Praising God's Salvation - Psalm 96

INTRO

I was convicted this week.

Hannah and I finished our Christmas shopping for Samuel on black Friday.

We are planning a trip to Pigeon Forge to look at Christmas lights and enjoy time together.

All that to say, it’s not that I’ve not thought about Christmas and advent…it’s just I’ve been thinking of it very lackadaisically.

I had a difficult time writing this sermon this week.

It was a full week.

With our move on the horizon, lots of meetings full days and nights.

I just wasn't getting time to sit down with the text.

So when I finally did I think I was a bit sad we are done with Philippians which is one of my favorite books.

I wasn’t really feeling an Advent sermon.

I think a lot of us have heard Christmas sermons ad nauseam.

So I am sitting there staring at a blank page and...

That’s when I was interrupted.

I had a meeting where I sat with someone who is really hurting.

In that moment the spirit stirred me to remind them that their biggest need isn’t a temporary solution to the current issues, they needed a savior.

I sat down after they left and began to work on the text.

I fired up spotify and decided to listen through our set-list today.

I started with a new song we are gonna sing today since you know, Psalm 96 says sing to the Lord a new song.

All at once it was like an explosion happened.

I realized I too need a savior.

I realized that the first Christmas started with a worship service.

The hosts of heavens filled the sky declaring Glory to God in the highest!

I sat at my desk bawling my eyes out.

Now maybe that seems goofy to you.

Right?

Maybe your big fight is that you don’t feel Christmasy enough this year.

Maybe you think, “Billy that’s great but I am so stressed about work, bills, end of the semester. I’m so full.”

I pray the Spirit stirs you the same way this morning that you see your biggest need is that you need a savior.

Here’s the bid idea:

Big Idea: Our greatest need is salvation so let us join with all creation in praising God for His huge salvation!

This Advent we are doing a short sermon series called Beautiful Savior, King of Creation.

We will be walking through creation Psalms taking a cosmic view of the Christmas story.

Today we are starting with Psalm 96 praising God for his salvation.

and it starts with proclaiming God’s salvation to the world

I. Proclaim Salvation to the World (v. 1-3)

Psalm 96:1–3 (ESV)

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!

The Psalmist doesn't pull any punches, he get’s right to the point.

Sing to the Lord, bless his name, tell of his salvation from day to day.

This is worship that turns to witness.

What this means is upon dwelling on God, you can’t help but sing and praise because of what God has done for you!

I think of Acts 4:20

Acts 4:20 (ESV)

for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”

This is a realization that results in praise.

In these opening verses, the “new song” is our response to salvation.

When we receive God’s grace, we shout for joy, and immediately our worship turns to witness.

An illustration of this comes from the ministry of Peter Cartright, he was a nineteenth-century circuit-riding evangelist, who once preached at a conference led by a very proper seminary student.

When Cartright gave the invitation, a huge man with monstrous, muscular arms came forward and, after throwing himself down, began to pray.

He was a sinner, and he told God so loudly.

At this point the seminary student rushed over and said, “Compose yourself, brother, compose yourself.”

But Cartright pushed him aside, slapped the repentant man on the back and said, “Pray on, brother; there’s no composure in hell where you’re going. Seek Salvation!”

Finally the man broke through to God, leaped to his feet, and with a howl of delight hugged the seminary student.

He picked the student up, and went dancing around, praising God at the top of his voice.

Indeed, for him worship became witness.

Have you experienced the grace of God friend?

Have you worshiped with your life in such a way that it proclaims to those watching the glory of God.

I remember going to a Christian music festival with my brother.

We saw a band that I am sure many of you would probably not like, Sleeping Giant.

They are heavy, they yell.

Their vocalist though has lived an incredibly difficult life.

He shared his story.

How his life had been one of betraying others, and abandoning the ones he loved, how it almost ended in him taking his own life.

Then he met Jesus. (command a room, at a hardcore show and kids are silent)

This guy can’t help but worship.

