The Call

We left off with v22, so lets start there. We are called as followers of Yahweh, to sing, play, praise and lift up our God. We are to Worship.

Pray confess and exalt our Father in all of it.

Psalm 94:22–23 “ But the Lord has been my defense, And my God the rock of my refuge. 23 He has brought on them their own iniquity, And shall cut them off in their own wickedness; The Lord our God shall cut them off.”

Cut them off - destroy. The final judgement is told to us even from the very beginning of creation.

Psalm 95:1–2 “ Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. 2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.”

Ephesians 5:19 “ speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,” Singing is usually a response of joy - James 5:13

Psalm 95:3 “ For the Lord (yhwh) is the great God, And the great King above all gods (elohim - deity).”

no man or angelic being compares. Many think the Elohim here mentioned are Angels that God put in charge of the nations and they fell.

Psalm 95:4–7a “ In His hand are the deep places of the earth; The heights of the hills are His also. 5 The sea is His, for He made it; And His hands formed the dry land. (anthropomorphism - the metaphor for God personally crafted this earth for us) 6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. 7 For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand…today if we would obey Him!

If he is not your God…

v7b could also end this section or begin the next, it works in both.

Psalm 95:7b–11 “ Today, if you will hear His voice: (if are his sheep) 8 “Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, As in the day of trial in the wilderness, 9 When your fathers tested Me; They tried Me, though they saw My work. 10 For forty years I was grieved with that generation, And said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts, And they do not know My ways.’ 11 So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”” (two gates/roads)

The primary question established previous is are you his? Is He yours?

They chose to not enter His rest, Sabbath - even here in Psalms the idea of a permanent rest was to come, Hebrews tells us we have this in Jesus and no longer under the law - Hebrews 4:9–10 “ There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.”

Psalm 96:1–3 “ Oh, sing to the Lord a new song! Sing to the Lord, all the earth. 2 Sing to the Lord, bless His name; Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. 3 Declare His glory among the nations (goyim - gentiles), His wonders among all peoples (ammim - paternal kin here fellow jews).”

Again I encourage you to look at the command and the directive. One would be sing to the Lord, the directive or descriptor is a new song.

Declare his glory! Where? Everywhere. To everyone. Matthew 28:19 “ Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”

Psalm 96:4–13 “ For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. 5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the Lord made the heavens. 6 Honor and majesty are before Him; Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary. 7 Give to the Lord, O families of the peoples, Give to the Lord glory and strength. 8 Give to the Lord the glory due His name; Bring an offering, and come into His courts. 9 Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth. 10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns; The world also is firmly established, It shall not be moved; He shall judge the peoples righteously.” (tik-tik) 11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; Let the sea roar, and all its fullness; 12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before the Lord. 13 For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, And the peoples with His truth.” (tik-tik)

Nuff said. Except this made me think of - Acts 17:30–32 “ Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, 31 because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” 32 And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, “We will hear you again on this matter.”” almost like its all connected.

Psalm 97:1–12 “ The Lord reigns; Let the earth rejoice; Let the multitude of isles be glad! 2 Clouds and darkness surround Him; (but soon they would know Him, born in a manger) Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne. 3 A fire goes before Him, And burns up His enemies round about. 4 His lightnings light the world; The earth sees and trembles. 5 The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the Lord, At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. 6 The heavens declare His righteousness, And all the peoples see His glory. 7 Let all be put to shame who serve carved images, Who boast of idols. Worship Him, all you gods. 8 Zion hears and is glad, And the daughters of Judah rejoice Because of Your judgments, O Lord. 9 For You, Lord, are most high above all the earth; You are exalted far above all gods. 10 You who love the Lord, hate evil! He preserves the souls of His saints; He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked. 11 Light is sown for the righteous, And gladness for the upright in heart. 12 Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.”

He preserves He maintains our SOULS, its what draws us - Romans 12:9 “ Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.”

Psalm 98:1–9 “ Oh, sing to the Lord a new song! For He has done marvelous things; His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory.

Isaiah 42:10 “ Sing to the Lord a new song, And His praise from the ends of the earth, You who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, You coastlands and you inhabitants of them!”

2 The Lord has made known His salvation; His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations. 3 He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. 4 Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises. 5 Sing to the Lord with the harp, With the harp and the sound of a psalm, 6 With trumpets and the sound of a horn; Shout joyfully before the Lord, the King. 7 Let the sea roar, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell in it; 8 Let the rivers clap their hands; Let the hills be joyful together before the Lord, 9 For He is coming to judge the earth. With righteousness He shall judge the world, And the peoples with equity.” (Ps96:13)

Sounds like a full band! Does this mean fog and lasers and singers roping down from the ceiling and pastors rising from the floor? No. This is intimate, intimate and personal while being congregational worship. Its not a performance.

Dont get caught up too much in the hows unless it breaks the scriptures. Then we have issues.

Discuss

Psalm 99:1–9 “ The Lord reigns; Let the peoples tremble! He dwells between the cherubim; Let the earth be moved! 2 The Lord is great in Zion, And He is high above all the peoples. 3 Let them praise Your great and awesome name— He is holy. 4 The King’s strength also loves justice; You have established equity; You have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob. 5 Exalt the Lord our God, And worship at His footstool— He is holy. 6 Moses and Aaron were among His priests, And Samuel was among those who called upon His name; They called upon the Lord, and He answered them. 7 He spoke to them in the cloudy pillar; They kept His testimonies and the ordinance He gave them. 8 You answered them, O Lord our God; You were to them God-Who-Forgives, Though You took vengeance on their deeds. 9 Exalt (raise on high/lift up) the Lord our God, And worship at His holy hill; For the Lord our God is holy.”

The worship the psalms speak of is whole life/body praise. Singing, playing, dancing, Exalting God, and His works. And He is holy. He shows us through the imperfect Moses, Aaron, Samuel, that He gives us testimony that we can love Him and praise him to all the World that He died for.

Discuss