August 9th
Psalm 95
Praise
and worship
1: O come, let us sing unto the LORD:
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. 2: Let us come before his presence
with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. 3: For the LORD is a great God, and a
great King above all gods. 4:
In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his
also. 5: The sea is his, and he
made it: and his hands formed the dry land. 6: O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the
LORD our maker. 7: For he is
our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To
day if ye will hear his voice, 8:
Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation
in the wilderness: 9: When your
fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. 10: Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and
said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my
ways: 11: Unto whom I sware in
my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.
Psalm 96
God
is the true King
1: O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing
unto the LORD, all the earth. 2:
Sing unto the LORD, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day. 3: Declare his glory among the
heathen, his wonders among all people. 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 nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens. 6: Honour and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in
his sanctuary. 7: Give unto the
LORD, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the LORD glory and strength. 8: Give unto the LORD the glory due
unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts. 9: O worship the LORD in the beauty
of holiness: fear before him, all the earth. 10: Say among the heathen that the LORD reigneth: the world also
shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people
righteously. 11: Let the
heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fullness
thereof. 12: Let the field be
joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice 13: Before the LORD: for he cometh,
for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness,
and the people with his truth.
Today we are reading Psalm 95 & 96. In Psalm 95 the
Psalmist speaks of the joy of the rest of God anticipated in the Kingdom. The
Psalm has two verses. In v1-7 He speaks of the rest that is found in true
worship. This the people speaking to the Lord. In v7-11 he speaks of the rest
which is lost by unbelief. This is the Lord speaking to his people. In the
first verse he begins in an exhortation to praise and gives the reason. And in
between these thoughts he speaks of the earth which is the Lords, by right and
by creation. And in the centre he describes the sea which is also the Lords by right
and by creation. He begins encouraging the people to sing and make a joyful
noise to the Lord the rock who delivers them. He says bring your thanksgivings
into his presence and sing your hymns to the Lord. Do this because the Lord is
great. He rules over the valleys and the hills that he made and he rules over
the sea that he made. So come on, lets worship and bow down before the Lord.
Let us kneel before the Lord the creator. He is our God and our shepherd and we
are the sheep of his pasture. Today hear his call and do not harden your hearts
against the Lord, as our fathers did in the days when they were in the desert.
They tried the Lords patience and they found that the Lord was found faithful
to his promises and they saw his provision. The Lord was grieved with the
people for 40 years and the Lord said this people make a great mistake in their
thinking. And I promised myself that they would never enter into the peace of
the land. In Psalm 96 the Psalmist brings a cheerful song in which in two
verses he encourages Israel
to sing a new song and then at the end of each verse he gives the reason why
this must be. He says I will sing unto the LORD a new song and then he calls on
all the nations to join him in the singing. This Psalm is probably based on the
joy of entrance into the land after the wilderness experience however it also
has a great significance in relation to the coming kingdom when all nations
will join in the rejoicing at the coming of Christ. That is why the call goes
out to declare the wonders of the Lord to all nations and all peoples. This is
because the Lord is great and greatly to be praised and feared more than all
the gods of men. He says the idols are made by men but the LORD made the
heavens. Its interesting that who God is mentioned to the nations he is
referred to as the God of heaven. The peoples of the earth are invited to come
to honour the majesty of the Lord and see his strength and beauty. The families
of the earth are to come to give glory to the Lord. They are to enter into the
presence of the LORD bringing glory to his name and bringing their offerings
and standing in his courts. One can only think of the millennial temple here.
The call goes out – Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness and fear him all
the earth. The heathen are to say ‘The LORD reigneth’. This will occur when
Christ’s kingdom extends from sea to sea and earth is filled with the glory of
the Lord as the waters cover the sea. He will stabilise the earth itself and he
judge the nations in righteousness. In that day heaven will rejoice and the
whole earth will be glad and even the sea will roar its approval. The fields
will rejoice and the trees will rejoice too. And this will all be because the
LORD cometh and he comes to bring justice on the whole earth in righteousness
and truth.
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