1 O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth.
2 Sing unto the LORD, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day.
3 Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people.
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 nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens.
6 Honour and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
7 Give unto the LORD, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the LORD glory and strength.
8 Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts.
9 O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth.
10 Say among the heathen that the LORD reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously.
11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof.
12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice
13 Before the LORD: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.
God is worthy to be praised in the presence of the heathen, and true believers will glorify Him by advocating His Lordship over all.
Jealousy for God’s praise wells up within us, especially when we see men serving false gods that wrest worship away from the true and living God. Whether it is Americans skipping worship for professional ballgames or pagans bowing before idols of wood and stone, we cannot help but point out the vanity of their worship. It is both stupid and wicked. Why do they insist upon worshiping the mere creations of men, when they ought to be worshiping the Creator of heaven and earth? This psalm calls for bold worship and bold preaching! There is no doubt or hesitation here. We exalt in our God before men and declare His kingship over all the earth.
Towards the end of the psalm, we rejoice in the expectation that God will finally come to judge the earth. Any and all injustices suffered will be put right in the end. Our hearts rest in this truth. While others may walk around with furrowed eyebrows, stressing out over the injustices in the world, we are absolutely confident that God will see to it that every wrong will be set right at the final judgment.
Verses 1–2. Is there ever cause to write new music for God’s praise, or should we use the same words and tunes used over thousands of years of church history? Because every culture and every generation expresses itself differently, there will always be new expressions of praise in the worship of the true and living God. This should not change the basic content of worship or the emotional fabric of worship. As Jesus instructed us in John 4, we must worship God in spirit and truth, and this framework of spirit and truth is rightly defined for us in Scripture, especially in the Psalms. Yet still, God gives His people the liberty to develop new forms of praise for use in worship. When men impose a certain form over thousands of years and disallow any development in music across cultures, they curtail Christian liberty and human expression. For our singing to be acceptable to God, we must express God’s truth in music that is actually believed in our hearts. We should also use the emotions, tones, rhythms, and tunes that best accommodate the truths expressed. When Ambrose (A.D. 400) or Bernard of Clairvaux (A.D. 1130), or Charles Wesley (A.D. 1760) writes a hymn that powerfully expresses the deep truths of the incarnation, the atonement, or the resurrection of Christ, the hearts of God’s people are refreshed in adoration and praise. They feel the passion of the words. They agree with the words in faith. And they join in unison with millions of others throughout the entire world to lift a new song of praise to God above!
Note also that God wants His people singing everyday. Three times the psalmist repeats the command to sing. Singing ought to be the warp and woof of our daily life. While most world religions do not teach their followers to sing, this ought to be a basic constituent of every Christian church. As early as eight or nine years old, children should be able to sing in tune, even in parts. When families sing God’s praises throughout the day, their children will grow up in an environment of godliness.
If not the primary theme of our songs, God’s salvation for His people is of central importance in our music. While the pagans sing their mournful ballads and meaningless chants, our lyrics are filled with hope in God’s salvation. The heathen sing of drunkenness, death, and hopelessness, but we sing of resurrection. They mourn over lost love, but we exalt in the love of God that will take us to glory!
Verses 3–6. Some have thought that the Old Testament Jews neglected the call to missionary service, but this is not true at all. The Jews did proselytize among the heathen, and some did come to know the true and living God through this early missions work. This psalm speaks to these early efforts, and at the same time calls us to declare His glory among the heathen. Under the old covenant, the messages of salvation may have reached an occasional Ruth or Rahab. But now, all nations need to hear of the glory of God’s redemptive plan fulfilled in Christ. By God’s grace, they respond and millions are joining the songs of praise.
There are several things to declare, the first of which are God’s mighty wonders. These may include blessings of healing that God has brought about in the lives of our family and friends but should especially include the greatest of God’s works wrought in history—works of redemption and deliverance at the Red Sea and at Calvary. Good preaching will also include comparisons between the gods of the people and the God who created the heavens. Let’s face it; the gods of the Greeks, the demon gods of the pagans, and the money god of the modern state never created anything! What is more, the gods of the pagans and humanists are made to look like men—fallible, puny, and something less than sovereign. We need to mock these gods, even as we speak of the God Who created heaven and earth in His sovereignty and orchestrates all things according to His perfect plan. Every great pagan empire has collapsed along with its “great” god-like leaders. It is for us to preach these things with boldness before the nations!
