PSALM 96 - Hail to the King

Introduction

A few weeks ago the United States Army celebrated the 250th anniversary of its founding, which also coincided with President Trump’s 79th birthday. The prospect of a military parade taking place on Bad Orange Man’s birthday was evidently too much for certain segments of the populace to contemplate, and so an estimated 4 to 7 million people nationwide turned out for what they called “No Kings Day”—a demonstration against what they claimed were the President’s acts of tyranny by closing government agencies like USAID, deporting illegal immigrants and nationalizing the California National Guard to deal with riots in Los Angeles. Carrying signs like “No thrones, no crowns, no kings”, protesters marched to voice their opposition to the idea that the United States was being ruled by a monarch instead of a president.

Psalm 96, however, would have us affirm that in fact the United States (along with every other nation) is in fact ruled by a King!

Psalm 96:2–5 LSB

Sing to Yahweh, bless His name; Proclaim good news of His salvation from day to day. Recount His glory among the nations, His wondrous deeds among all the peoples. For great is Yahweh and greatly to be praised; He is more fearsome than all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But Yahweh made the heavens.

Psalm 96 is one of the “Enthronement Psalms” here in Book IV of the Psalter, including Psalm 93 and Psalms 95-99. This group of psalms is characterized by the statement “YHWH reigns” (v. 10, cp. 93:1; 97:1; 99:1), and share a similar theme of God’s sovereign rule over all of Creation. These psalms are arranged here in Book IV as a way of emphasizing the “return to the foundations” of God’s covenant with David, and here in these psalms we see the promise of the Davidic Kingdom growing far beyond the borders of Israel to encompass all the earth—notice how many times the word “all” is used to describe the extent of YHWH’s glory in our text this morning:

Psalm 96:1 LSB

Sing to Yahweh a new song; Sing to Yahweh, all the earth.

Psalm 96:3–5 LSB

Recount His glory among the nations, His wondrous deeds among all the peoples. For great is Yahweh and greatly to be praised; He is more fearsome than all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But Yahweh made the heavens.

Psalm 96:9 LSB

Worship Yahweh in the splendor of holiness; Tremble before Him, all the earth.

Psalm 96:12 LSB

Let the field exult, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy

So the momentum of this psalm is clear—the praise of YHWH as King must extend to every place and every people (even those who chant “No kings!” in the streets...)

And the first three verses of Psalm 96 make it clear that it is God’s covenant children who are responsible to take the lead in bringing that praise of YHWH to the peoples:

Psalm 96:1–3 LSB

Sing to Yahweh a new song; Sing to Yahweh, all the earth. Sing to Yahweh, bless His name; Proclaim good news of His salvation from day to day. Recount His glory among the nations, His wondrous deeds among all the peoples.

You and I are the ones who are to sing this song before the nations; we are the ones who are to bless His Name and proclaim His glory to all people. So the way I want to summarize this psalm today is that it commands us to

EXALT our King so that the NATIONS will be DRAWN to Him

So what does this look like in our day to day lives? How do we lift up and magnify God in such a way that the peoples of the earth (and specifically, the people chanting “No Kings!” in the streets!) will turn to Him and own Him as their King?

The first six verses of our text teach us what to sing—what is the message that we are to take to the nations? Here in the opening of the psalm we are called to sing

I. A song to the GLORIOUS King (Psalm 96:1-6)

Look again at verse 2—

Psalm 96:2 LSB

Sing to Yahweh, bless His name; Proclaim good news of His salvation from day to day.

So the glory we are to recount among the nations, the wondrous (miraculous) deeds we are to share with the people, is that

Our God is a MIGHTY SAVIOR (vv. 1-3)

Psalm 96 appears to be taken from the song that David sang on the day that the Ark of the Covenant was brought up to Jerusalem—we read about it in 1 Chronicles 15-16. When Israel first came into the land under Joshua, the Ark was settled in the Tabernacle at Shiloh (1 Samuel 1). When the Philistines captured the Ark in 1 Samuel 5, it became a curse to them, and they returned it to the city of Beth-shemesh (1 Sam. 6:19), and from there eventually to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite (2 Sam. 6:10-11).

