Text: Psalm 96
Theme: “Worship the Lord with the beauty of Holiness” (96:9).
Illustration (Adopted):
A mother went to wake her son for church one Sunday morning.
When she knocked on his door, he said, “I’m not going!” “Why not?” asked his mother.
He replied to his mother, “I’ll give you two good reasons,” he said. “One, they don’t like me. Two, I don’t like them.”
Then His mother replied, “I’ll give you two good reasons why YOU should go to church.
“One, you’re 40 years old. Two, you’re the pastor!”
Message: “Bring gifts and celebrate, Bow before the beauty of God, Then to your knees—everyone worship!”
NRSV: “Worship the Lord in holy splendour” (96:9). It refers to Gods holiness, it refers to worshippers attitude, attire, ambience, actions, reactions”.
NASB: “Worship the Lord in holy attire; Tremble before Him, all the earth.”
NLV: “Worship the Lord in holy clothing. May all the earth shake in fear before Him.”
TLB: “Worship the Lord with the beauty of holy lives. Let the earth tremble before him.”
Introduction: Worship is a formal event. It’s not a casual social event. It’s a time to honour God. If God is with us 24x7, then why we need to worship him separately. Because, He delights in it. He has a special place and special honour in our community gathering. He loves a set time, set place with set of hymns, liturgies and an order. It’s a special meeting time with the Lord. He is with us always but we oscillate and we go from one stage to the other. The church is more than a social network or a cultural artefactThe church is more than a social network or a cultural artifact..
Worship" means "tell God that he is much greater than you are, but you love him". Some people worship with words, other people by going on their knees, yet other people by lying flat on their fronts.
This psalm is part of that which was delivered into the hand of Asaph and his brethren (1 Chronicles 16:7) by which it appears that David was the penman of it and that it has reference to the bringing up of the ark to the city of David. For three times we are told to sing, and after that to bless, tell, declare, ascribe and worship. This Psalm is motivational. It moves people to proclaim God’s mercy and might. The psalm begins with singing and then moves to declaring, ascribing, and worshiping.
Why we have to worship him, there are three good reasons: HE is great, HE is majestic, and He is the judge.
1. He is great 96:1-5
Psalm 96 extols God's supreme authority and splendour, declaring Him "great and greatly to be praised" and worthy of fear above all gods. He is great because He is an universal God rather than a local deity, meant for only Israel. God is great above the heavens. There is only one God in heaven, but down here on earth, there are many gods. They are many gods man made up in the form of animals and birds, in sects in contrast to the creator who made us, and the heavens.
He is great because he is the creator of heavens. His power is evident in His creation of the heavens and all that they contain. Genesis 1:1 says ‘in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth’. He has been proved his authority in the prehistoric period through allowing and controlling the flood. He sent ten plagues up on Egyptians; and he has controlled them by his power; he proved his creative powers during wilderness journey, through exiled period and during the wars between the Israelites and their enemies.
The life of the Israelites are the reflections of the creator. He created water bodies, he dried up the streams. He turned bitter water bodies into sweet waters. He fed them with high proteins without cholesterol through providing quails. He moved the clouds and ordered cloudbursts and thunderstorms during the war between Israelites and their enemies.
The psalm extends an universal call to all peoples to "declare His glory among the nations, His marvellous deeds among all peoples". This involves witnessing to God's salvation and His ongoing work in the world, encouraging the nations to join in praise and acknowledge His Lordship.
‘The call here given us to praise God is very lively, the expressions are raised and repeated, to all which the echo of a thankful heart should make agreeable returns.’ (Matthew Henry).
“He is, in every possible sense, ‘great;’ great in dignity, in power, in mercy; and therefore ‘greatly to be praised’ by every creature.” (Horne)
2. He is Majestic 96:6-9
The psalm begins with a threefold command to "sing a new song" and to praise the Lord, recognising His greatness and worthiness of worship.
The glory, the strength belongs to God. His name is glorious, powerful and majestic. So, bless his name. Honour his name. Don’t misuse his name, take his name in vain. He is a jealous God, be zealous for his name, for his majesty, and for his glorious acts. Honour and majesty, splendour, beauty, glory are set before him.
If you think of a king, Prince, leader, prime minister, and president of a nation, you can think of their military power, territorial authority and the power over their subjects. So God’s splendour is so great.
“Every man should praise God every day – on each returning morning, and on every evening – for the assurance that there is a way of salvation provided for him, and that he may be happy for ever.” (Barnes).
“Glory is a difficult word to define. It refers to the majestic aura of the divine presence, which is why the stanza speaks of ‘the splendour of his holiness.’ But it is also more than that. Kabod, the Hebrew word, refers to something that is impressive or weighty.” (Boice).
“In him are combined all that is mighty and lovely, powerful and resplendent. The union of the strength and beauty are greatly to be admired.” (Spurgeon).
Three times we are told to ascribe to glory to God. To “ascribe” is to name a quality that belongs to a person or thing. To a deer we ascribe speed and grace and to an artist or composer we ascribe creative genius. To God we ascribe glory and strength — especially when looking at creation. To express our gratitude and dependence on God, we are told to bring an offering, come into God’s courts (verse 8) worship the Lord, and tremble before God (verse 9).
3. He is the judge 96:10-13
Are you tired of the events around you? Are you fed up with the justice system of the world? Don’t forget, there is a righteous judge, there is a judge who shows no partiality. The psalm points towards God's righteous judgment upon the earth and the ultimate establishment of His kingdom, where peace, love, justice, and righteousness will reign.
‘Let it be told that the Lord reigns, the Lord Christ reigns, that King whom God determined to set upon his holy hill of Zion. That all the laws and ordinances of his kingdom shall be consonant to the rules and principles of eternal truth and equity, that is, to the rectitude and purity of the divine nature and will. That all his administrations of government shall be just and faithful, and according to what he has said. That he shall rule in the hearts and consciences of men by the commanding power of truth and the Spirit of righteousness and sanctification.’( Mathew Henry).
No one can buy justice from him. He vindicates, he evaluates, he awards judgment according to the words, deed, and actions of everyone in the earth. His justice system is highly appreciated by the heavens, heavenly beings, animals, bird, creations, and all justice lovers. “Honesty, veracity, integrity, will rule upon his judgment-seat. No nation shall be favoured there, and none be made to suffer through prejudice” (Spurgeon).
“Say among the nations, the Lord rules by the wood,’ meaning the cross; and accuses the Jews of having blotted this word out of their Bibles, because of the evidence it gave of the truth of Christianity. It appears that this reading did exist anciently in the Septuagint, or at least in some ancient copies of that work, for the reading has been quoted by Tertullian, Lactantius, Arnobius, Augustine, Cassiodorus, Pope Leo, Gregory of Tours, and others.” (Clarke).
Conclusion: Worship the Lord because he is great, he is Majestic, he is judge.
