The Missionary Psalm

Sing a new song to the LORD; sing to the LORD, all the earth. Sing to Yahweh, praise His name; proclaim His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations, His wonderful works among all peoples.-Psalm 96:1-3

Psalm 96 should be re-named the missionary Psalm. The heart-beat of every missionary is summed up in Psalm 96.

Psalm 96 opens with a command to sing to the Lord. Humans aren't the only ones commanded to sing, rather, the whole earth is commanded to sing to the Lord. Rocks, trees, mountains, animals, etc. are all commanded to sing of the Lord's praises. In the early morning hours listen to the crickets chirping praises to God. When the wind blows through the trees, it blows praises to Him. The waves pound against the shoreline to the glory of God. The Earth rotates on its axis in worship to God. In the midst of creation's worship God desires to hear His creatures singing and worshiping Him. We are to sing to Yahweh and praise His name.

We are to proclaim His salvation from day to day. Everyday we should be taking time to share with others. We could share our testimony, a Gospel track, bible stories, the power of prayer, the list of possible ways to share is as long as our imagination and gifting. The command in verse 2a is tied to the command in verse 1 to sing His praise. If we believe God is worthy of the worship from all 7 billion individuals on this planet than we will make it a priority to proclaim His salvation. Imagine how our communities would change if we were to proclaim His salvation from day to day.

Finally, we are commanded to declare His glory among the Nations. We are commanded to share with the Nations about the mighty riches, honor, miracles and glory of God. Every other god is false and an idol. No-other god is worthy of the worship of 7 billion individuals on Earth, therefore, we go to share with others the glory of God. Pastor John Piper says, "missions exist because worship doesn't." People don't worship the God who made them, therefore, we go singing a new song to the Lord. People don't worship the God who made them, therefore, we go proclaiming His salvation from day to day. People don't worship the God who made them, therefore, we go to declare His glory among the nations, His wonderful works among all peoples.

For the LORD is great and is highly praised; He is feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the LORD made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before Him; strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.-Psalm 96:4-6

Last week we examined three commands from God found in verses 1-3. This week we are examining verses 4-6 and discovering three reasons why we should sing to the Lord, proclaim His salvation, and why we should declare His glory among the nations.

We should sing to the Lord because He is great and is highly praised. There is no other god in all the Nations as great as the God of Christianity. When we compare the God of Christianity to other god’s we notice a stark difference. For example, the followers of Islam live in fear of appeasing Allah, and never have assurance of salvation; in contrast, followers of Christianity honor and revere Jehovah and all those who have trusted in Christ are sealed by His Spirit, held in God’s hands and no one will pluck them out of His hands. The gods of Animism are ever-changing; in contrast, followers of Christianity understand that God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He never changes. Hindus follow multiple gods and have to be reincarnated hundreds of times before reaching enlightenment; in contrast, followers of Christianity understand that God is the way, the truth, and the life no-one comes to the Father except through Jesus and to be absent from the body as a follower of Christ is to be present with the Lord.

We should proclaim the Lord’s salvation from day to day because all the gods of the people are idols. Idols are made by human hands; however, God has always existed and is truly autonomous. Idols have eyes but do not see; God’s eyes roam to-and fro over the whole Earth seeing all. Idols have hands that do not move; God’s hands knit us together in our mother’s womb. Idols have mouths but do not speak; God spoke the world into existence. All the gods of the peoples are idols, but the LORD made the heavens.

We should declare God’s glory among the nations because to behold Him is to behold true splendor, majesty, strength, and beauty. God’s splendor refers to His magnificence, His brilliant or gorgeous appearance. We see a picture of God’s splendor in the Old Testament when Moses asked to see God’s face and God responds to Moses saying, “No-one can see my face and live.” God’s splendor is so magnificent that to behold it would kill us. God is majestic. His majesty refers to His kingship or His Lordship over the Earth. There is no-one like our God. God is strong. He spoke the world into existence and up-holds the world by His power. God is also beautiful. God puts His beauty on display in nature. God’s beauty is seen in the dazzling display of colors and designs put force in creation. God is worthy of worship from every tribe, language, tongue and nation.

In conclusion, why should we sing to the Lord, why should we proclaim His salvation, why should we declare His glory among the nations? The answer to these three questions is found in verses 4-6. We sing because He is great and is highly praised. We proclaim His salvation because the gods of the peoples are idols and we declare His glory among the nations because to behold God is to behold true splendor, majesty, strength, and beauty.

Ascribe to the LORD, you families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to Yahweh the glory of His name; bring an offering and enter His courts. Worship the LORD in the splendor of His holiness; tremble before Him, all the earth.-Psalm 96:7-9

Psalm 96:7-9 is a section of pure worship. Every family on the face of the Earth is commanded to ascribe worship to the Lord. We are to worship the Lord because of the glory of His name, His strength, and because of the splendor of His holiness.