So as the Ark is coming up the hill from Obed-Edom’s house to Jerusalem, this is the song that they are singing— “proclaim the Good News of YHWH’s salvation!” “Here is the Ark that represents the covenant He has made with His people; the mercy seat covered by the cherubim, the jar of manna inside with the copy of the Ten Commandments—this is the God that brought down Pharoah’s kingdom in fire and ruin, made a path through the Red Sea and sustained us through 40 years in the wilderness, Who caused every enemy in the land of Canaan to fall at our feet!”

And here in Book IV of the psalter this psalm is a reminder that the miraculous power of YHWH did not stop at delivering His people from Egypt, but that same power has freed them from their exile in Babylon! The song that we are to sing before the nations about our glorious King is the song of His power to save His people!

Christian—how are you singing that song in your life? He has rescued you no less miraculously from your bondage to the world, the flesh and the Devil; He has just as surely extended the power of His mighty right hand to bring you from death to life, from darkness to light—how often do you consider the miracle of your salvation? How often are you brought up short as you realize what your life would be if He hadn’t saved you from your past life? What your life was before He rescued you? When you discipline your mind and heart to contemplate what you were before Christ—and what you would be now if it weren’t for Him—you can hardly keep from singing! You can hardly keep from telling the world around you about the mighty Savior Who has rescued you!

This is the song that we are to sing to the nations about our glorious King—first, that He is a mighty Savior, and second, that

Their gods are EMPTY KNOCKOFFS (vv. 4-6)

Look at verses 4-6:

Psalm 96:4–6 LSB

For great is Yahweh and greatly to be praised; He is more fearsome than all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But Yahweh made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before Him, Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.

There is a play on words here in Hebrew that is lost in our English translations—the Hebrew word for “gods” is of course “elohim”—and the word for idols is “elilim”, literally “nothings” or “emptiness”. The elohim of the nations are elilim. They are counterfeits, forgeries, false gods that are literally nullities. If we wanted to express it in English, we could say “Those mighty beings are mighty useless!” (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 1060). Crossway Bibles.)

Once again, consider the history of the Ark of the Covenant that was the subject of this psalm—when the Philistines captured it in 1 Samuel 5 and set it before their god Dagon, what happened? That empty, lifeless fake god literally fell to pieces before the Ark:

1 Samuel 5:4 LSB

But they arose early the next morning, and behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of Yahweh. And the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off on the threshold; only the trunk of Dagon was left to him.

1 Samuel 5:4 LSB

But they arose early the next morning, and behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of Yahweh. And the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off on the threshold; only the trunk of Dagon was left to him.

The sanctuary of Dagon was littered with the shards of the smashed idol that fell before God—but YHWH’s power made the heavens—His sanctuary is filled with strength and power and beauty!

There really aren’t any more statues of Dagon around anymore—if at all, perhaps in some dusty old museum somewhere—but they certainly aren’t being worshipped as god. Dagon has been tossed on the dustheap of history; that is the fate of every so-called god or goddess or power that claims to rival YHWH the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe.

There is no power in heaven or earth that can rival the power of your Savior, Christian—there is “no power on earth, no scheme of man” that can make either promises or threats to you that can stand compared to Him. There are no authorities or governments that can demand your worship, no bank accounts or career paths that can guarantee your security, no medical breakthroughs or exercise plans that can prosper your body—there is nothing that can demand your allegiance and worship besides the God Who made the Heavens and the earth, and nothing more worthy of praise than Him!

Psalm 96 calls us to exalt this King in such a way that the nations will be drawn to Him—as we sing a song to the glorious King, and in verses 7-9 as we present

II. A testimony to the WORTHY King (Psalm 96:7-9)

Psalm 96:7–8 LSB

Ascribe to Yahweh, O families of the peoples, Ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength. Ascribe to Yahweh the glory of His name

You can see the pattern here between these verses and verses 1-2, can’t you? “Sing to YHWH… Sing to YHWH… Sing to YHWH...” and “Ascribe to YHWH… Ascribe to YHWH… Ascribe to YHWH...”

To “ascribe” to someone or something means to assign them credit for or blame for something—we ascribe the success of the football team’s season to the coaching, for instance. Note carefully that verses 1-2 are a call for God’s people to sing to the King in worship. Here in verse 7, it is the nations that are called to action:

Psalm 96:7 LSB

Ascribe to Yahweh, O families of the peoples, Ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength.

The word “families” is also rendered “clans of the peoples” elsewhere in Scripture. The idea here is of nations defined by family or ethnic affiliation—they are called by the psalmist to give credit for strength and glory to YHWH’s Name.

