Listen here.
Welcome to
Devotions for Worship where we meditate on the appointed Scripture readings for
the upcoming Sunday. Thank you for being with me today.
I am Pastor Eric
Tritten from Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Hudson, OH.
This coming Sunday
is the 20th Sunday after Pentecost. As with the previous readings this week,
notice how this Psalm proclaims, “The LORD reigns!”
Psalm 96
Oh sing to the
LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD,
all the earth!
2 Sing to the LORD, bless his name;
tell of his
salvation from day to day.
3 Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous
works among all the peoples!
4 For great is the LORD, and greatly to be
praised;
he is to be
feared above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the peoples are
worthless idols,
but the LORD made
the heavens.
6 Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and
beauty are in his sanctuary.
7 Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the
peoples,
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
holiness;
tremble before
him, all the earth!
10 Say among the nations, "The LORD
reigns!
Yes, the world is
established; it shall never be moved;
he will judge the peoples with equity."
11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth
rejoice;
let the sea roar,
and all that fills it;
12 let the field
exult, and everything in it!
Then shall all
the trees of the forest sing for joy
13 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. (Ps. 96:1-13 ESV)
Read again,
slowly
Comments
As we look at
this Psalm, we can divide it into three parts. First v. 1-6 lead us to sing
praise to God for his greatness, next v.
7-10 extend an invitation to all people to worship the Lord, and finally v.
11-13 call all creation to worship God.
In 1 Chronicles
16 King David uses an expanded version of this psalm to sing God’s praise when
when he brought the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem. There is another
tradition that says that this psalm was used when the temple was rebuilt and
dedicated when the Israelites returned from captivity. It is clearly a psalm of
praise.
We who know the
Lord are used to singing the Lord’s praise and declaring his glory in our
worship services. In a way this stands as a witness to the world, but the psalm
would have us continually tell the nations – all people – of the great deeds of
our God. We have seen the greatest of these deeds in these days, the deeds of
Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection for our salvation, so we should not
hesitate to proclaim the wonders of him who called us out of darkness and into
his marvelous light.
Our presence in
this world and our worship of God may seem arcane and outdated to some, however
we know God’s greatness in Christ, we know his incredible love and salvation.
It only makes sense for us to sing about him, to declare his greatness, to
invite and urge all people to believe in him, and to even call the whole
creation to cry out in worship.
Prayers
O God, you are
great and glorious. You are worthy of our praises, the praises of all people
everywhere, and even the praises of the whole creation. Thank you for making
yourself known to us. Thank you for revealing the hidden glory of Christ’s
cross whereby you saved us and made us your people. Forgive us for times we
have been slow to properly praise you among those who do not believe. Forgive
us for being nervous about what others would think if we praise you. Fill us
with your Spirit and with the joy of this psalm so that we would sing boldly
and call all people and all creatures to worship you. We pray these things in
Jesus’ name; amen.
Thank you so much
for using Devotions for Worship, I pray that our time together has blessed you
and given you something to meditate on – some reminder of God’s grace to rattle
around in your brain – for the rest of the day.
One of the things
we can do to help us meditate on God’s word is to memorize it. Psalm 119:11.
Memory Verse:
[Jesus] said to them, "Therefore render to Caesar the things that are
Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." (Matt. 22:21 ESV)
Would you do me a
favor? If you got something out of this devotional time, would you like and/or
share it on Facebook, Twitter, or wherever you do social media? That would help
me get the word out, and hopefully help these devotions be a blessing to
others.
God bless you!
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