Rejoice Before the Lord

PRAYER PRACTICE

Out loud, pray for God to speak to you through your reading. Praise God for giving us His word. Ask the Spirit to help you read with faith, and to live out what you hear from God through the passage.

 

DAILY READING

Psalm 96

 

DEVOTION / REFLECTION

Rejoice Before the Lord

by Pr. Dave Mann

 

Psalm 96 is an energetic psalm. The psalmists exhorts us to worship the Lord with our whole heart. I would like to draw your attention to five verbs of exhortation in Psalm 96.

 

Sing to the Lord!

In your morning time with the Lord, you might want to consider singing – out loud – in full voice. Whether or not you have the voice of a soloist, do it! If you live with others in you house, you might want to sing outside when you are walking. Sing your favorite worship song, or even make up a song to the Lord.  😊

 

Bless his name!

This exhortation might seem a bit odd. How can I bless the Lord? Normally we think of the one with greater capacity blessing the one with lesser capacity.  Isn’t this exhortation backwards? Not at all. Parents will tell you that when their children express love for their parents or when they act in an honorable way, the parents feel blessed. When we express sincere love for God, when we live in an honorable way in accord with his Word, we will bring joy to his heart! We can indeed bless the Lord.

 

Declare his glory among the nations!

On three occasions in this psalm, we are exhorted to state to the nations the glory of God, using different synonyms – declare, tell, say.  The word “nations” in the Old Testament refers to all those who are outside of the covenant community of God’s people.  Part of our worship is sharing the gospel among the people who do not yet know the love of Christ.  Our personal application of “the nations” could be another ethnic group in a different part of the world, or it could be those from our own ethnic group who live nearby but who do not yet know God’s grace.

 

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name!

We are to credit, to attribute, to acknowledge that God is worthy of the glory that is rightfully his.  We do not add to God’s glory, as though we could increase who God is.  But we can increase our own awareness of his rightful glory.  In this exhortation, we preach something of a sermon to ourselves.

 

Worship the Lord!

When we worship, we acknowledge God’s worth.  He is worthy of my time.  He is worthy of my energy.  He is worth my life.  He is worth all that I am, and so much more!

 

O Lord, full of splendor and might, you are worthy of all glory and honor.  May my life bring you glory this day, in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

 

Goodbye 2013

Psalm 96:1-4 (NIV)  Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth.  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.  For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods.

What a perfect note to end the year on!  Sing to the LORD...Declare His glory...Great is the LORD! It is a privilege to compose words for this, the final day of 2013.  

What has the year been like for you?  Are you happy to see it end and are you looking forward to a better time of things in 2014?  We all have these seasons.  I must say, while 2013 had its challenges, I grew and I learned so much because of those very difficulties.  I especially learned of God's faithfulness.  I was reminded daily of His great love for me.  It was a good year and I am looking forward to 2014.

But, even if it weren't a good year, even if everything fell apart for me, God is still worthy to be praised. I know that God deserves my love and obedience regardless of my perception of how things are going for me.  I will, "Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples" at all times. It might not be easy, but I will do it anyway.

A valuable lesson learned over the past three years is that God sees the big picture.  He knows how the actions of today impact tomorrow's results.  He cares so much for you and me that He is willing to accept our doubt and questions and love us anyway.  He made us to learn from the bad times, and to remember all the dark yesterdays as we walk toward a bright today.

So, as we prepare to enter 2014 with hope and expectation we will not be disappointed no matter what lies ahead. We need only "sing praise to the LORD" during good times and bad. Happy New Year!

Psalm 96