Our world is absolutely riddled with ethnic groups loudly ascribing strength and glory to themselves, isn’t it? It’s a natural tendency of man to want to always ascribe the best of everything to ourselves—but the nations here are called instead to credit God with glory and strength, because

He is worthy of our GLORY to Him (cp. Psalm 20:7)

The psalmist says to the nations, stop boasting in your own strength, stop pointing to your own power or glory, and ascribe glory to YHWH.

Just as God’s Word calls the “No Kings” protestors to acknowledge that YHWH is their King, in the same way the flag-waving celebrations during the Army’s anniversary parade are called not to put their boast in the glory of our nation’s military might:

Psalm 20:7 LSB

Some boast in chariots and some in horses, But we will boast in the name of Yahweh, our God.

To love and honor your nation is a good and holy thing—the Fifth Commandment says to “Honor your father and mother”, and so honoring our Founding Fathers and all of the generations that have gone before us to establish our nation is good and right and obedient before God. But Psalm 96 reminds us as a nation that our love for our country is a subordinated love—it is a love that submits to a greater love for God Himself.

YHWH alone is worthy of our nation’s (and every nation’s) worship to Him—and in Verse 8 we read that

He is worthy of our DILIGENCE for Him (vv. 8-9)

Psalm 96:8–9 LSB

Ascribe to Yahweh the glory of His name; Lift up an offering and come into His courts. Worship Yahweh in the splendor of holiness; Tremble before Him, all the earth.

The Hebrew word translated “offering” here is used elsewhere in the Old Testament to refer to a “meal offering” (Leviticus 2)—it was not a blood sacrifice, but an offering prepared from grain that had been threshed and ground into flour and mixed with incense and oil and baked. When you brought a meal offering to God, it was a representation of your labor and diligence and hard work for His glory.

This is how you exalt your worthy King, Christian—He is worthy of your diligence for him. Not as a means to win His favor or atone for your sin—the OId Testament meal offering was always presented to God in conjunction with a blood sacrifice, because “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin” (Heb. 9:22). You cannot earn God’s favor with your diligence, but you can honor Him with it!

Christian, show the world that your King is worthy of your diligence in all that you do. The context here in Psalm 96, clearly, is diligence in your worship—come before Him ready to fully engage in your offering of your presence. It means putting your phone away; it means carefully attending to the Scripture reading as you participate; it means working to learn new music and learning to sing well; it means attending to the preaching of the Word with a willing heart and an honest desire for the Spirit to work through His Word. Your diligence in worship does not make you righteous before God, but it shows that He is worthy of your best.

And if He is worthy of your best in worship on the Lord’s Day, then certainly He is worthy of your best all the rest of the week—as Paul wrote in Colossians 3:23

Colossians 3:23 LSB

Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men,

As you honor Him by your diligence in worship, so honor Him before the world in your work the rest of the week so that those who hear your Christian testimony will also see your Christian diligence in your honesty, integrity and faithfulness and understand that the God you serve is a God worthy of excellence.

We are called to exalt our King so that the nations would be drawn to Him; we sing a song to the glorious King, we bear a testimony to the worthy King—and in the last four verses of Psalm 96 we proclaim

III. An announcement of the COMING King (Psalm 96:10-13)

The proclamation of the King’s authority is made in Verse 10:

Psalm 96:10 LSB

Say among the nations, “Yahweh reigns; Indeed, the world is established, it will not be shaken...

The phrase “YHWH reigns” appears (as we said) only five times in the entire Old Testament—once in 1 Chronicles 16 (where these psalms came from) and four times in Psalm 93, 96, 97 and 99. Three of those references include the promise that because He reigns, “the world is established, it will not be shaken!” We noted a couple of weeks ago in Psalm 93 that this means that the way God has made the world is not up for debate—His throne is not shaken, His rule is not contested by the attempts of a fallen world to redefine it.

Here in Psalm 96 the emphasis seems to be on the attempts of fallen nations to redefine justice from the way YHWH has established it:

Psalm 96:10 LSB

Say among the nations, “Yahweh reigns; Indeed, the world is established, it will not be shaken; He will render justice to the peoples with equity.”

