Mark's Blog

Reading:  Psalm 96

Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all the whole earth.

Sing to the LORD and bless his Name;
proclaim the good news of his salvation from day to day.

Declare his glory among the nations
and his wonders among all peoples.

For great is the LORD and greatly to be praised;
he is more to be feared than all gods.

As for all the gods of the nations, they are but idols;
but it is the LORD who made the heavens.

Oh, the majesty and magnificence of his presence!
Oh, the power and the splendor of his sanctuary!

Ascribe to the LORD, you families of the peoples;
ascribe to the LORD honor and power.

Ascribe to the LORD the honor due his Name;
bring offerings and come into his courts.

Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness;
let the whole earth tremble before him.

Tell it out among the nations: “The LORD is King!
he has made the world so firm that it cannot be moved;
he will judge the peoples with equity.”

Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;
let the sea thunder and all that is in it;
let the field be joyful and all that is therein.

Then shall all the trees of the wood shout for joy
before the LORD when he comes,
when he comes to judge the earth.

He will judge the world with righteousness
and the peoples with his truth.

I sometimes forget that the psalms are song lyrics, written to be sung, not read as poetry? The psalms are beautiful poetry, but a song is so much more than just a beautiful poem.  I’ve often thought that if God had wanted us to just experience the words, then He would have had us read poetry at church, but instead He told us to sing to one another with music and words!

Our experience of  the great psalms of David is surely diminished for lack of the music; however, with many of the psalms, the musicality of the words themselves seem to overcome the absence of tone. Psalm 96 is one of those psalms that make our hearts sing even if our lips don’t move!

A new song bursts from our lips—not a cry of distress this time, not a lament of our own unworthiness, rather a song of “great tidings!”

And this song cannot be held back! It is a song for all nations, so we must sing loudly!  Gloria, Gloria – those are the words—simple words that the most primitive and the most civilized  understand and can sing together in unison or in harmony as directed!

Here are the choir members: the heavens hit the high notes, the earth the low ones, the sea thunders, the fields cover all the empty spaces so that no moment is without music! And don’t forget the trees because if you forget the trees, then you’ll miss out on the shouting for joy!

What a Great Concert!   What a Grand Chorale when all of creation sings!  What a Moment—when He Comes!