Psalm 96
A Song of Praise to God and His Coming Judgement
*No author's name is mentioned. We could call Psalm 96 an orphan Psalm.
* Psalm 96 was included in the jubilant praise that King David offered when he brought the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem and the dedication of the tabernacle on Mount Zion(I Chronicles 16).
*Psalm 96, anticipated kingdom praise for the Lord from all the nation's, and from nature. Psalm 96 expresses intense joy that will saturate the whole earth, when Jesus comes back to the earth to rule and reign from Jerusalem.(this is prophecy).
*Psalm 96 is prophetic.
*Psalm 96 outline:
- Invitation to praise the Lord in verses 1-3
- The recipient of our praise is the Lord in verses 4-6
- The encouragement to worship the Lord in verses 7-13a
- The proclamation that the Lord will judge all in verses 13b
The psalmist is inviting the people to join in praising the Lord. "New Song", refers to the people singing thanksgiving and praise to the Lord. This "New Song", could be referring to the song that we will sing when Jesus comes back to earth to rule and reign from Jerusalem. The redeemed will sing this "New Song". This will be a time of rejoicing. "Proclaim the good news of His salvation", refers to us testifying of the redemptive plan of salvation through Jesus Christ. The number one thing we as servants of the Lord Jesus are to do, is to spread the salvation message to ALL people. Praising the Lord is not to be a one day thing and then forgotten. Praising the Lord should be a part of the true born again christian's life every day. We as servants of the Lord, are instructed to tell everyone about the Lord. We are to do this from our hearts because we love the Lord, and not to increase our "earthly" pockets.
Verses 4-6:
The Lord is always and forever, deserving of our praise and worship. The Lord is the only one worthy to receive ALL our praise. The Lord is above ALL false gods and things of our lives. ALL our praise goes to the Lord. "He is to be feared", means the Lord is to be respected and given reverence. ALL the gods of man are idols and are worthless and not real. ALL majesty and honor belong to the Lord. "Strength and Beauty are in His sanctuary", refers to the Lord's power and presence being felt always in His sanctuary(church).
Verses 7-13a:
Give unto the Lord, because He is "WORTHY". It ALL belongs to the LORD. We are to bring "offerings" unto the Lord. "Offerings", not only refers to money, but it refers to our time, our praise, our worship, our singing, etc.... "Beauty of Holiness", refers to the LORD being Holy. Therefore, we are to be a people of Holiness. We are to show the Lord reverence, because He is Holy. God does not regard earthly material things as beauty. Beauty to the Lord is a life of Holiness that we as true born again christian's should be living. "The world also is firmly established", refers to there being no more chaos in the world, when Jesus comes to rule and reign over the whole world from Jerusalem(prophecy). All of nature will bow down and worship the Lord.
Verse 13b:
The Lord will judge righteously. Those who truly believe in the Lord will be judged righteously, because they have totally surrendered to the Lord. The righteous shall receive their reward of being in heaven with Jesus for eternity. The Lord will judge the wicked(sinners). This also includes the "luke warm" christian's. Their reward(punishment) will be hell, a place of torment, for eternity.
*The Lord gives us a choice to choose our reward. The reward of the true righteous one's is to be in heaven with Jesus forever. The reward(punishment) of the wicked(sinners), is hell for eternity.
*Which will you choose today?nbsp; Heaven or hell.
