Opening Prayer
Lord Jesus, I’m coming to praise and worship you today. You are worthy to receive far more honor than I can ever offer you!
Read PSALM 96
Psalm 96
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.
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[a] 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.
Footnotes
- Psalm 96:9 Or Lord with the splendor of
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
May God grant us fresh knowledge of his greatness.
Think Further
The dominant note throughout this psalm is one of adoration and worship in the knowledge of the greatness of Israel’s God. The summons to ‘Sing … a new song’ (v. 1) is directed to the whole earth and to all nations, and this universal perspective echoes through the poem again and again. Although God’s salvation has been revealed to Israel, his greatness as Creator, Ruler, and Judge extends to the whole earth, so that ‘all peoples’ are witnesses to his ‘marvelous deeds’ (v. 3) and are repeatedly called to ascribe to him ‘the glory due to his name’ (v. 8). Perhaps the key statement is the summons to Israel to say ‘among the nations’ that the Lord reigns and will ‘judge the peoples with equity’ (v. 10). The psalm thus affirms both the existing evidence of God’s glory and the certainty of justice when, in the future, he will ‘judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with his truth’ (v. 13, NRSV).
These notes are being written during the terrible days of conflict following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The confidence of the psalmist in God’s absolute sovereignty might sound hollow as war and destruction dominate nightly news bulletins, but in fact it is precisely in such contexts that the need to ‘Say among the nations’ that ‘the Lord reigns’ (v. 10) and to call them to renounce idols and worship him alone is greater than ever. It is this experience of the greatness of God, known to Israel in the act of corporate worship, that alone can create the combination of ‘fear and trembling and rapturous joy’ to which this psalm bears such wonderful testimony.1 In times of conflict, with thousands of refugees fleeing from violence, we need to evaluate the quality of our corporate worship in the light of this extraordinary psalm.
Apply
Take a moment to reread the psalm and make it your own prayer.
Closing prayer
Holy Spirit, thank you for interceding for me when I feel inadequate in expressing the words of praise that my heart wants to offer.
Last Updated on June 16, 2024 by kingstar
