PSALM 96
“THE LORD REIGNS”
The Lord God Almighty reigns. He is the sovereign ruler of the entire world. This psalm recognizes and celebrates God as King. It is hard for us to understand the power that a king has since we live in a democracy or, more correctly, a constitutional republic, where the people rule. In a monarchy, the king has ultimate authority and power over his subjects. He, the king, is completely in charge of all the affairs of his kingdom.
The psalmist who is anonymous calls upon the entire earth and all creation to sing praises to the LORD (all caps) Yahweh, the most holy name for God, invoked eleven times in this psalm. The sovereignty of God – His rule and reign and kingship over all things – is something that we as God’s people should celebrate. We sing about it. However, all that being said, God’s sovereignty is NOT something that most people embrace, even many in the church.
Charles Spurgeon made this statement back in the 19th Century about the sovereignty of God: “No doctrine in the whole Word of God has more excited the hatred of mankind, than the truth of the absolute sovereignty of God!” I don’t believe that mankind’s attitude has changed a whole lot since Spurgeon said this. So, why is it that people hate the idea of God’s sovereignty. Why do they push back against it? Well, there are several reasons for this. They see THEMSELVES as God. They believe that THEY are the supreme authority in their lives. That, of course, is the influence of humanism in our world. They push God out of their conscience so that they can live their lives the way they want to. Some simply choose to believe that God does not even exist. How convenient is that! “We will just make Him non-existent. Solved that problem!” Many people have a wrong view of God. They see Him as distant and uncaring, as being unphased by all the pain and suffering that happens here on earth. They do not see God as a good and loving God. Whenever some tragedy strikes, especially a natural disaster (we saw this earlier this year), you will hear their voices saying, “Where was God? Why did He allow this to happen? A good, loving God would not do that.”
So, as we listen this morning to the psalmist eloquently extol the sovereignty and the greatness and the goodness of God here in Psalm 96, I want us to consider all the reasons that he gives for us to celebrate this.
Psalm 96 is actually a song and it closely parallels 1 Chronicles 16:23-33. In that passage David is bringing the Ark into Jerusalem. The people of Israel are praising and worshiping God and they are singing a song. The words of Psalm 96 are part of that song that the people sang.
READ Psalm 96:1
ALL the earth, the entire earth – not just the people of Old Testament Israel – the whole earth is called to praise the Lord. The psalmist specifically mentions singing “a new song.” In the Bible – several times in the Psalms, in the book of Isaiah and in Revelation – the singing of new songs is done in response to deliverance or salvation. We see that in v 2…
READ Psalm 96:2
So, as God’s redeemed people, saved by grace, ransomed by the blood of Jesus, we too sing a new song. And when we sing this song, we are not just celebrating God’s goodness to us, although that is true, we are in effect proclaiming the message of His salvation to all who will listen. This is our testimony. God’s messengers of salvation are not the angels of heaven. His messengers are those of us (mere mortals) who have been the recipients of God’s wonderful gift of eternal life. This is good news. Our lives have been totally changed, right? And we need to tell somebody!
READ Psalm 96:3
We are told that we need to declare two things – God’s “glory” and His “marvelous works.” And we are told WHO we need to declare this to – to the nations, to all the peoples, to everybody on the earth. That is our mission field. The Great Commission, right?
Now, what does it really mean to declare God’s “glory”? That sounds good, but what does it mean? Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork.” So, in that case the starry host of heaven is a witness to God being the awesome Creator. When we sinners who have been saved by grace declare the glory of God, what He has done in our lives, we are bearing witness to God as being our great Savior and Redeemer. So, that is what it means.
It also says in v 3 that we are to declare God’s “marvelous works,” in other words, what God HAS done and what He IS doing. Where do we even begin? We praise God for His healing, for His protection, His deliverance, guidance, wisdom, encouragement, comfort, provisions, care. We could go on and on and on. He is not a passive and uncaring God at all! Our lives tell a completely different story – that God is a good and loving God!
Has God been at work in your life lately? If He has, you need to tell somebody. Hey, if you don’t tell anyone, how will we know?
READ Psalm 96:4-5
The LORD is the one true and living God. He alone is the Creator. The psalmist says that He is great and greatly to be praised. He alone is worthy of our praise and worship. Now, with that being said, there are a lot of little g “gods” out there who are trying to compete with the one true God. But they are as the psalmist says, “worthless idols.” They are nothing. Their power exists only in the minds of those who worship them. The most famous idol that the Old Testament Israelites worshipped is the golden calf at the foot of Mount Sinai. Needless to say, that did not work out very well for them, did it? Three thousand died as a result of God’s judgment and, if you read in Exodus, God was on the verge of wiping out all the people. It is only because Moses interceded that He did not.
Now, you would have thought that the Israelites learned their lesson that God was serious when He said to them, “I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me” (Exodus 20:2-5 KJV). That is right out of the Ten Commandments.
But the people did NOT learn their lesson. Shortly after that, the whole golden calf incident took place. Now, years and years later, they have wandered around in the wilderness, and finally under Joshua they go in and take the land. Now they are going to do what God says to do. They are going to be obedient, right? Well, apparently, they had not learned their lesson then either because God told them to go into the land of Canaan and wipe out the Canaanites. Now, why did God command this? Because He is a mean God? This is why He says He wanted to wipe the people out… “That they [the pagan people in that land, the idol-worshiping people] may not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods, and so you sin against the LORD your God” (Deuteronomy 20:18). So, God is trying to protect them from idolatry. He knows they have a bent toward sin, doing that. God did not want His people following the false gods of the Canaanites. But that is exactly what ended up happening when they were disobedient. The Israelites began to worship those false gods. And it is the sin of idolatry that eventually led them to their lengthy exile in Babylon.
