Psalm 96

Psalm 96

True Worship

I. God alone is worthy of all worship because of who He is, so we must sing His praises (Vv. 1-6)

a. In the first stanza of the psalm, the psalmist issues an exhortation to praise God, but also serves to demonstrate to God’s people how to go about praising Him properly. We’re called to praise God through singing. First, he calls God’s people to recognize His continually new blessings and mercies, and sing daily of the never ending well of grace revealed in who He is. Then, he calls for God’s praises to be sung before all people and by all people. Lastly, he calls God’s people to sing praises to Him by thanking Him and exalting Him for who He is. We do this by continually proclaiming the good news of God’s salvation, which is His great display of His glory and good deeds to all peoples. Why should be excited about God, and praise and testify to Him this way, because He’s the one true God who is great above all things and must be greatly praised. There is no one else like Him, He has no equal, and therefore no other person, thing, or entity is worthy of worship, awe, reverence, and praise like Him. In fact, the psalmist contrasts idols, which are literally nothing, to God, the all-powerful Creator of the universe, who literally spoke everything into existence, out of nothing! God’s splendor, majesty, strength, and beauty are unmatched. True worship is a function of humility and prostrating oneself in heart, mind, body, and spirit before One who is more glorious and powerful, so there must ultimately be only One who is completely worthy of all worship of all creation; that One is God alone, sing praises to Him! (Vv. 1-6; Gen. 1:1; Ps. 33:6-9; 150:6; Isa. 41:21-24; 44:9-20; John 3:16; 4:22; 14:6; Rom. 10:1-15; Acts 4:12; 1 Cor. 8:4; 2 Cor. 4:3-6; Rev. 5:9-10)

II. God alone is worthy of all worship because of who He is, so we must give glory to His Name (Vv. 7-9)

a. While the first section of this psalm calls for a threefold singing of praises to God for who He is, the second section calls for a threefold ascribing to God the glory He is due. To “ascribe” is literally to “give”, and “glory”, is a description of “weightiness or impressiveness”. The psalmist calls all of those who have worshiped idols, or nothing, to see the immensity, grandness, power, and perfection of God, and give Him the proper weight due His Name. Thus, he calls all people to come face to face with the reality of who God is, the realization and proper understanding of who we are in contrast, and to humble ourselves before God and trust in the glory of His presence, power, and provision. To “give” Him glory, is to recognize the gap between who He is and who we are, humbly acknowledge the debt of worship and glory which we owe Him, confess our need for His grace, mercy, and love to provide for us through Christ what we can’t do ourselves, and seek to come before Him in “holy attire” by living obediently to His Word, giving Him maximum weight in our lives, growing more in His image, and revealing His weight and impressiveness to the world. (Vv. 7-9; Ps. 24:1-6; 51:4-17; 130:3-4; Isa. 6:1-8; John 15:3; Rom. 8:1-4; 12:1-2; 2 Cor. 3:18; 5:14-15, 21; Gal. 2:20; Heb. 10:19-25; 13:15-16; 1 John 5:1-3)

III. God alone is worthy of all worship because of who He is, so we must wait hopefully, trusting faithfully in and joyfully proclaiming His perfect reign (Vv. 10-13)

a. God already reigns completely and sovereignly, He’s already paid the penalty for all sin and rebellion, but He hasn’t yet exercised His judgment over those who reject His grace and remain in their sin. That means that while we desire to live lives pleasing and glorifying to Him, we must do so in a world that’s dominated by the sin and darkness caused by our rebellion. “The Lord reigns” professes God’s complete reign now, and looks forward to His final judgment and full glorification in Christ. The reality of God’s judgment and complete reign is a source of joy for those who belong to Him. We can trust faithfully in Him that His judgment will be fair, righteous, and faithful in truth. The psalmist describes all of creation looking anxiously towards this day. God is patient in waiting, because He desires none to perish; He will be faithful to preserve those who belong to Him eternally; And He will be faithful to justly and eternally judge those who choose to reject Him and remain in their sin. The full and complete glory of Christ and those who belong to Him, will be fully and completely revealed in that day; and our lives lived in complete worship of Him today, proclaim our hope and joy in His promises, and provide hope and satisfaction in Him even in this broken and unpredictable world. (Vv. 10-13; Exod. 34:6-7; Ps. 2:1-3; 7:6-9; 9:7-8; 98:7-9; 110:1-2; Isa. 9:6-7; 32:1-2, 16; 42:1-4; 55:12-13; John 3:16-21, 36; Acts 17:24-31; Rom. 2:4-6; 8:19-25; 1 Tim. 2:3-6; 2 Tim. 4:7-8; Heb. 11:1, 6; 1 Pet. 4:12-19; 2 Pet. 3:3-15a; Rev. 11:17; 19:6-7, 11-16; 21:1-7; 22:12, 20-21)