The word “equity” is a loaded term the way our culture uses it. The difference between “equity of opportunity” (where everyone has an equal chance at success) and “equity of outcomes” (where everyone must have the same level of success no matter what) is a stark difference between true justice and institutionalized injustice (those who “form trouble by statute”, as we saw a few weeks ago in Psalm 94:20!)

But the message that we have to deliver to a world that is tearing itself apart over its ideas of “justice” and “equity” and “fairness” is that YHWH reigns over all of it! Justice—real justice—is coming! It might seem like the world is being torn apart by foolish politicians and senseless judges and corrupt laws, but YHWH has established justice, and it will not be shaken!

The psalmist depicts the joy of God’s coming to render justice to the world in verses 11-12:

Psalm 96:11–12 LSB

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; Let the sea roar, as well as its fullness; Let the field exult, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy

The promise that the King is coming to render justice among the peoples is a promise

To deliver His CREATION from GROANING (vv. 11-12; cp. Romans 8:19-21)

The Apostle Paul reminds us that the world we live in is suffering because of our fall into sin:

Romans 8:19–21 LSB

For the anxious longing of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

The whole creation is pictured here in this Psalm as looking ahead to the day when YHWH comes to judge the earth in righteousness:

Psalm 96:13 LSB

Before Yahweh, for He is coming, For He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness And the peoples in His faithfulness.

The creation all around us will rejoice at the coming of YHWH to judge the world—He is coming to deliver His creation from its groaning, and He is coming

To deliver His RIGHTEOUSNESS to His REDEEMED (v. 13; cp. Rev. 5:9-10)

The psalmist calls us to exalt our King by singing a new song of His coming to judge the world in righteousness—the Day is coming when He will put everything right. Every miscarriage of justice, every crooked politician, every corrupt judge, every unfair boss will be put in their place. Every slandered victim will be vindicated, every lying accuser will be revealed, every injustice everywhere in every place will be made right.

The psalmist who wrote Psalm 96 knew that this was true; he knew that YHWH would bring that perfect righteousness to this fallen and broken world, but he did not know where or when it would happen.

Centuries later, the Apostle Paul would stand in the middle of Athens, surrounded by images and altars to the false gods of the Greeks, and would announce that this promise from Psalm 96:13 had been fulfilled:

Acts 17:30–31 LSB

“...God is now commanding men that everyone everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He determined, having furnished proof to all by raising Him from the dead.”

The King that the psalmist called Israel to worship in Psalm 96 was revealed when He stepped out of His tomb three days after His death, raised from the grave to be seated above all other thrones and powers, more fearsome than any so-called god or goddess, splendor and majesty before Him in the strength and beauty of His sanctuary.

The new song that we sing is the song of the New Covenant that Jesus sealed with His blood on the Cross—not a covenant for one people only—not just for the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—but for every family in every nation in every place for all time! The new song that we sing is the song sung to the Risen Christ in Revelation 5—

Revelation 5:9–10 LSB

And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the scroll and to open its seals, because You were slain and purchased for God with Your blood people from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. “And You made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign upon the earth.”

So Christian, this is the New Song that we are called to sing—to exalt our King Jesus so that all the nations will be drawn to Him:

Psalm 96:1–13 LSB

1 Sing to Jesus a new song; Sing to Jesus, all the earth. 2 Sing to Jesus Christ, bless His name; Proclaim good news of His salvation from day to day. 4 For great is Jesus Christ and greatly to be praised; He is more fearsome than all gods. 5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But Christ made the heavens. 7 Ascribe to Jesus Christ, O families of the peoples, Ascribe to Christ glory and strength. 8 Ascribe to Jesus the glory of His name; Lift up an offering and come into His courts. 9 Worship Christ in the splendor of holiness; Tremble before Him, all the earth. 10 Say among the nations, “Jesus Christ reigns; Indeed, the world is established, it will not be shaken; He will render justice to the peoples with equity.” 11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; Let the sea roar, as well as its fullness; 12 Let the field exult, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy 13 Before Jesus Christ, for He is coming, For He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness And the peoples in His faithfulness.

So what does it mean to sing this new song and exalt this Risen King in such a way that the nations are drawn to Him? It begins with your acknowledgement day by day of His mighty work of salvation in your life, and continues with the realization that if He could work such a miracle as saving you, then there is no one He cannot save! That conviction, when it settles into your bones, means that there is no one you can possibly meet that is outside of His gracious call to salvation.

