Declare His Glory Among the Nations

Gratitude and praise is an act of faith

Faith is not BLIND

In fact, faith is the ability to see something before it becomes visible

or we could say it this way

Faith is living with confidence that something is true before it is obvious.

It is by faith that we say…

God is AWESOME

God is in CHARGE OF THE WORLD

Today’s psalm (96) is an “enthronement psalm”

there are several other psalms that fall in this category

celebrates the kingly reign of YHWH over the universe

Bold and audacious

It was one thing for an empire (Persia, Babylon, or Egypt)

to claim their god was king over the earth

but for TINY Israel to make this claim would seem ridiculous

It was sung

Part of the song David sung when he brought the ark into the tabernacle (1 Chronicles 16)

Sung in the daily worship after the Jews returned from exile

Picture this…

A tiny little nation

With a people who had been enslaved and ruled over for most of their history

With a tiny little rebuilt temple

Singing about how their god reigns over the whole earth

Psalm 96:1–3 ESV

1 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!

Calls Israel to sing and declare among

the nations (Hebrew - goyim)

all the peoples

Two layers of application for us

we are the goyim (Gentiles / nations / the peoples)

we are only here because the psalm has been fulfilled

someone told us how awesome God is

now we are adopted into Israel - this is our calling

we sing the new song

we bless his name

tell of his salvation from day to day

we declare his glory among the nations

we declare his marvelous works among all the peoples

Psalm 96:4–6 ESV

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.

The nations needed someone to tell them

Your gods are worthless idols

They aren’t helping you

They can’t deliver you

Idolatry is just as pervasive today

It’s just sneakier

We need someone to denounce our idols - THEY are WORTHLESS

Our neighbors need someone to denounce their idols - THEY are WORTHLESS

We wrongly define idolatry as

putting anything above God

adultery is not me putting another woman above my wife

adultery is trying to have another woman in my life besides my wife

idolatry is trying to have anything god-like in life besides GOD

Psalm 96:7–9 ESV

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!

This week there are lots of people

who will be thankful

but they don’t know WHO to THANK

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name

Are you a fan of cute little puppy dogs?

Do you like the way good food tastes?

What are your thoughts on LOVE?

My DAD invented all of that stuff!

Psalm 96:10 ESV

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.”

The Lord reigns

YHWH oversees the world

This seemed audacious to claim

Faith is living with confidence that something is true before it is obvious.

This has always been true

Jesus has fulfilled this in a whole new way

God’s kingship has been mediated through a HUMAN, Jesus

God reigns IN and THROUGH Jesus

Furthermore, we reign (humans reign) because Jesus is both GOD and MAN

But the reign of God and Christ

is not yet obvious

so it still takes faith to “say among the nations, ‘The Lord reigns.’”

They understandably think this is audacious

This is what EVANGELISM is, “Saying among the nations, ‘The Lord reigns.’”

Psalm 96:11–13 ESV

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.

This is Romans 8

The creation is groaning

It can’t wait for this day

The whole creation will rejoice when God comes as KING

The judgment of God

is not a bad thing

he will judge the peoples with equity (vs. 10)

fairness

evenness

there is injustice in the world, but

the Lord is coming

to judge the earth

in fairness

put everything right

someday, EVERYONE will know the Lord reigns, but right now it is only those with FAITH…

Faith is living with confidence that “the Lord reigns” before it is obvious.

The Lord’s reign means

Your salvation

Your forgiveness

Your adoption

Your TRANSFORMATION

Having faith means

Living in submission NOW

Announcing his reign to the world

Just as it was announced to you

I want to get more personal?

How do your life and words reflect confidence that the Lord reigns?

What are you doing and saying that ONLY makes sense if the Lord is King?

How you spend your money

How you worry or refuse to worry

How you treat people who have wronged you

What you prioritize

What you look at on your phone when no one else is around

The advice you give your friends

Every one of us has to respond to this GOSPEL MESSAGE every single day

By ignoring it

By submitting to it

Today and every day