Psalm 96, An Evangelism Psalm

Introduction

I invite you to be turning your Bibles to the ninety-sixth Psalm this morning. The ninety-sixth Psalm will be our text here in just a moment. First of all, to those who are visiting with us, we thank you for joining us on this day as we come to worship our great God. Praise his name and now to go to his word, to be inspired from it, to be instructed by it. And certainly we at South Bumby have many reasons to be thankful, and several of you would have seen another reason to be thankful this morning as the whole entire Babiera family came in, including our brother Tommy, and we’re so thankful that he is well and able to be with us, and let’s continue to pray for his continued recovery.

For those who are visiting with us, what we are doing at our nine o’clock service is we are looking at a psalm that we would have read the prior week in our weekly Bible reading. And typical every week we’ll have two to three, maybe even four psalms, and sometimes we’ll pick out multiple of those, but this morning we’re just focusing on the ninety-sixth psalm, and ask if you would to read that with me at this time. There the psalmist says, Oh, sing to the Lord a new song. Sing to the Lord all the earth. Sing to the Lord, bless his name, tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples. For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised.

He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols. But the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him. Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory, do his name. Bring an offering and come into his courts. Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness, tremble before him all the earth. Say among the nations, the Lord reigns, yes, the world is established, it shall never be moved. He will judge the peoples with equity. Let the heavens be gladdened, let the earth rejoice, let the sea roar, and all that fills it, that the field exult and everything in it.

Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth.

A typical outline for this psalm would simply be a song of praise. And you might look at a few reasons that are given for praising our God in this psalm. You may take, for instance, the first six verses and say that God is to be praised because he is greater than the idols. And you may take the rest of the Psalm and say that God is to be praised because he is to come back and to judge. And those are principal points of the psalm. But in examining the psalm and us looking at it this morning, I wanted to focus on the evangelistic aspects of this psalm. For this truly is a psalm of evangelism. A psalm of proclaiming good news.

Lost during the days of Eli with the battle with the Philistines, that Ark had been brought back after the Ark of the Covenant had been taken into the idol temples of various gods of the Philistines and the various plagues that have broken out among the Philistines, and so it is sent back to Israel. But it had not been brought back into the house of God for some time. And now David is bringing the ark into Jerusalem and there to be placed in the tabernacle. If you look at 1 Chronicles chapter 16, this great song of thanks that David gives, beginning in verse 23, sing to the Lord all the earth, tell of his salvation from day to day, declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples.

And I’ll not take time to read all that this in the morning. But you go from verses 23 through 33, and it is Psalm 96. So whether or not the psalm was already in existence, and David just brings it into his song of thanksgiving, or whether Psalm 96 is simply taking a portion of David’s great song of thanks and making that this separate psalm, we don’t know, but it doesn’t really matter. It’s inspired by God, and it is a great psalm of praise. But as I mentioned, it is really a psalm of evangelism. I want to just look at this a little bit closer this morning and break down the points of what this means for spreading and telling the good news. Start again in verses 1 through 3.

1. Sing, Tell of His Salvation, Declare His Glory

Oh, sing to the Lord a new song. And if you’re one who makes the habit of outlining or marking in your Bible, you may just make some marks of all the imperatives that we are to do, the commands that are given to us, and just know what they say. For instance, in the first three verses, you have sing, sing, sing, bless his name, verse 2, tell of his salvation, or if you’re reading from the New American Standard, it will say, proclaim, declare, verse 3, or tell, depending on your translation. So this is instruction to God’s people to sing his praises, tell his good news, and declare his glory. Over and over again, that instruction is given. Of course, you’re also familiar with this idea of the new song.

This is one of seven instances in the Old Testament where this idea of the new song takes place. Now, when we think of new song, of course, we think of the song that we sing. And so there is a definite song that we have that we think of, the new song, and we think, oh, do we have to sing all three stanzas? It gets a little tiring, especially if you’re singing tenor. But that’s not what the new song is. It’s not a particular song that we have in our song books. It’s not even a particular song that the Old Testament people knew. A new song is simply a song based on a new experience with God. It is a fresh song, you may say. It is a song that has new meaning because of God’s works among his people.

For instance, go back to the 40th Psalm, Psalm 40. And just note what is said in the first three verses there of Psalm 40. Psalm 40 and beginning in verse 1. This is one of those psalms of deliverance, and where David had been praying to his God and God had delivered him. And he says in verse 1, I waited patiently for the Lord. He inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction out of the miry bog and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. So here was David in peril, and here the Lord has rescued him. Verse 3. He put a new song in my mouth. A song of praise to our God. Many will see in fear and put their trust in the Lord.