So make it your aim—at least once this week—to specifically give credit to Jesus Christ for something He has done for you. As you are talking with an unbelieving co-worker or neighbor or friend, tell them of some great work Jesus Christ has done in your life.

Recount His wondrous deeds among the people you live and work with—for people who make their work or their family their idol, who trust in their bank account or their government to care for them, tell them specific ways that Christ has provided for you in ways that those so-called gods of money, career, government or relationships never could.

Show a watching world that Christ is worthy of your diligence. What does the priority you place on worship on the Lord’s Day tell the people in your life about the worth of Christ to you? Is gathered worship with His people in obedience to His sovereign command the highest priority for your day, or does attending the gathered worship of YHWH with His people rise or fall in your priorities depending on how much you want to sleep in or whether the kids have soccer that afternoon or whether it’s the only day you have to do chores around the house or whether the baby was fussy last night or whether it’s a great day to be out on the lake?

Christian, the Word tells you to “Lift up an offering and come into His courts” (v. 8). What if you looked out the window on Sunday morning at that beautiful lake-weather and said, “Lord God, it’s a beautiful day to be out on the lake, but it is an even more beautiful day to go hear the Gospel!” And then lay that beautiful day as an offering at His feet as you come into His presence to worship.

“Father in Heaven, the baby has been teething all week and none of us slept a wink last night. But we are going to bring ourselves—fussy baby, yawning parents and all—as an offering into Your presence in worship this morning because You are worth it!”

“Lord, I’ve been working double shifts all week, I’m dead on my feet and Sunday is the only day I can sleep in—but even if I have to get someone to jab me in the ribs all day to keep me awake I wil be in Your presence with Your people this morning because I can’t imagine anywhere else I would rather be than in your courts!”

Examine your heart this morning in light of God’s Word—what does the announcement that “YHWH is coming to judge the earth” elicit in you? The news that Jesus Christ is returning to judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in faithfulness makes the stones themselves cry out with joy—the stars in their courses dance at the thought; the ocean breakers double over with laughter at the prospect. Walk through the forest on a breezy day and you will hear the trees singing for joy at the thought that their Creator will soon arrive and put the groaning of His Creation to an end once and for all.

Does that thought make you want to leap for joy, or is the thought of coming face-to-face with the infinite righteousness of the thrice-holy God something you’d rather not dwell on? Because He is the King, and because there is nothing He does not see, nothing He does not hear, nothing He does not remember, the righteousness that He brings to that Judgment Day will be utterly final, utterly holy, and utterly inescapable. That Day is set, the Crucified and Risen King, YHWH in human flesh, the eternal Second Person of the Trinity Jesus Christ will one day come in all His splendor and all His glory and all His authority and power to set every wrong right.

Will He be the Judge that justifies you for the things you have suffered, or will He be the Judge that visits upon you every last sin you have ever committed against His righteousness? Will you stand vindicated on that Day, or will you go down into eternal judgment away from His presence? Will you laugh and dance and sing with the Creation on that Day or will you that Day mark the beginning of your eternal misery under the terror of His wrath?

This is the call to you this morning—while there is still time. Tremble before Him in repentance, renounce the empty, false gods of money, sex, power and pride that have ruled you. Stop singing your own praises, stop singing along with the world’s tired old song of broken promises and false hope, and make this the day when you began singing a new song—a song to bless the Name of YHWH as you proclaim the Good News of His salvation through your King, Jesus Christ!

BENEDICTION:

1 Timothy 1:17 LSB

17 Now to the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION:

How does our culture react to the idea of being ruled over by a king? How does that attitude compare with the message of Psalm 96?

In what ways do we tend to want to glorify our own lives, our own people, or our own nation? Is it wrong to love our own family? How do we balance our affection for our own nation in a way that gives glory to God?

What specific example of Christ’s faithfulness to you can you prepare to share with someone this week? Who are some people in your life who do not know Christ as Savior that you could talk to about the good things that God has done for you?

In his 1984 book In The Gap: What it means to be a World Christian, author David Bryant said “Make it your aim to be able to lay your head on your pillow every night able to say ‘I know that my life has counted today for the sake of the Kingdom of God, especially for those currently beyond the reach of the Gospel.’” How can you make your life count this week for peoples who have not yet heard the Good News of the reign of King Jesus?