08/20/F – Let the Whole Earth Sing

OT: “Sing a new song to the Lord; let the whole earth sing to the Lord. Sing to the Lord, bless his name; proclaim his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his wondrous works among all peoples. For the Lord is great and is highly praised; he is 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, you families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name; bring an offering and enter his courts. Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness; let the whole earth tremble before him. Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns. The world is firmly established; it cannot be shaken. He judges the peoples fairly.” Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice; let the sea and all that fills it resound. Let the fields and everything in them celebrate. Then all the trees of the forest will shout for joy before the Lord, for he is coming — for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with his faithfulness.” (‭‭Psalms‬ ‭96:1-13‬ ‭CSB)

Psalm 95 was a call for the people of God to enter His presence with thanksgiving and praise, bow and worship before Him, and hear and obey His word. Psalm 96 is a call for the whole world – all the peoples of the earth – to give glory and honor to the Lord and worship Him in the beauty and splendor of His holiness.

God is not merely the God of Israel or the God of the United States. God is not merely the God of the Jews or the God of the Christians. The Lord God is the Creator, Sustainer and God of the whole earth. As such, He loves and desires to save and bless everyone, everywhere. The Lord reigns! As the King and Judge of all, He and He alone rules and judges fairly and righteously… and in order to save and bless fairly and righteously, He only saves and blesses those who surrender to Him by faith and submit to His righteous word, will and ways. But as Paul said in Romans 10, “How, then, can they call on Him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about Him? And how can the hear without a preacher? How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.”

Gods and idols made of wood, stone or steel cannot bless, save or give life. The god of this world, the devil, may “bless” for a time, but his ultimate long game is to rob, kill and destroy. It is only the Lord God who is willing and able to save, bless, and bestow eternal life – and He is ever calling all peoples to repent from their own unrighteous ways and return to Him through faith in the life, death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ.

Oh, that the whole earth would truly sing songs of praise to the Lord and bless His name. What a different place the world would be. But much of the world has never heard of the beauty and splendor, the goodness and righteousness of God… or they have been blinded to the truth by the God of this age. So what do we do? How do we – those who have experienced the salvation, blessing and life of the Lord God of Creation – get the good news of God’s offer of salvation out to the rest of the world?  We ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. We ascribe to Him the glory that is due His name… not silently in our hearts, but out loud for all the world to hear. Proclaim His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations. Celebrate His wondrous works among all the peoples. That is our call and commission, that the world may know and that peoples from the whole earth may one day receive of His everlasting life and  sing His praise.

Prayer: Lord, You are good and You are great… You are greatly to be praised. You are beautiful and splendorous in Your holiness and righteousness. The greatest human right is the right to know of Your offer of life, blessing and salvation through faith in the life, death and resurrection of Christ. Remind me and embolden me by Your Holy Spirit to always ascribe to You the glory that is due Your name and proclaim Your salvation from day to day. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.