We are to worship the Lord because of the glory of His name. God’s glory is how He puts His holiness on display for people to apprehend. The Bible tells us that the Heavens declare the glory of God. We observe God’s glory everyday in creation, in other words, everyday God is shouting at us from creation. He shouts at us through dazzling sun-sets and spectacular sun-rises. He shouts at us through the changing of the leaves in the fall. He shouts at us through the dazzling brightness of a fresh morning snow. He shouts at us through the budding of new life in the springtime and He shouts at us through the waves crashing against the shoreline in the summer. In the midst of every season He is shouting; I AM GLORIOUS! Worship me because of the glory of my name.

We are to worship the Lord because of His strength. God’s strength is seen in hundreds of different ways. One way God’s strength is seen in the Old Testament is through Israel’s conquest of other nations. In the OT when Israel would conquer a nation; it would be because Israel’s God was seen as superior to the god’s of the other nations. An example of this is found in the plagues which God brought upon the people of Egypt. Each of the ten plagues are an attack against an Egyptian god, and each plague showcases God’s strength. God affirms His strength over Egypt in Exodus 9:15, “By now I could have stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with a plague, and you would have been obliterated from the earth.” God is stronger than the gods of the people; therefore, we should worship the Lord.

We are to worship the Lord because of the splendor of His holiness. God’s holiness refers to His separateness. If God were to reveal Himself, we would be on our face before Him trying to dig ourselves into the ground in order to avoid His holiness. No-one on their own can stand before a holy God and live. God’s holiness would consume us! God’s holiness not only refers to His separateness but also to His perfection. God is perfect. God cannot make a mistake, He doesn’t change His mind, can’t catch Him off guard, and He never sleeps. The prophet Isaiah tells us, “Yahweh is the everlasting God, the Creator of the whole earth. He never grows faint or weary; there is no limit to His understanding.” We are to worship the Lord because of the splendor of His holiness.

In conclusion, verses 7-9 are a command for all the families of the Earth to worship God. Unfortunately, millions upon millions upon millions of individuals do not worship the God who made them, therefore, we have an obligation to go and through God’s power and by His grace create worshipers of God from all the families of the Earth.

Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.” Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it! Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes, for he comes to judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his faithfulness.-Psalm 96:10-13

Psalm 96 ends with the promise that the LORD is coming and will one day come again. The Psalmist is prophesying Christ’s first and second coming. The original readers read the passage as foreshadowing the first coming of the Messiah, we now read the passage as foreshadowing the second coming. The Psalmist exhorts his readers to say among the nations, “The Lord reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.” All of creation waits with eager anticipation for the Lord’s return. The promise of the Lord’s return should spur us on to proclaim that the Lord reigns for two reasons…

1) We must proclaim that the Lord reigns because He is coming again to judge the Earth and those who do not know Him will spend eternity in Hell: Revelation 19 describes the Lord returning to Earth as a warrior. Jesus Christ will return to judge the nations and He will trample the winepress of the fierce anger of God the Almighty. Today is the day of salvation for the Nations, but, one day the opportunity to respond to the Gospel message will be over and Christ will return and cast all those who do not know Him as Lord and Savior into Hell. Hell is described throughout the Bible as a place of eternal torment and pain, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, completely devoid of hope. One day the Lord will return and cast those who have rejected Him into Hell. The reality of Hell and the immanence of the Lord’s return should spur us to respond as the late preacher Charles Spurgeon responded when he said, “if sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our bodies. If they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees. Let no one go there unwarned and un-prayed for.” The reality of the LORD’s return should spur us on to greater missionary involvement.

2) We must proclaim that the Lord reigns because He will not return until the whole world has heard about Him: Jesus says in Matthew 24:14, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Jesus promises that He will not return until the whole world has heard about Him. There are 6,900 people groups (2.8 billion people) in the world who have little to no access to the Gospel. In other words, Christ second coming will not happen until these 6,900 people groups (2.8 billion people) have heard about His first coming. Our desire to meet the LORD should spur us on to take the Gospel to these unreached and unengaged people groups. One day a missionary in a remote tribe on the other side of the world will share the Gospel with the very last of the Lord’s elect and in that moment the trumpet will sound, the sky will break open, and we will be caught up into the air to meet the LORD! Our longing for that day spurs us on to greater missionary involvement.

In conclusion, our longing for the Lord’s return should spur us on to greater missionary involvement. Our desire to save people from the depths of Hell should cause us to allocate our resources to take the Gospel to the ends of the Earth. We must give of our time, resources and lives to proclaim to the nations that the Lord reigns!