He ended up leading us in a 20 minute version of Oh Praise Him.

Now look I know standing with a bunch of sweaty people singing Oh Praise Him, He is Holy at the top of your lungs may not sound like much to you.

But when you realize the reality.

Friend what do you deserve?

For many of us we have been scrolling, putting together wish-lists, everything in our society says we deserve the best, whatever want when we want it.

But friend you know better.

You know the things you’ve done, the things you’ve thought.

Romans 6:23 (ESV)

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

What do you deserve?

Death and Hell....but the free gift of God has been given you.

We should sing and dance and join in declaring the truth everywhere.

Christmas should cause our hearts to overflow as we celebrate and remember the one who has come into the world to make all things new!

The verb rendered “proclaim the good news” (bāṡar) means “to bear good tidings, to herald, or to preach”

Here, this message of “God’s gladness” centers in His “salvation” (“help, deliverance”); it is gospel and must be announced.

This reverberates through the Psalms to a group of shepherds witnessing the angels of heaven in the sky singing a new song of worship.

Luke 2:10–11 (ESV)

And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

This year before you get caught in the frenzy ask the question am I proclaiming the salvation of Jesus?

Am I broadcasting to a world that their is hope, there is salvation.

It isn’t fleeting.

It isn't one day of gratification in unwrapped gifts, and half met expectations, it’s in an eternity of unending joy.

Coram Deo...Declare his praises.

That’s where this Psalm starts, we proclaim Salvation and naturally that takes us second

II. Abandon your idols and turn to the Lord (v4-9)

Psalm 96:4–9 (ESV)

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 due his name;

bring an offering, and come into his courts!

Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness;

tremble before him, all the earth!

We are called to abandon our idols.

Now you may not bend a knee to a statue or worship a false God of the ocean like the Psalmist is addressing.

But if you take a sober assessment of your life you will see that you too struggle with idolatry.

Tim Keller says it masterfully

An idol is anything more important to you than God. Anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God. Anything you seek to give you what only God can give. Anything that is so central and essential to your life, that should lose it, your life would feel hardly worth living. _Tim Keller

That quote comes from Keller’s book Counterfeit God’s.

A lot of you know that I am fan of the Cleveland Browns…About a year ago I wanted to get a jersey.

Now I had to be careful because my Jersey collection is basically a collection of failure.

From Josh Gordon to Johnny Manziel I kept investing in disappointment.

So after a playoff berth. I decided ok let’s do it but this time let’s save money.

So I got a counterfeit Baker Mayfield Jersey.

Clearly not my brightest moment.

As you know he was traded to the panthers where he as been abysmal.

So now I have a cheapo counterfeit disappointment hanging next to the others.

I don’t know if you have bought a cheap fake online or while in the city.

Fake watches and fake jerseys are relatively harmless.

But the counterfeits of our age are not limited to material goods.

There are countless cultural counterfeits that promise peace, meaning, and contentment.

They tell us, “You can be amazing, your life will finally have real meaning, true fulfillment is found right here.”

Convinced that we’ve found a fast track to the good life, like the ancient Israelites, we “spend [our] money for that which is not bread, and [our] labor for that which does not satisfy” (Isa. 55:2).

We set up idols in our hearts and expect them to deliver that which can only come from the Giver of life—the God who made us and saves us.

Idolatry is expecting a counterfeit to deliver what can only be wrought by the real thing. Tim Keller writes in Counterfeit Gods that idolatry occurs when we think,

“If I have that, then I’ll feel my life has meaning, then I’ll know I have value, then I’ll feel significant and secure” _Tim Keller

We live in a time and place that has produced specific idols, which are uniquely destructive.

We are inundated with images of a lustrous lifestyles that promise significance but proves counterfeit when we return home and try them on.

Like the fake jersey in my closet, these idols unravel at the seams.

Counterfeits are peddled to us on every corner.

It’s so easy to purchase the cheap fake, hoping to satisfy our longings.

