“I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this...” (2 Samuel 6:21-22 NIV)
I’m on a program to read through all the psalms in one month. That works out to about 5 a day, on average. Today I was reading Psalms 94-99 and was struck by some of the emphatic verbs in these psalms. Psalm 96 is full of them: Sing, Praise, Proclaim, Declare, Ascribe, Worship, and Rejoice.
Sing to the Lord, praise his name;
proclaim his salvation day after day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous deeds among all peoples.
Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness;
tremble before him, all the earth.
Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
let the sea resound, and all that is in it.
None of these are wimpy, milk-toast types of verbs. With the power of the implied “YOU” as a subject, each one pushes us not just to think, not just to say, but to STRONGLY PROCLAIM our worship for God.
Similarly, Psalm 99 charges us to boldly sing and shout praise for who God is and what he has done. We are to Tremble, Praise, Exalt, and Worship.
The Lord reigns, Let the nations tremble;
Great is the Lord; he is exalted over all the nations. Let them praise your great and awesome name—
he is holy.
The King is mighty Exalt the Lord our God.
He loves justice. Worship at his footstool.
He is holy. Worship at his holy mountain.
Why would the Psalmist feel the need to use such strong and bold words? Maybe because we can sometimes reduce the God of the Universe to a warm and fuzzy, but impotent and unimportant pleasant being. Maybe because the Psalmist knew the benefits of strong, joyous worship and praise and saw his fellow believers only participating half-heartedly. Maybe because God knew that some 3000 years later his people would still need the reminder to be passionate in their pursuit of their Lord. Psalm 95:7 says, “Today, if only you would hear God’s voice….Don’t be hardhearted and stubborn.” If anyone knows human nature, it’s God. He knew we would need the constant reminder to listen for God. We would need the constant exhortation to not be satisfied with what we know of God, but to continually be pushing more and more deeply into the fullness of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
God’s Word is part of God’s messages to us. So, today, SING, PRAISE, PROCLAIM, DECLARE, ASCRIBE, REJOICE, TREMBLE, EXALT, AND WORSHIP with fullness and abandon as you hear God’s Voice.
Lord God of the Universe,
Today we sing to you a new song, for you have done marvelous things, working salvation for your people, making your salvation known and revealing your righteousness to the nations. You have remembered your love and faithfulness; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. We shout for joy, bursting into jubilant song with music, making music to the Lord with our instruments and our voices as we shout before the Lord, our King. You come to judge the earth in righteousness and the peoples with equity. We exalt and worship you, trembling before you, and declaring the greatness of your name. We ascribe glory and honor to you, Lord of Lords, King of Kings, and Lord over all. All this we proclaim in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and the power of Holy Spirit. AMEN!
“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, all you 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[a] 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;
let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.
13 Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes,
he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples in his faithfulness.” (Psalm 96 NIV)
“Sing to the Lord a new song,
for he has done marvelous things;
his right hand and his holy arm
have worked salvation for him.
2 The Lord has made his salvation known
and revealed his righteousness to the nations.
3 He has remembered his love
and his faithfulness to Israel;
all the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
4 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth,
burst into jubilant song with music;
5 make music to the Lord with the harp,
with the harp and the sound of singing,
6 with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn—
shout for joy before the Lord, the King.
7 Let the sea resound, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands,
let the mountains sing together for joy;
9 let them sing before the Lord,
for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples with equity.” (Psalm 98 NIV)
“The Lord reigns,
let the nations tremble;
he sits enthroned between the cherubim,
let the earth shake.
2 Great is the Lord in Zion;
he is exalted over all the nations.
3 Let them praise your great and awesome name—
he is holy.
4 The King is mighty, he loves justice—
you have established equity;
in Jacob you have done
what is just and right.
5 Exalt the Lord our God
and worship at his footstool;
he is holy.
6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
Samuel was among those who called on his name;
they called on the Lord
and he answered them.
7 He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud;
they kept his statutes and the decrees he gave them.
8 Lord our God,
you answered them;
you were to Israel a forgiving God,
though you punished their misdeeds.
9 Exalt the Lord our God
and worship at his holy mountain,
for the Lord our God is holy.” (Psalm 99 NIV)