Worship The Lord Series

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.