(By: Chad Bennett)

1 The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad! 2 Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. 3 Fire goes before him and burns up his adversaries all around. 4 His lightnings light up the world; the earth sees and trembles. 5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth. 6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory. 7 All worshipers of images are put to shame, who make their boast in worthless idols; worship him, all you gods!

8 Zion hears and is glad, and the daughters of Judah rejoice, because of your judgments, O Lord. 9 For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth;you are exalted far above all gods. 10 O you who love the Lord, hate evil! He preserves the lives of his saints; he delivers them from the hand of the wicked. 11 Light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart. 12 Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous, and give thanks to his holy name!

In verse 6 we read that the heavens proclaim the righteousness of God and that all peoples see God’s glory. In Romans 1 Paul states, that God’s invisible attributes are known to all creation through what has been created and we are therefore without excuse. It is amazing when we think of God’s glory being demonstrated to us in what is created. One example of this given in Psalm 97 is lightning. Lightning testifies to God’s glory and causes the earth to tremble. The word for earth used here can be used the same as we do in English as the planet/land or as the people of the earth. Both are true as we know from experience. I was recently reminded of this as my wife and I visited the beach. We were caught in the middle of a pretty severe thunderstorm. Though shielded in our car and later in the room we nonetheless proved the verse true when it says the earth trembles. Thunderstorms remind the earth of the sheer power of God and in humility and fear we tremble. We later watched the storm head out to sea and were awe struck. Because of the terrain of Georgia we often times do not get to see storms the way you do over the ocean. Lightning striking in several places at a time all within eyesight. Beaches that are constantly packed now completely deserted even those who deny their belief in God fled from Him.

Verse 7 tells us the results of God’s glory and righteous being displayed to the earth. Those who worship anything other than God are put to shame. Lightning is only a glimpse at the power of God and yet it puts those to shame who hope in something other than God. One day we will see God in all his glory face to face, it will be either our delight or our shame. In verse 10 we read that those who love God are to hate evil. We are then given the promise “He preserves the lives of His saints; he delivers them from the hand of the wicked. Light is sown for the righteous and joy for the upright in heart.”

May what has been created drive us to worship the holy God who created it all out of nothing and alone is worthy of praise. As the psalmist states,

Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous,
And give thanks to his holy name!

(By: Chad Bennett)

1 Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth! 2 Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. 3 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples! 4 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods. 5 For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the Lord made the heavens. 6 Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. 7 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength! 8 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts! 9 Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth!
10 Say among the nations, The Lord reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity. 11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; 12 let the field exult, and everything in it! Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy 13 before the Lord, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his faithfulness.

Worship can often be a struggle for the Christian. It is, however, what we were designed to do. The answer to the first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism is “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” We will worship because that is what we are designed to do. Our struggle is often not to worship but what to worship. Worship overflows from our delight in something and the earth is full of worship. I was reminded of this recently while watching a World Cup match. The stands were thunderous in their singing of praise. Sometimes for their country, at other times for their national team, and still others for a great player or goal scorer. Thousands breaking into spontaneous praise of a single man. How often have we joined in the Braves chant at a game? What can we say; it is how God designed us. Worship and praise pour out of us for those things which we love. Our problem is often that we do not meditate on who God is and therefore find other things more praiseworthy.

Psalm 96 is designed to be a cure for our misguided worship. The Psalm focuses on the “why” of worship. It tells us that God is greatly to be praised and due glory. The psalm does not stop at telling us we should worship, it give motivation by reminding us of God’s attributes that make him so praiseworthy. It reads almost as a list of the praiseworthiness of God. It tells us all the following about God, He is: our savior, a wonderworker, great, maker of the heavens, honorable, majestic, strong, beautiful, sustainer of the world, and righteous judge.

The psalmist believes these qualities of God will cause us to burst forth with praise. Any one attribute should be enough but we are given several. Meditate on who God is that you may:

“Declare His glory among the nations
His wonders among all the peoples”

(By: Chad Bennett)

1 Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! 2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! 3 For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. 4 In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. 5 The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. 6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!

7 For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, 9 when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. 10 For forty years I loathed that generation and said, They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways. 11 Therefore I swore in my wrath, They shall not enter my rest.


Psalm 95 is a psalm that calls us to worship God. It teaches three things about worship: how we are to worship God, why we are to worship God, and how we are not to respond to God.

First, Psalm 95 tells us how we are to worship God. The first line begins by exhorting us to sing to the LORD. The Psalm also tells us to shout and clarifies this in verse two by stating “with Psalms.” When we ask the question “how” we must also answer with the attitude of worship. Verses one and two tell us we are to worship joyfully and with thanksgiving. Our worship should also be humble; we are told to bow down and kneel before the LORD. Worship is never intended to be self-exalting, rather, God-exalting.

Second, the Psalm explains why we are to worship God. It is God’s attributes, character, and nature that primarily necessitate His worship. He is said to be the Rock of our salvation. He is described as the great God and the great King that is above all gods, i.e. anything else that may call for our worship. He is our Maker as well as the creator and sustainer of all. We are described as mere sheep in the hand of the Cosmic Shepherd.

Third, by negation we are taught of worship. The example is of the Israelites in the wilderness. Though they heard God’s voice and saw His work they hardened their hearts and tested God. This grieved God and resulted in His swearing in Wrath that they should not enter His rest.

When we come to worship may we not harden our hearts and put God tot the test. Think on God and who He is. Is He the Rock of your salvation? If He is than you have great reason to joyfully and humbly worship. If he is not then He is your creator and sustainer and as such should be worshiped forever for “in Him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28)