So the new song that David is speaking of in Psalm 40 is not the same song that the Psalmist is talking about in Psalm 96. But it is an idea of a new expression of thanksgiving to God because of what God has done for his people. And so even when you read in Revelation, for instance, about the new song. That’s what is meant. That’s what is intended. A new experience of what God has done for his people, a new reason to give thanks and to praise our great God. So the instruction in Psalm 96. Sing to the Lord a new song. Sing to the Lord all the earth. Sing to the Lord, bless his name, tell of his salvation from day to day. The idea of telling of his salvation or proclaiming is in essence the idea of what we would talk about evangelizing.

The same word is used if you would like to turn over to Isaiah chapter 52. In Isaiah chapter 52 and in verse 7, a passage that would be familiar to most of us because of Paul’s use of it in the book of Romans. Isaiah chapter 52 and in verse 7, where there the prophet says, How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, and says to Zion, your God reigns. Paul would make reference to the preacher, the one who takes the good news, the one who spreads God’s good news. And that is what the psalmist is saying in Psalm 96. Tell the good news. Tell this to the nations.

Again in Isaiah 61 and in verse 1. A passage that Jesus would use of himself. Isaiah 61 and verse 1. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. Our Lord, of course, said that was fulfilled in himself. His mission was to come here to bring good news to the poor. And he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison bars to those who are bound. What is the psalmist saying here? Praise the name of your God, and in doing so, tell others about him. If you think your God is this glorious, if he is worthy of you singing praises to his name, if he is worthy of you blessing his name, then tell that to the nations.

2. The Gods of the Peoples Are Worthless Idols

Proclaim it to others. Because they need it. And that’s the point of the next section, if you will, in verses 4 through 6. Why is it that the nations need to hear Israel proclaiming the good news of who their God is? For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. He is to be feared above all gods, for all the gods of the peoples are, and the English standard here adds the adjective worthless, worthless idols. Well, there’s a reason why the English standard adds it there. Your translation may simply read idols. The word giving there for idols is simply the matter of something that is worthless. For instance, in Job, in the book of Job, when Job is speaking to his friends, and he refers to them as worthless counselors.

The word that Job uses there for worthless is the same word the psalmists use here for idols, or that is translated as idols. You need to proclaim the good tidings of God. You need to proclaim the praises of God to those around you, because those around you, the other nations, they are worshiping that which is worthless. And of course, the prophets, whether it be Jeremiah or Isaiah, they will go on about this idea of the worthless idol. Isaiah in picturing this image of the man who goes out and chops down a tree, half of the tree he uses for fire, the other half he concocts into an idol, and then he bows down and worships to it. And the Lord is saying, What are you doing?

You are changing and exchanging me for that. We’ll talk about that for those who are in the Jeremiah class in Jeremiah the second chapter this morning, about how Israel exchanged their glory for that which was worthless and empty. That’s what God is saying here in the Psalm. The psalmist is saying, proclaim his praises to others, because they are worshiping that which is worthless. Those idols will help them nothing. They cannot do anything, whereas opposed to Jehovah, he made the heavens. He’s to be feared more than the idols because he’s the one that made the heavens. And splendor and majesty are before him. Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. And this is just simply making the contrast. Yeah, the idol which is worthless, but then you have God who is typified by splendor, majesty, strength, and beauty.

3. Ascribe to the Lord, O Families of the Peoples

In other words, the psalmist is saying the nations need to hear about God. What they worship is nothing. But the one you worship, O Israel, is the one who is clothed in splendor and majesty. They need to know about him. And so he continues in verses 7 through 9. If you will proclaim the praises of your God to the nations, then here is what the nations can turn around and do. Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples. You’ll see here, there’s a subject change. We’re no longer just talking about Israel who was to proclaim the tidings of God to the nations. Now the nations are being commanded. So the nations of the families of the peoples, they are to ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

They are to ascribe to the Lord the glory due to his name. And they should bring an offering and come into his course and worship the Lord and the splendor of holiness tremble before him all the earth. And again, if you just have the habit of marking in your Bible, just note all the things that the nations are to do. Ascribing to the Lord these various qualities, bringing an offering to him. It’s the idea of those who are vassals. There is the emperor or there is the king, his vassal subjects. They bring him an offering. Well, the nations need to understand that there is a king on high. God reigns. He is the one who is clothed in strength and in beauty. And they need to come before him with their offering.

And they should worship him. In saying that they are to ascribe to the Lord glory and strength, the glory do his name, the point has been made and well made. They are to ascribe to the Lord the very qualities that could never exist in an idol. That piece of wood or that piece of stone that they are bowing down before, they cannot truly ascribe to that glory and strength. But if they will only know about Jehovah, then they can come to Jehovah and they can ascribe to him the true strength and glory that he possesses. So so far here’s what you have. Seeing Israel, God’s people being intended in the first three verses, you sing the praises of your God. You proclaim tidings of him to the nations.

