My career as a bully was short-lived and thankfully so.
I was probably 13 when I decided to try pushing around a kid a year or two younger but half my size. I figured he’d slink away in fear. I was surprised and shocked by the ferocity of that tiny prepubescent boy. Nobody had told me the smallest dogs bark the most, but I learned my lesson that day.
In some regards, the tiny nation of Israel (and its sister, Judah) was the little punk kid of the ancient Near East. Situated in one of the most prime pieces of real estate along the Mediterranean Sea, it was involved with the major players of the ancient world — Egypt, Babylon, Assyria, Persia, Greece, and Rome. Every rising empire had to deal with Israel and Judah. And every one of them beat the tar out of Israel and Judah.
That tiny size and history of being pummeled by the superpowers of the ancient world never deflated the identity of this hardy people. And this was especially the case with their faith in Yahweh. If anything, their faith was audacious. Where the surrounding nations believed in regional deities confined to their corners of the world, Hebrew faith was in the one true God. All others were frauds.
This wasn’t bluff and bravado. This was sincere belief. From Abraham on, these people knew the God were dealing with and his global aspirations. They were dealing with the God of everyone; the God who made everything; the God who would be worshiped everywhere.
Psalm 96 worships out of the astounding scope of this theology.
Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all the earth.
Sing to the LORD, praise his name;
proclaim his salvation day after day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous deeds among all peoples (Ps. 96:1-3).
We start with a triple blast of singing to Yahweh, followed by a triple blast of speaking about his salvation, glory, and marvelous deeds. Anything repeated three times in Hebrew literature is the ultimate. In Isaiah 6, God is holy, holy, holy. And here we are to sing, sing, sing. This is exuberant worship in overdrive. And it’s followed by the ultimate in words spoken about God.
Not only this, but the scope goes far beyond Israel. Again, I can’t overemphasize the audacity of it.This is about all the earth, all the nations. This people who had been invaded by many nations would invade all nations with the worship of their God. Stunning. The word “all” litters the psalm. Everyone will hear of his glory and talk about the amazing things he’s done.
What we call the Great Commission isn’t just a Matthew 28 thing. It’s a Genesis 12 thing and a Psalm 96 thing. Our Lord is God. For everyone. Everywhere. We need to sing it. We need to proclaim it.
For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
he is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the nations are idols,
but the LORD made the heavens.
Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and glory are in his sanctuary (Ps. 96:4-6).
The reason why all should sing his praises and all should speak of his great fame is because he’s worthy of it. He truly is great. And in contrast, all the other so-called gods or notions of “God” are just pretenders. They’re empty nothings. No substance.
Where other gods are merely handmade idols, Yahweh is the Maker of the heavens, the realm of the divine. The nations had their gods, but Yahweh would replace them.
Splendor. Majesty. Strength. Glory. This is the God we encounter in his local sanctuary. He is worthy of the praise we offer him, the praise all people will offer him. And so we turn to the nations and call on them to acknowledge him.
Ascribe to the LORD, all you families of nations,
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 his holiness;
tremble before him, all the earth.
Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns.”
The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved;
he will judge the peoples with equity (Ps. 96:7-10)
I’m stunned by the audacity of this.
All nations are called on not just to acknowledge the supremacy of Yahweh. They are to enter his courts, his temple in Jerusalem. They are to offer their wealth to him there. These nations that had no fear of or interest in Israel would tremble before the God of Israel.
“Yahweh reigns” reduces the basic biblical assertion to two words. Our God is King. The New Testament does the same when we encounter the name and title “Jesus Christ.” Christ isn’t the last name of Jesus. Christ (Greek for Messiah) means “anointed one.” But anointed for what? To be the king of the world. So whenever we say the words “Jesus Christ,” we’re saying something equivalent to “Yahweh reigns.” We’re saying our God is King and none other.
And what will he do with this kingship and all the glory and honor we pour out on him? Will he simply bask in our adulation and indulge in the wealth we offer him like our movie stars and sports stars do?
No. What he does with his power and authority is judge the peoples with equity. He uses his strength not as a bully, but to bring justice to an often unjust world.
He firmly established the world when he created it and he keeps it firmly established as he judges the world. Injustice throws the world off-kilter. God’s justice restores equity.
It’s not just humanity that benefits from God’s justice. All of creation rejoices in his rule and justice.
Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
let the sea resound, and all that is in it.
Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them;
let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.
Let all creation rejoice before the LORD, for he comes,
he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples in his faithfulness (Ps. 96:11-13).
The psalmist is like the conductor of a massive symphony orchestra and each of the parts of creation are like the different sections of musicians. He holds out his hand to the heavens and then to the earth and then to the seas and they swell as a vast string section of violins, violas, cellos, and double basses. He nods and they are joined by the creatures within them, blasting trumpets, trombones, tubas, and french horns. Next, he waves to the cultivated fields and their different crops and they join in with clarinets, flutes, oboes, and bassoons. Finally, he raises a hand to the trees of the forests and they join with the rumble of kettle drums and other percussion.
Heavens (sky), earth, and sea together represent the totality of the geological creation. And the psalmist sums it up by calling on all creation, leaving no one and nothing out. Rubies and hills, basset hounds and red shafted flickers, ponderosa pines and aspens, and we humans too — every corner of creation is included without exemption.
Why join this merry worship band? Again, because God is coming to judge the earth. He is coming to set right all that is wrong. He will do this for humanity. But he will do this for the rest of the created world as well. If there is any question of the environment’s love of its Creator and of his love for all of it, Psalm 96 answers it definitively.
God judges with justice (my preferred translation of the Hebrew word tsedeq in this context) and with reliability (my preferred translation of the Hebrew word emeth in this context). We can count on him to restore what is broken and wrong, unlike other gods or notions of “God,” which merely perpetuate what is wrong. And because of this good rule, we join in this immense creation choir in praise.
Psalm 96’s vision is audacious and beautiful. Everyone and everything everywhere joining in one joyful song of praise.