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.
- How does the Psalmist encourage the people to praise the Lord?
- How does the Psalmist encourage the people to praise the Lord in the second Psalm of the day?
- What does he say regarding the Gentile nations?
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