But it will not go well for us if we don’t align ourselves with what is real—what is actually good and beautiful and true.

Here’s the best news for those of us who have ever purchased a fake: the heart of our Father in heaven is merciful and abounding in grace.

No matter which counterfeits we have pursued, no matter which idols we have adored, our Father stands ready to offer everlasting life and deep peace to us, even before we realize we bought a lie. 

Even as we labor for that which does not satisfy (Isa. 55:2), our God says in Isaiah 55,

“Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live” (Isa. 55:2–3).

We were made for the very real, the very true, and the very good feast of the Father.

So, come.

As tempting as the idols of our age are, they all fall short.

They will not satisfy. They are knockoffs and care nothing for you soul or mine.

But the Father awaits. And his feast will truly satisfy.

Verses 7-9 calling us to ascribe to the Lord, that means to credit to God worship and glory

It’s the logical response from those who hear what God has done.

It’s a call to see there is one who is at work in us in our world, that one day we will sit at the feast of the one who has redeemed the world.

this leads us to the dramatic conclusion to

III. Worship The King of Creation (v.10-13)

Psalm 96:10–13 (ESV)

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 glad, and let the earth rejoice;

let the sea roar, and all that fills it;

let 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.

He will judge the world in righteousness,

and the peoples in his faithfulness.

The Christian philosopher, Dallas Willard, wrote that God is the most joyous being in the universe.

He says that we pay money to get a tank with a few tropical fish and enjoy looking at their beauty as they swim around.

But God has oceans and seas of fish which he constantly enjoys.

We might enjoy a song or some music, but he simply experiences all that is good and beautiful and right.

Willard says, “All of the good and beautiful things from which we occasionally drink tiny droplets of soul-exhilarating joy, God continuously experiences in all their breath and depth and richness.” (Dallas Willard)

Creation praises God by being and doing what he created it to be and do.

The sound of a three-year-old laughing when his grandpa chases him down the hallway.

The young calf in the barnyard jumping and mooing in the springtime.

The birds singing in the early morning hours outside an open bedroom window.

The rustling of the leaves of corn in a field ripe for harvest.

The bubbling water running down a mountainside after a summer rain.

The heart beating faster with excitement as a dog fetches a stick in a park.

All these sights and sounds are music to God’s ears and beautiful in his eyes.

He is the most joyous being in the universe.

Except these sights and sounds are too often silenced and turned into something ugly.

All of us feel the effects of the fall.

I was driving down the road thinking of this Psalm and I saw two deer that had been hit by cars.

Their bodies were broken and bloated. Blood seeped onto the road.

Pollution has dirtied the skies and contaminated his water.

Whole species of animals are extinct, no more to be seen or heard in their created wonder.

So many animals cower in fear and try to make no sounds at all.

They don’t want to be seen or heard or they’ll be attacked and eaten.

Fires rage through drought stricken forests and once majestic trees rage red in flames and then turn black and die.

Hurricanes and tornadoes destroy wildlife and crops just as much as they destroy homes and cars.

The world is off. Creation it’s self knows it.

Even in our comforts creation loudly tells us that there is wrong that must be made right.

I remember the morning Hannah woke me up with tears because her beloved cat Watson couldn't use his back legs.

He had a stroke.

We had to say good bye to this wonderful little creature.

In our lives the tears can run down our cheeks when the visit to the doctor bring news we do not want to hear.

Romans 8 puts this ugliness and silencing of God’s creation into a few words. “For the creation was subjected to futility . . . We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly.”

How can Psalm 96 call us to praise the Lord when so much ugliness, groaning and silencing of his creation is all around us?

Because of God’s salvation.

We can praise and sing, because not only is God so big, not only is praise so big, but so is his salvation. “Sing to the Lord, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day.”

Don’t make God’s salvation too small.

It’s not just about ending up in heaven.

It’s not just seeing loved ones once again.

It’s not just being away from pain.

Yes, those wonderful blessings are a part of God’s salvation.

But his salvation is even bigger.