Among earthly kings, we know something about these characteristics of “honor and majesty.” When earthly kings are honorable men and take positions of power, they command respect from their people. But no one deserves honor more than the one absolute Authority over heaven and earth, revealed to us in the Scriptures as Yahweh God. If the president of the United States is on the tenth level of authority, God takes a position 10,000 times higher than this mere man. Angelic beings created to be even higher than man surround His throne in glory. Ten billion galaxies stand between our little globe and that exalted throne of Divine majesty!
But the text also refers to “beauty and strength” in his sanctuary. Combining these two words presents a truly awe-inspiring vision of our God. Beauty is one thing. There are very beautiful, intricate, and expensive vases, but they are fragile things. On the other hand, the largest dump trucks in the world can haul 400 tons of rock, but they are not beautiful. God, however, brings beauty and strength together in perfect combination. Nature itself proves this point. For what are the stars themselves but hundreds of billions of nuclear fusion plants that form a gorgeous backdrop for God’s sanctuary? What are sunsets but two hundred mile-long murals, powered by a sun that yields 3.34 x 1034 Joules of energy every day? (That’s 33,400,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Joules.)
Verses 7–10. After preaching to the nations concerning God’s great works, we command them to fall on their faces before the true and living God and give Him appropriate worship. Does God deserve some credit for His great works? If you came into the presence of the doctor who found the cure for cancer and immediately delivered you and your loved ones from this dreaded disease, would it be appropriate to completely ignore his contribution? While in his presence, you might recognize the achievements of a kid who combed his hair and a woman who dresses herself well. But wouldn’t it be awkward if you ignored the significant contributions of the good doctor? Hopefully, we are not so self-centered that we fail to notice anybody else’s honorable achievements and worthy accomplishments! God deserves the credit for everything, for every act of creation, for every act of judgment and mercy, and for every single act of providence ever recognized by men.
God requires worship from all “kindreds,” or families. These are people who live in the same house together. Wherever there are people living in the same home (typically fathers, mothers, and children), they should render tribute to their God as a group. Every family has a religion of some sort and a god that is worshiped and served. This was Joshua’s confession when he announced to Israel, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Josh. 24:15).
Verses 11–13. As the psalm crescendos into its finale, we call all creation to combine in joyful praise to God the Creator. The joyful expectations sounded by God’s creation have been tied to the groaning and travailing mentioned by Paul in Romans 8:19ff. All of the troubles in the world, including the corruption, death, and decay plaguing every element of creation, has come about because of the fall of man into sin. When God comes to judge the world, He will set all things right, and creation will finally be released from this bondage. Cruelties, injustices, tyranny, disease, and environmental disasters (whether they come by accident, negligence, or intention) will come to an end when all things are made right at God’s great judgment day. We can count on this happening. All creation, including the birds, fish, beagles, trees in the forests, and oceans, greatly anticipate the final day of Judgment. The way thing are right now is not the way they should be. There is something terribly wrong with our world. But all of creation retains this tremendous, cosmic hope, joyfully expecting that God will make everything right in the end.
Certainly, we have a duty to worship God each day in our homes. For any God-directed family, worship ought to be a regular occurrence. This should happen in both formal and informal contexts. We may worship at a given time each day, but when we happen to see a beautiful sunset, why not fall on our knees together right then and there and give God the glory for His beauty and strength?
1. Worship includes an occasional new song with new tunes and new lyrics. While we want to be careful not to rebel against the musical forms of our parents or reject the spirit and truth directed by Scripture in worship, it is refreshing to express ourselves with new prayers and new songs. Our hymns and spiritual songs should include teaching and prayers set to melody. Whatever music we use in worship, we need to be sure that we sing with all our hearts and with true rejoicing, overwhelming awe, and warm gratefulness to God. If we sing out of sheer habit and rote, we often jettison all emotion and heart commitment to the words. This form of singing serves as a sad caricature of worship and amounts to taking God’s name in vain.
2. These worship psalms commend our rejoicing in expectation of God’s judgment. The desire to see everything “made right,” ought to be nurtured within us in our worship. While injustices should cause us to cringe and mourn, worship brings us back to hope in God’s final judgment making all things right.
1. Name several godly songwriters who have written new songs in the history of the church.
2. Is there a difference between mission outreaches to foreign nations during the Old Testament era and those in the present New Testament era? If so, how are they different?
3. What exactly do we want to declare to the heathen nations?
4. Give examples of some things that are both strong and beautiful.
5. Why should creation be joyful concerning the fact that God is coming to judge the earth?
6. Give several examples of Praise Psalms.
1. What is the mix of old songs and new songs in our worship? How long has it been since we have written new music that reflects the creativity and passion of our hearts properly aligned with Scripture?
2. Is there a jealous desire in your heart to see others worshiping God? Does it bother you when you see people serving idols instead of serving the true and living God? How do you react to this?