Psalm 96

Psalm 96

-

A Psalm of Instruction

from God

God has blessings hidden in this psalm.

Let's go find them.

An Outline of Psalm 96

I have divided Psalm 96 into 7 sections.

Here they are - line by line:

Sing to the Lord.

Why am I singing?

Give to the Lord.

What am I giving?

Rejoice in the Lord.

Who should Rejoice with me in the Lord?

AND

Why should I Sing, Give, and Rejoice?

Sing to the Lord

Verses 1-3

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.

God is teaching believers

that it is important to sing to him.

God is guiding us to know

"what"

to sing about.

We are to:

Sing Blessings to his name.

Sing about his wonderful salvation.

Sing (and speak) about his wonders and glory.

The Hebrew word translated "shew forth"

is the Strong's Hebrew word 01319

and it means to:

show forth, publish, preach, be a messenger, announce

In these verses, God is telling us to boldly speak

about God

to everyone

including the heathens.

And "all people"

would include our children and grandchildren.

God tells us in multiple places

to diligently teach the Bible to our children.

The Hebrew word in verse 2 that is translated

"day to day"

is Strong's Hebrew 3117 and it means:

daily or continually.

Let's sing in the car.

Let's sing as we prepare our next meal.

Let's sing!

Why am I singing?

Verses 4-6

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.

God tells us that

not only are we to sing

because he tells us to sing -

but because of specific reasons.

We sing because:

* God is Great and Mighty. ***

   Note that God enjoys being praised forcefully. ****

* Singing to God teaches us to respect and fear him properly.

* God made the heavens. He is Creator.

* Honor and Majesty are to accompany him (in our mouth and in our heart)

* God is the God of Strength and Beauty.

***  In verse four, the word translated in English as

"great" means "Great and Mighty" in the Hebrew language.

**** Also in verse four, the Hebrew word translated "greatly" in

English - when properly & fully translated -  indicates praise

that is forceful and exceedingly abundant.

Give to the Lord

Verses 7-8

7 Give unto the Lord...

give unto the Lord...

8 Give unto the Lord...

God is teaching believers

that it is important

TO GIVE

to him.

What am I giving to the Lord?

Verses 7-10

Verses 7-10 provide some specifics about what to give to God.

I am going to emphasize one verse

BEFORE

I write my commentary about this group of verses.

Specific comments on

Verse 9

O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

Psalm 96:9

In our present day,

many Christians have lost sight

of God's command

to

Worship God by "trying" to be obedient to him.

That obedience is called

Being holy.

Somehow

Satan is turning

the word

"holy"

into a bad word.

Verses 7-10

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.

God is teaching believers

that it is important to GIVE to him.

-

In these verses,

God is guiding us, so that we know what to give.

We are to:

Give God our Strength.

(Our Strength means  -  giving our energy and effort to serve God in a variety of ways.)

Give God our praises of Glory.

Give him the Glory due his name.

Give him offerings  - including financial offerings.

Give God our time - by spending time with him such as praying and reading the Bible, also by going to places of worship.

(The verse says, "Come" which indicates giving "our time" to go and do something.)

Give worship - here God speaks of a particular kind of worship that involves trying to live a holy life of obeying God.

Give God respect -  which is called "the fear of the Lord."

Give God a gift of spoken words  - by speaking out to people about God. For example...

In these verses,

God tells us to say things like:

"God reigns." 

"God is the one who has control of the earth."

"God judges people righteously."

"God wants people to live righteous lives."

God wants us to "speak up"

All throughout the Bible,

God tells us to

"Speak up" for him.

God is making it clear

that he expects us

- in our daily life -

to refuse to hide our faith

and

to refuse to be silent about God.

God even tells us to speak to the heathen...

When we are speaking about God to the

"heathen"

- which is just those who are not living for God -

we need to:

* Ask God when and what to say

and

* Speak in a loving and respectful way.

Take Note:

The tone and manner that we speak

to those who need information

or

 - those who God nudges us to bring correction -

is vitally important.

Rejoice in the Lord

Rejoice, Be Glad, Be Joyful

Verses 11-13 a

Notice the four underlined words below.

11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;

let the sea roar, and the fulness 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

The word translated "rejoice" in verse 11

and the word translated "glad" in verse 11

are two different Hebrew words

but

they both mean - rejoice and be glad!

The Hebrew word translated  "joyful" in verse 12 means joyful or rejoice.

The Hebrew word in verse 12
translated "rejoice" means sing or rejoice.

God is teaching believers

that it is important to

Rejoice in the Lord!

Who Should Rejoice?

Verses 11-13 a

11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;

let the sea roar, and the fulness 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.

Notice the underlined words above.

God is telling us

that all who are in the heavens

REJOICE in the Lord.

~

All who are on the earth

are supposed to

REJOICE in the Lord.

~

All of nature

REJOICES in the Lord.

Who Should Rejoice?

Those in Heaven

Those on earth

Nature - the seas (and all that is in it),
   the field (the land and the animals on the land),
   the trees of the forest

Our page - Psalm 98 - has a section with insights on how nature claps and rejoices in the Lord.

Why Should I Sing, Give, and Rejoice?

Verse 13

13a Before the Lord (actually goes with the previous verse)

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.

I should

Sing, Give, and Rejoice

because those are God's tips

for helping me

to

stay strong in the Lord

and

stay right with him.

~

These verses refer to the time

when Jesus comes back.

We call that time:

"The Second Coming."

Jesus will come back as

Judge

not as a Suffering Servant Messiah.

Jesus is coming back

to judge righteously.

Many of us think that could be very soon.

Nevertheless,

it is always important to be right with God.

Each of us could leave the earth

at any moment

through death.

Whether we leave this earth

through death

or

through Jesus coming to get us

at the end -

Jesus is coming back one day

to rescue

his followers

from this world of sin

and take those who love him

to his

Holy Heaven.

-

And

whether we are here

at the end of the

world

or

whether we leave this earth

through death,

One day we will

face God

and we do not want to be ashamed

about

how we treated him.

Dear Lord Jesus,

Your Grace

Still

Amazes me!

We have lots of pages about the Psalms.

They are listed on our:

Bible Devotion page.

We have an end time page.

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