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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