4. He Comes to Judge the Earth

Because the nations are worshiping that which is worthless. But if they will come to know the true God, then they can ascribe to him the glory that is due to his name. They can bring their offerings to him and they can worship him. Because, verses 10 through 13, he is ultimately coming to judge. Say among the nations, the Lord reigns. Yes, the world is established, it will never be moved. He will judge the peoples with equity. Three points made about God in this verse. The Lord reigns. And then you may skip to the third point about how he will judge. But notice the one that’s in the middle. The world is established, it shall never be moved. He’s not speaking of a future event in that case.

He is talking about the one who acknowledges the reign of the Lord, even though they live in a world where it seems that everything is uncertain. Yet, due to the fact that the Lord does judge, and the Lord certainly will ultimately judge, everything is firmly established. It’s the idea of constancy in a world where there is no constancy, where everything is shifting and changing, and people don’t know which way to go. And yet it said, if you will acknowledge that the Lord reigns, then truly the world is firmly established. It’ll not be moved. And the Lord will judge with equity. Now, oftentimes also, when we think of judgment, we think of the negative. You know, there are, and I won’t quote the sign exactly, on the I-65 going between Montgomery and Birmingham.

There are some signs along the highway, a pretty big stretch of land there that I’m assuming is privately owned. And the signs there are go to church or the devil will get you.

And certainly that is true. The Lord is to be feared because the Lord reigns. He will judge. But I want you to note what is said here about the judgment of the Lord. Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice. Let the sea roar, and all that fills it, let the filled exult and everything in it. Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness. There is the idea of joy, that all of creation will be joyous at the judgment of the Lord. And maybe this is even what Paul hearns to in Romans chapter 8, as being how the creation was subject to futility and how it is groaning even now.

But the idea is that everything that God has created will be joyous when the Lord returns. And why is that? Because in the Lord’s judgments, everything is made right. If you think that there is an unjust world in which we live, and that there is certainly an injust world in which we live, then the judgment of the Lord is something to be looked forward to because ultimately everything is made right. The creation will exult in that. The creation will have joy in that because the Lord is going to make everything right. And so you’ve got two sides to the judgment of God. There’s the imperative to me to follow him, to praise his name, because he will judge me. But if I am following him, if I am praising his name, if I am ascribing to him all the things that the psalmist says, and I am living my life according to that, then I can even be joyous because the Lord is going to make everything right.

5. Evangelism Begins With the God I Serve

And if the nations would only ascribe to the Lord the glory that he is due, then when the Lord judges the peoples in righteousness and also in faithfulness, then they too could be exultant and rejoicing in the Lord. What’s some practical points you and I could take today from this psalm? What is involved in evangelism? Telling good news. There is a part of evangelism of telling the gospel, of sharing the gospel with people that is inherently negative. That is, the word of God exposes sin. And that has a point that none of us look forward to. We do not look forward to exposing sin in others, letting the word of God exposing sin. But yet it is inherent in evangelism. But that’s not where evangelism starts.

Evangelism does not begin with showing and telling people, oh, you’re wrong because God said this and you’re doing this. Evangelism begins with acknowledging in your own life, here is the God I serve. In singing and blessing the name of God in your life, and then in telling that to others. Why do people care that what they’re doing is wrong if they don’t care in the fact that there is one who is great, who is glorious, who is loving, who is forgiving, and who wants us. And that’s what the psalmist is saying. Sing and proclaim and tell this message to the nations because they are worshiping and following that which is worthless. We see that in our nation. We see even among ourselves sometimes, people that are falling after things that will not gain and will not profit.

And we want them to acknowledge and to see that if they’ll only follow God, then they’ll have what they need. So proclaim his praises. None of us will be successful evangelistically if we are not, first of all, proclaiming his praises in our daily lives. We’re not living thankful lives and praising his name and glorifying his name. And then we can tell others about why. We can give an explanation for the hope that is within us. Because the world needs it. And if we’ll proclaim the praises of God, then we have the assurance of the psalm. They too can come and ascribe to the Lord the glory to his name. Because the Lord will judge. He will judge in righteousness and faithfulness. And while many will be convicted because of sin, yet there will also be exceeding joy.

Conclusion

Even the joy of the creation. Because the Lord will make everything right. We’re going to sing the first stanza of an imitation song. It’s appropriate to do so this morning because we’re talking about good news. We’re talking about the God whom we serve and the praises that are due to his name. Come and ascribe to him the glory that is due to his name. Give your life to him. Have your sins forgiven. And if we can aid you in some way, won’t you come, even as we stand and sing?