, just as YHWH and other gods might appear on the surface. In fact, that’s surely the way they were seen by most in the ancient world. YHWH was just another regional deity in the pantheon of near eastern gods. But the author of the psalm knew the truth. The other gods in that pantheon were all worthless, empty suits. The goal of his worship was to remind his community of this truth while declaring reality to the peoples of the world who were listening. Idols today may resemble the true God in externalities (they are worshiped by lots of people, they make promises, they exert power over us), but in reality, they are nothing. So don’t value them as if they were anything. They are utterly insufficient. 

7 Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, 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!

In language reminiscent of Psalm 29’s dramatic opening, the psalmist summons the peoples of the world to express their worship of YHWH by stating his attributes, bringing an offering, and gathering together at his temple. Stated three times for emphasis, the central command here is to “give”. It is not the typical word for give, but the meaning is clear. Give YHWH supremacy by declaring his glory and strength in word and action. The addressee in this case are the families of nations, the clans of the world, the variety of ethnic groups that now number in the tens of thousands. This is another indication of the psalmist’s understanding that YHWH is not merely a regional deity. He is not content to say, “I’ll worship my God and you worship yours.” He is stating that there is only one God worthy of worship. The gods of the idols are insufficient. The peoples are to declare that YHWH is glorious, resplendent with light and power, strong to rule and to save. But words are not enough. Show your devotion by bringing an offering. Let go of something of value to you to demonstrate his supreme worth over that thing. YHWH doesn’t need our offering in the way that the ancient gods were understood to feed from the gifts of the worshipers. He is not insufficient like they are. He is all-sufficient, but in order for us to trust better in his sufficiency, he asks us to give, requiring us to lean on his provision. He requests that we hold things loosely so that he can demonstrate his glory and power in providing for our needs. Finally, we enter into his courts, a clear reference to the courts of the tabernacle. There were courts designated for different worshipers by the time of Christ - a court of men, of women, and of gentiles. We can argue today that this was discriminatory, but it may have been an acknowledgement of responsibility. With greater privilege comes greater responsibility. At any rate, in Christ there is no Jew of Greek, slave or free, male or female -- all have equal access to his courts. And so we gather to ascribe, bring an offering and experience the presence of YHWH. This should be central to our corporate worship. Make sure this is the case in our singing and in our acts of worship. There may be other things that we do, but these seem central.

9 Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness; [in holy attire] tremble before him, all the earth!

10 Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.”

The psalmist echoes Psalm 29:2 in his call to worship YHWH in the beauty of holiness and to tremble before him. The word “tremble” occurs three times in Psalm 29 and it is key in this pair of verses as well. On the one hand, the earth is told to tremble before YHWH, and on the other hand we’re reminded that YHWH has established the inhabited world, and it can’t shake. The primary action at the root of the word “worship” is to bow down, to bend the knee and assume a posture of humility. The alternate translation “in holy attire” may refer to the garments of the priests and worshipers who certainly cleaned up and wore their very best garments for the occasion. If so, this is a reference to the pomp and pageantry of temple worship, a sight that was only experienced on special occasions, holy days and festivals. However, I believe in context that this is speaking of the beauty of the LORD’s holiness. It is seeing YHWH as utterly other that causes the serious person to tremble before home in fear and awe. The word “tremble” is elsewhere translated “dance, whirl and writhe”, but I think a reverent shaking is more likely than an ecstatic frenzied dance. The command serves as a reminder to approach God with awe and reverence when we gather to worship. Verse 10 tells us to evangelize the nations, to tell them the good news that “YHWH reigns” (Isaiah 52:7). Our Christian worship should declare this central truth: Jesus is Lord. It is the primary confession of the Christian faith and it is a message that is meant for every human being on the planet. God established the world (the word here is different from the “earth” and likely refers to the people of the world, or the “inhabited world”). YHWH is Lord of the nations, the inhabitants of the world will be judged by him with equity. There is no way to know with certainty how God shakes out everything in judgment. We have our own ideas of how things should be equitably shared, but we’re certainly wrong. God alone has all the information to judge the people of the world fairly. It seems to me that he will judge them on the basis of their knowledge and of what they do with that knowledge. They will be held accountable for what they did with what they know about him. I will be held accountable in the same way. To him who has been entrusted with much, much will be required. Corporate worship reminds us of judgment. We will all appear before the judgment seat of Christ to receive what is due us for what is done in the body, whether good or evil (2 Corinthians 5:10). 

11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it;

12 let the field exult, and everything in it Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy

The worship of the congregation is joined by the worship of creation with massive volume. The three domains of creation are called upon to add their voice to the song. Literally, “be glad heavens, rejoice earth, roar sea and the fullness of it.” Looking above the psalmist ponders the declarations of the heavens, day and night drawing attention to their glorious creator. Then looking to the earth around him, the psalmist beholds the beauty and order of the geology and biology of the earth, the land itself and all of the life that it supports. Then to the horizon he looks and beholds the vast and endless sea, teeming with life at every depth, most of it a complete mystery to him. He summons the worship of the sea and she crashes wave upon wave against the shore. Taking a closer look around him, he sees fields and forest, cultivated and wild, domesticated land and untamed wilderness. He calls upon them to join the song as well. The grass, the trees, the birds and the bees, all singing in harmony. One of my favorite songs these days is Hillsong’s “So Will I” which describes this very phenomenon. All of creation worships YHWH by its very existence. It all displays his splendor, from large to small, seen to unseen -- the world is filled with evidence of the divine. Those who deny it have chosen so. If creation acknowledges the greatness of God, then so will I. Take some moments today to ponder the power and beauty of God as expressed in the works of his hands. Another of my favorite hymns: “This is my Father’s world, and to my listening ears, all nature sings and around me rings the music of the spheres.” With child-like wonder, turn off human sounds of work and play and tune into the sounds of creation. The ability to hear is a gift from God. Open my ears to hear the song and tune my heart to sing his praise. 

13 before the LORD, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his faithfulness.

The first phrase really belongs with the previous verse. All of creation worships “before the LORD”, that is, in his presence. God is present everywhere. We often visualize him as “up there” or “out there”, but in reality he is everywhere -- above, beside, behind, and below. And so creation is always in the presence of God. Creation doesn’t have a consciousness like we do, so its worship is by default not by choice. Nor will the world have a choice when the LORD comes to judge the earth and its inhabitants. 2 Peter speaks of the earth melting in a fervent heat, a rebirth of fire. As inanimate things, the physical world is not affected by such a fiery judgment in terms of pain experienced, but human beings are. The New Testament seems clear about a final judgment, the Old Testament less so. It is certainly understood as a certainty, a reality that should impact us every day in every way. The LORD will judge the various peoples of the world in righteousness and faithfulness. It will be the type of judgment that everyone will agree with, in that it is right. No matter what we may think about it right now, when it is done, all will say, “that was just and right.” Justice will also be administered in faithfulness, and the root of this word is “truth.” Pilate famously asked “what is truth?” and the answer is undoubtedly, “that which corresponds to reality.” The facts, the way things actually are, reality -- this is truth. And God’s judgment will be on the basis of reality. Reality seems to be up for grabs in the modern western world. Philosophers first and then poets and artists have worked for decades to undermine the foundations of the world. The foundations may be shaken, but God’s throne is secure. He will judge all things rightly and in accordance with reality. And all will say, “well done, that’s right, amen.” As such, we must make every effort to live in reality today. Accept the world as it is, not as you’d like it to be, and I’m thinking here specifically of the things that cannot be changed. Rather than push against reality and its boundaries, embrace them for a life of flourishing and freedom.