Psalm 96 - A New Old Song

Your life is a song. Who are you singing it to?

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PSALM 96

¹ Sing to the LORD a new song;

Sing to the LORD, all the earth.

² Sing to the LORD, bless His name;

Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.

³ Tell of His glory among the nations,

His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.

⁴ For great is the LORD and greatly to be praised;

He is to be feared above all gods.

⁵ For all the gods of the peoples are idols,

But the LORD made the heavens.

⁶ Splendor and majesty are before Him,

Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.

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

Ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.

⁸ Ascribe to the LORD the glory of His name;

Bring an offering and come into His courts.

⁹ Worship the LORD in holy attire;

Tremble before Him, all the earth.

¹⁰ Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns;

Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved;

He will judge the peoples with equity.”

¹¹ Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;

Let the sea roar, and all it contains;

¹² Let the field exult, and all that is in it.

Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy

¹³ Before the LORD, for He is coming,

For He is coming to judge the earth.

He will judge the world in righteousness

And the peoples in His faithfulness.

Heidelberg Catechism

Q&A 103

Q. What is God’s will for you in the fourth commandment (to keep the Sabbath day holy)?

A. First,

that the gospel ministry and education

for it be maintained,

and that, especially on the festive day of rest,

I regularly attend the assembly of God’s people

to learn what God’s Word teaches,

to participate in the sacraments,

to pray to God publicly,

and to bring Christian offerings for the poor.

Second,

that every day of my life

I rest from my evil ways,

let the Lord work in me through his Spirit,

and so begin already in this life

the eternal Sabbath.

Summary

God's people are to be a singing people. The opening verses of Psalm 96 make this abundantly clear, with its threefold repetition of the command to sing! These repeated imperatives give good insight as to how and what we're to sing:

• To the LORD - We have an audience of One. We're not singing just because we enjoy it or to entertain a crowd, we're singing as a way to fulfill the purpose we were created for: to glorify and enjoy the LORD. Why? For great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods (the people's idols).
  

• A new song - this certainly doesn't mean we need to continually learn brand new songs each day and never sing the old ones again. In each of the seven times this phrase appears in the Old Testament (six of which are in the Psalms), it refers to a victory God has given His people. We're to sing of the new life that God has victoriously secured for His people. The psalm goes on to do exactly that, imploring us to proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.
  

• All the earth - Your singing ought not be limited to the sanctuary on Sunday. Your entire life, and all that you control ought to be a song of praise and glory to the God who created all things. The LORD made the heavens!
  

• Blessing the LORD's name - You already know the Biblical word for 'bless' - eulogia. It's where we get the word eulogy from. It literally means to say good words. The best way to bless the LORD - that is, to eulogize Him - is to sing back to Him the words He's written to us. That's why you should sing psalms often, singing of His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.

  Dig Deeper  

Notice Psalm 96's repetitive patterns:

• v1-2 - Sing to the LORD - 3x
  

• v7-8 - Ascribe to the LORD - 3x
  

• v11-12 - Let the heavens be glad, Let the sea roar and Let the fields exult.

The psalmist is going for more than just poetic effect here; He's demonstrating cause and effect. When we, the image bearers of God who've been given dominion over creation, continually remind ourselves of who the LORD is and why He deserves every bit of our praises by singing and ascribing, it results in a world that is doing exactly what God created it to do: exude gladness as it roars its exultation.

And we're not to just sing of the LORD's wonderful deeds among all the peoples - in other words, the things that God has done. We're to also be singing of what He will do: He will judge the peoples with equity. This psalm reminds us that the LORD is coming to judge the earth - the whole world (including the cosmos) and its people in righteousness and faithfulness.

As we've seen, you need to be singing and ascribing all week long. The best way for you to do this is to start your week singing with the LORD's people in His house on His day. Sunday's quickly coming, so commit yourself right now to bringing an offering and coming into His courts where you can worship the LORD in holy attire (the righteousness of Christ, not your Sunday best).

AAA Prayer (About)

• ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, Splendor and majesty are before Him, Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary;

• ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will sing, proclaim, tell and say the good tidings of the LORD's salvation from day to day;

• ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

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