Prepare
Opening Prayer
Father, thank you for this day and for the opportunity to read your Word. Bless and care for us as we read, and lift our hearts to you. In Jesus' name, amen.
Read
Scripture Passage
Psalm 96
A Song of Praise to God Coming in Judgment
1 Oh, sing to the Lord a new song!
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord, bless His name;
Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.
3 Declare His glory among the nations,
His wonders among all peoples.
4 For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised;
He is to be feared above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
But the Lord made the heavens.
6 Honor and majesty are before Him;
Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.
7 Give to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
Give to the Lord glory and strength.
8 Give to the Lord the glory due His name;
Bring an offering, and come into His courts.
9 Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!
Tremble before Him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns;
The world also is firmly established,
It shall not be moved;
He shall judge the peoples righteously.”
11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;
Let the sea roar, and all its fullness;
12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it.
Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before the Lord.
13 For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth.
He shall judge the world with righteousness,
And the peoples with His truth.
The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Ps 96.
A — About
What Is This Passage About?
All nations and peoples are called to sing, proclaim God's salvation, declare his glory, and worship the Lord above every false god. The Creator reigns as the good King who will return to judge the world with righteousness and truth, causing all creation to rejoice.
B — Best Verse
Which Verse Best Summarizes the Passage?
Psalm 96:7-9
Bryan explicitly says he underlined verses 7-9. They summon every family of peoples to give the Lord his due glory and strength, bring an offering, worship in holiness, and tremble before him. Deborah separately chooses verses 11-13.
C — Called or Christ
C — Called to Do
Praise and pray to the one true Lord in both hard and good times. Worship the King above every false god and rest in the righteousness of the coming Judge who always rules well.
Devotional Study
Transcript of the devotion. Minor transcription errors may remain.
Okay, now everyone can have a little bit more space. There you go, Nathan. Okay, there you go. Deborah, there's your tea. Do you guys think our friends online have their tea? I hope so. Ooh, or their coffee. Yeah, hopefully they have their tea or their coffee. Oh, Daddy should get rid of his hat. Well, good morning and welcome to Coffee and Devotions.
This is where every day we get together, we get into God's Word, and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, we will make it through all the wisdom literature. That's right, we'll make it through all the wisdom literature. Well, this morning we are at Psalm 96, so why don't we go ahead and we'll have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll get into God's Word.
How's your tea today? Good. Alright, well let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for the opportunity now that we have to read your word. Father, we pray that you would bless us and care for us as we read. Let our hearts be lifted up to you, in Jesus' name.
Amen. Alright, here we go, Psalm 96. Oh, sing to the Lord a new song. Sing to the Lord all the earth. Sing to the Lord, bless His name. Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples. Sing to the Lord.
Oh, right here. Oh. For the Lord is great. For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised. He is to be feared above all gods. For all gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Honor and majesty are before Him. Thank and beauty are in His sanctuary.
Oh, okay. So verse 4 says, He is to be feared above all gods. So there's all sorts of gods? No. No? But it says right here, he's to be feared above all gods. But in verse 5 it says, all the gods of the people are idols. That's right, all the gods of the people are idols. Who made the heavens and the earth? God. That's right. Alright, here we go, Deborah, verse 7 through 9. Give to the Lord, O family, these of the peoples. Give to the Lord glory and strength. Give to the Lord, do His name. The glory, do His name. Bring an offering and come into his court. Oh, worship the Lord in beauty of holiness.
Tremble before him, all the earth. Say among the nations, the Lord reigns. The world also is firmly established. It shall not be moved. He shall judge the peoples righteously. Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad, let the sea roar in all its fullness. Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before the Lord, for He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness and the people with his truth.
Okay, so we need to ask ourselves A. What is this about? B. What's the best verse to summarize? And C. What are we called to do in response to it?
So what do you think this is about, Daniel? This is about Jesus. You think this is about Jesus? What do you think, Nathan? I think this is about that God is to be praised above all gods. Okay, God is to be praised above all gods. What about you, Debra? What do you think this is about? That the Lord will come back and and judge the earth with righteousness. That's right, that's right. So God is to be praised above all gods, right? Give to the Lord glory and strength. Just Israelites or all people? All people. But just the Israelite nation, right? All nations, that's right. All nations.
All peoples are to worship God, and we know that it's the Lord who's going to come back, and He is going to what? He's going to... He has saved us, right, but it says in verse 13, He shall... He shall judge the world. He shall judge the world, but He's going to judge it as a bad king would, right? No, He's going to judge it righteously. That's right, as a good king he's going to judge with righteousness. What do you guys think you would underline in your Bible as the best verse?
What do you think, Deborah? I think 11 through 13. Oh, so you guys were like 11 through 13. I underlined 7, 8, 9. What would you guys underline in your Bibles as the best verse to summarize this? Alright, so let's do this last part. Ready? C, calling. What are we called to do in response to this? What do you guys think? Praise the Lord. You think you should praise the Lord? What about you, Debra? Yeah, praise the Lord. Yeah, praise the Lord. What about you, Daniel?
Pray to Him when we're in hard times. Pray to Him when we're in hard times? Yeah, is He still the Lord even in the hard times? Is he the Lord in the good times? No. Yeah, he's always the Lord. So praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Are you praising the Lord? Let's go ahead and pray. You guys ready? Father, thank you so much for this day. Thank you that we have a King who judges in righteousness.
Thank you that you are a God who is above all gods. That you are not a false God. You are not some puny God. You're not Buddha. But you are the king of the universe. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. You're right, Dan. Well, the Lord bless you today. May you praise the one true and living God and rest in His righteousness. We'll see you tomorrow. Bye. Bye!