PSALM 96
Oh, sing to the LORD a new song! Sing to the LORD, all the earth. 2 Sing to the LORD, bless His name; Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. 3 Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples. 4 For the LORD [is] great 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 Honor and majesty [are] before Him; Strength and beauty [are] in His sanctuary. 7 Give to the LORD, O families of the peoples, Give to the LORD glory and strength. 8 Give to the LORD the glory [due] His name; Bring an offering, and come into His courts. 9 Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth. 10 Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns; The world also is firmly established, It shall not be moved; He shall judge the peoples righteously.” 11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; Let the sea roar, and all its fullness; 12 Let the field be joyful, and all that [is] in it. Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before the LORD. 13 For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, And the peoples with His truth.
PSALM 96:1-13
PROCLAIM THE GOOD NEWS OF HIS SALVATION
New songs are sung after new occasions that call for praise. When God delivered the Israelites through the Red Sea and drown the Egyptian army, they sang a new song. When Sisera was defeated, Deborah wrote a new song! As long as God is active in the world, all the praise songs have not been written yet. New songs recounts God’s faithfulness to new generations and remind us that God still delights in saving and redeeming his people!
In this song, the whole earth is called to praise God for His coming deliverance. The nation of Israel is to sing this song so that the nations will hear the good news of God, forsake their idols, and come worship Him (The only true God)! In a sense it is a missionary song. It gives God glory for His salvation.
How quick we are sometimes to pray for something. We’ll ask God for safe travel, we’ll have a near miss, and instead of giving God the glory we’ll say something like, “Wow, I guess I got lucky on that one.” Rather than having our conversation seasoned with the salt of the gospel (good news of Jesus Christ). We are tempted to go out of our way and dismiss the fact that God answered our prayers.
To write new songs we must be aware of God’s good news applied to our lives and invite others to praise God too. New Songs in this sense give God all the glory for answered prayers and deliverance of His people. It ties our modern world to the truth of God’s character and His Word. As time goes on, those new songs become our old songs as we recount God’s more recent activity in our lives, but they still serve to help us see God in all of our circumstance and give Him the Praise He deserves.
I couldn’t help but be enamored with Chris Tomlin’s song, “How Great is our God” this morning as I was reading this Psalm and so I’ll share a few lines of the song to stir your heart to worship. This melody will be on my mind all day no doubt.
The splendor of a King
Clothed in majesty
Let all the earth rejoice
All the earth rejoiceHe wraps Himself in light
And darkness tries to hide
And trembles at His voice
Trembles at His voiceHow great is our God
– Chris Tomlin, “How Great Is Our God”
Sing with me
How great is our God
And all will see
How great, how great is our God
PRAYER
Father, How great are you! You are worthy of all praise, honor, and glory. You have saved my life from heart disease and Covid Pneumonia in the last few years. You have done great things in my life, the most important thing you did was to save me from my sin. I ask that I would always be passionate about your gospel and proclaiming your name! Help us not be shy about trusting you and let us be quick to give you all the praise, honor, and glory that others may see you and come worship you too! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
I’m reading and blogging the Psalms Through The Summer. I’d love for you to join me. You can find out a little more here.
The Hill House 
I love Chris Tomlin’s song “How Great is Our God”! Because it reminds me just how great He is to me! One of our deacon gave a testimony about 2 weeks ago that will give you chills. He and his wife had gone to a neighboring small town for family reunion. When the family asked him to bless the meal, something just touched him to include “safe travels” as all the attendees were from other towns/cities. When they were headed home on a two lane highway, he said he saw blue lights in the mirror. He started glancing around as cars were coming up fast. He said cars were in both lanes with no place for the fleeing car to go. So he and the car in front of him slowly pulled to the shoulder of the road. The fleeing car never slowed down. It was a high speed chase and they finally ran him off the road into a field. This was answered prayers for safe travel. What a Mighty God we serve! He is forever with us!
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Indeed it was! Glad they are ok. I had a similar experience!
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