Sing

DEVOTION

PSALMS

SING

Ps 96

96:1

Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth. 2 Sing to the LORD, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. 3 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

4 For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; 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 Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary.

7 Ascribe to the LORD, O families of nations, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. 8 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering and come into his courts. 9 Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth.

10 Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns," The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity. 11 Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it; 12 let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy; 13 they will sing before the LORD, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness

NIV

It would seem apparent that God is above all else and he is the only one worthy of all the praise and glory for everything that is and all that happens in the heavens and on the earth. But that is not the case. Many peoples worship other gods, idols they have made themselves for their own purposes. We need to ascribe to the Lord the glory that is due his name. We cannot have any false gods, idols in our life. Nothing should be more important than God. We cannot try to squeeze him into our life, he has to be at the very center of our life, the meaning for our life. Although he is to be feared above all gods, because we are in Christ, we have nothing to fear from God, but at the same time we might do well to consider trembling just a little bit at the thought of his power and majesty. Even if Jesus called us friend, and we are co-heirs with him, it would be wise not to become so familiar, or too informal, or casual with God. He is going to judge the earth, which means the people of the earth, his creation. He will do it with pure justice, showing no favoritism. There are but two verdicts, innocent or guilty. The innocent go free, the guilty go to someplace else. Those of us who are in Christ have already been declared by God Most High as holy and blameless, innocent, in his sight. This is why the psalmist says he will judge the earth in righteousness. Jesus is our righteousness. He is the righteousness of God that came to earth to redeem his creation. People are either in or out, there is no middle ground, no fence riding, no hedging their bet, no covering all the bases. There is the Lord God and then there is nothing. But it is not just grand enough to know we are saved, and we are going to be with the Lord forever and ever. We are also to get out there and declare his reign. We are to declare to the nations his splendor and glory. We are to lift up his name. All the earth is glad, the heavens rejoice, the sea resounds and all that is in it. The fields are jubilant and everything that is in them is also jubilant. All the trees will sing for joy. Because all the earth and everything in it has been established by God, and it sings to him. He is pleased with all his has made with his hands, and that should include us. But he may also be sad because so many have chosen idols over him. We cannot be content to hide our faith from them, to exclude them from his truth. We cannot be content just letting them go about the path to perish, but should expose them to the path of his righteousness. Let the whole earth rejoice, and be glad for God will judge all peoples in righteousness. Let us sing to the Lord.