In Romans 8 creation hopes for the day it will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

Romans 8:23 (ESV)

And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

And that redemption of all creation began when stones sang out in praise.

Yes, stones.

Go back to a joyous day for Jesus and the disciples.

It’s a week before Jesus will hang on the cross.

I love how one writer Pictured the scene through the disciple John’s eyes.

We were approaching Jerusalem, and Jesus told two of us to go into a small village that was just ahead of us and find a small donkey, one that had never been ridden before.

He said one would be tied up just as we entered the village.

Well, when Jesus told us to do something, we did it.

Another disciple and I went and when we entered the village, the donkey was there, just as Jesus said. The donkey’s owners saw us untie the little animal and asked us what we were doing.

Now Jesus knew this would happen, and he told us to say, “The Lord needs it.” When the owners heard that, they let us take the donkey.

We got back and put our cloaks and garments on the donkey.

We set Jesus on its back. We threw more coats on the road.

People found palm branches and started to sing praises to Jesus. “Hosanna! Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord.” It was a victory parade.

Shouts and cheers. Praise and glory. All for Jesus.

Hundreds of people leading him into Jerusalem.

But not everyone was pleased.

The Pharisees, of course, did not like Jesus. I can still see them coming up to him and demanding that he stop the whole procession.

Then came Jesus’s answer, “I tell you if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

It sounded strange at the time.

Not quite a week later, the Pharisees got their wish.

They silenced Jesus.

No more words came out of his mouth when he died on the cross and his body was set in a tomb.

They chased his followers away.

We hid, quiet and alone, in an upper room, afraid for our lives.

Yes, the praises had stopped.

But then the stones cried out.

Yes, the stones.

On Easter morning, can you hear the sound they made?

Stone against stone. {RUB Stone against Stone]

The stone in front of the tomb rolling back and rubbing against the stone tomb.

The grinding sound is just what noise a stone is to make when a tomb is opened.

What gives some of the first sounds of praise on Easter morning?

The stones do as Jesus rises from the dead and the hope of redemption is born.

Now we return to today.

Yes, the redemption of all creation begins with Jesus!

What happened to his body, now alive and glorified, is the hope of not just you and me and all believers.

But the hope grows.

It is the hope of all creation.

All the earth and sea and heavens, all the trees and mountains and fields, look forward to the salvation Jesus will bring on the last day.

All of creation waits in eager anticipation for the day when Jesus will return and the ugliness, groaning, and silence will be replaced with the most joyous chorus of praise ever heard.

Conclusion

At Christmas time, an incredible piece of musical praise is Handel’s Messiah, especially the Hallelujah Chorus.

Listen to the words:

Hallelujah, for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth, Hallelujah! The Kingdom of this world is become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever, Hallelujah! King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, and he shall reign for ever and ever, Hallelujah!

Now imagine the birds are singing along with the sopranos.

The cows are mooing the bass line.

Elephants trumpet out in joyous adoration.

The fields are waving in harmony to the music.

The mountains have never stood more majestic.

Deer run and leap without fear.

A cat purrs so loudly, as a young girl holds it, that the Lord smiles.

And the rocks like cymbals repeat the sounding joy of the resurrected Savior who has returned as Lord of Lord and King of Kings, for he shall reign forever and forever.

Now that’s a “ginormous” salvation.

That’s our God who is bigger than we can imagine.

That’s the sound of praise we look forward to, but also the sound of praise we are already singing. Here gathered as a church, of course, but also on Tuesday afternoon, Thursday morning, and next weekend when we join his creation in being and doing what he created and redeemed us to be and do.

What do you deserve?

What have you been given?

Set your mind on Jesus.

Let us worship him.

Pray with me.

Do I see my need for a Savior? How can I make the salvation of God big in my life?

Where am I prone to seek the comfort of idols over and above seeking Jesus?

This Christmas how will I make time to be intentional about setting my focus on the longing of creation for the return of Jesus?

How can I posture my heart to worship?