God is serious when He says that He alone is God. All those other so-called “gods” are worthless and powerless.
But you say, “Well, Chris, that was the Old Testament. We live in a civilized and advanced society today. We don’t worship any gods, any idols, do we? Do we?” Well, it depends how you define an idol. I define an idol as anything or anyone in our life that we place ahead of God. So, if that is your definition, then the answer is “yes we do.” What is it that we would place ahead of God nowadays in our advanced society? Money, cars, possessions, technology, fears, jobs, health, physical well-being, personal relationships, social media, ambitions, plans, desires. It is whatever we place ahead of God. So yes, idolatry still exists today in 21st Century America, but it is perhaps a little more subtle than it was back in Old Testament times. Our idols may not look like that golden calf, but our idols anger God just as much. He is a jealous God and He demands to be first place in our lives.
READ Psalm 96:6
Four descriptive words are applied to God in this verse:
“Splendor” is also translated in Hebrew as “honor.” There is a reverence that is due God.
“Majesty” describes the awe-inspiring presence of God. Have you ever felt that – even in nature?
“Strength” invokes the power of God in creation, in healing, in changing lives, and in all the things we see Him do in answer to our prayers.
“Beauty,” we all know what that is. We see it all around us in creation. Think about the most beautiful thing you ever saw in your life. Nothing, not even that, compares to the beauty of the Creator. None of those “gods” we talked about before can compare to our great God.
READ Psalm 96:7-9
What does “ascribe” mean? It means that you see something, you recognize it and then you tell somebody, you declare it. So, “Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples…” That is who you are telling. What are telling about God? His glory and strength. And you are declaring all those things we saw in the previous six verses as well. Tell somebody. Let them know how wonderful your great God is and how He has blessed you. God deserves not only our praise in private, but He deserves our praise in public. Whenever you or I give a personal testimony about God we are giving Him the glory due His name. He is the One responsible for the blessings that we have received.
As His redeemed and holy people, we are called to “bring an offering,” “come into His courts” (His sanctuary, His church) and “worship Him.” Normally God is doing something for us. This is our opportunity to give something back to Him, just a small portion of what He has given to us. While there are other places that teach about bringing our tithes and offerings, I believe this offering here is an offering of thanks with our lips. What does the God of the universe who has everything want from us (from little old me)? Sincere worship.
Again, just like we saw back in verse 1, the entire earth is called to worship holy God. But this time a reason is given – worship Him because of His righteousness (His holiness) and judgment on the earth. “Tremble before Him.” Fear Him. This is more than just a prophecy about some future event when “every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord” (Philippians 2:10-11). This praise and honor and worship is something God desires from all creation – today.
READ Psalm 96:10
God is sovereign. He created the world (past); He sustains the world (present); and He will judge the people of the world (future). The message of God’s coming righteous judgment is an important message for the world to hear. Having been duly warned, they have time to respond and to get ready to face their Creator.
And now, as we get into the last verses here, I like to think of it this way – the choir has been singing in parts with soloists singing different verses. And now in verses 11, 12 and 13, this is the great crescendo as the choir sings sort of a “Hallelujah” chorus. Now the choir all joins in – “the King is coming!”
READ Psalm 96:11-13
“For He comes…” The King is coming!
The original sin of Adam and Eve adversely impacted all of creation. Death not only came to mankind, but it came to all living things. When Jesus returns (Revelation 19) He is going to set up His kingdom on earth (Revelation 20). This will bring equity for the oppressed, equal-handed justice for the poor, and peace among the nations. And then, He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more. He will say, “Behold, I am making all things new” (Revelation 21:4-5). God will form a new physical world that is more beautiful than the original creation.
So, the last verse of this psalm speaks about God’s judgment. Part of God’s plan involves the judgment of evil. As the sovereign King He has every right to do this, doesn’t He? It is His earth. It is the one He created. And He has told you He is going to do it. And you can be assured that if He says He is going to judge it, He will! He is going to do what He says He will do. There will be a final judgment. And it is called the great white throne judgment. You can read about that in the book of Revelation.
Now, the good news for all of us is this: If you honor and submit yourself to the King, you have nothing to fear when that judgment comes. Second Peter Chapter 3 tells us that judgment is coming and that the earth as we know it will be burned up. By the way, that is a verse that tells us that global warming is indeed a real thing. But the biblical definition of global warming is totally different from what the scientists are predicting. This global warming, that Peter is talking about that comes at the end, is that the earth gets burned up. It is not the gradual heating of the earth over millions of years. But there is such a thing as global warming. I just wanted to point it out. That is in 2 Peter 3:10. Look it up.
So, right in the middle of all that judgment (in 2 Peter Chapter 3), Peter writes these words: “[The Lord] is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). Isn’t that a wonderful verse? God’s grace – He doesn’t want you to be burned up and die and thrown into the lake of fire. He does not want that for you. He wants to spend an eternity with you in the new heaven and the new earth.
Paul says, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be… SAVED” (Romans 10:9). People want to know “How do I get saved?” That is how you do it right there.
“For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be… SAVED” (Romans 10:13).
Those of us who have made Jesus the Lord of our lives – confessed with our mouth Jesus as Lord – do NOT have to fear God’s judgment.
I close with a one-point application for this psalm, keeping it simple:
God wants us to spend a little time at some point during the course of our day [and we are all very busy, aren’t we?] praising and worshipping Him for who He is, what He has done and what He is going to do.
That is Psalm 96.