DICTIONARY OF TERMS
Praise—to offer worship to God for who He is and for His great deeds.
MAKING IT RELEVANT
Read the creation story in Genesis 1–2 and provide reasons for humanity to render due praise unto the Lord.
What began in the mind of God was transformed into all that we know and see, by the working out of the process of creation.
The psalmist does not stop there but goes on to recount how God separated the land from the sea as the ongoing process of creation unfolded. Because of the work of God acting as the Trinity, He is worthy of all the praise we can possibly offer Him. Part of praising God is treating what He has created with respect. The psalmist tells his listeners to sing a new song. By this phrase, he may have intended to encourage those who praise God to avoid repetition of tired old phrases, repeated so often as to have long ago lost their meaning. He may also have intended those who praise God to look for new ways of expressing the praise felt in their hearts.
Verse eight says we are to fear the Lord. Usually we equate fear with being afraid, but that is not the true meaning of the word as it is used in the verse. A better modern word is respect, but that falls short of capturing the fullness of what the psalmist wants us to understand. We are to respect the Lord, for sure, but it is respect coupled with awe. It is respect in overwhelming quantities. This kind of fear results in praise to the One who is worthy of all honor and respect. God does not want His gracious gifts abused, disrespected, and wasted any more than you want your gifts treated so. That is true whether we are talking about the gift of His Son or the gift of creation.
Just as God put His word to work in creation, we can put the words of praise we offer to God on Sunday mornings into work by the way we live our lives the rest of the week. God forbid we praise Him for His justice on Sunday and then treat our co-workers unjustly on Monday. God forbid we praise Him on Sunday for the beauty of His creation and then drop our empty water bottles by the side of the road on Tuesday. God reveals His nature by the works of His hand. We reveal ours the same way and, if we wish to be righteous before God, what we reveal needs to match up with our words of devotion to God.
JOURNAL IT!
Write new lyrics to the tune of your favorite hymn.
WHAT ABOUT THE GOOD NEWS OF WHAT GOD WILL DO THRILLS YOU THE MOST?
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Lesson 2
SING A NEW SONG
Selected Scriptures: Psalm 96:1–6, 10–13
THEME: TRUST, ADVOCACY, AND BOLDNESS
INTRODUCTION
In most ancient Hebrew manuscripts, the psalms occasionally have titles or headings ascribed to them. The inscription for Psalm 96 dates to the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, after the people of Israel began to return to the Promised Land following the Babylonian captivity circa 520 BC. The heading gives us a clue as to what the theme of the psalm was intended to signify. It was a new day in Israel’s history. The sins of the past that led God to allow His children to be taken captive had been paid for by seventy years of exile. The deliverance of Israel from exile by God had ushered in a new start with the temple. An old song would not do. A new song of righteous obedience to the will of God was needed.
Revelation 21:1–5 describes that glorious moment when God will redeem all of His creation, finally and forever. Verse five does not say that God is making all new things, but rather that He will make the things that already are new again. In plain words, the earth we know today will not be replaced by some new earth but will be restored to the purity and glory it had when God first created it, before the entrance of sin spoiled its perfection.
KEY VERSE: O sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. (Psalm 96:1, NRSV)
This is the idea behind the new song that Psalm 96 calls God’s people to sing. It is not a song that has never before been sung. In fact, you can find Psalm 96 written almost verbatim in I Chronicles 16:23–33, many years prior to when Psalm 96 was adopted. The song we are to sing is about redemption and restoration. It is about salvation.
BIBLICAL TEACHING EMPHASES
II. Sing Because of What God Has Done
III. Sing Because He Is Making All Things New
I. SING A NEW SONG
The old song of salvation, sung by the people of Israel and by many who make up the Church, was a song of separation. Salvation was found in the absence of enemies, separating some people from the possibility of salvation. But Jesus gave a new commandment to His disciples and to us (see John 13:34). We are to love one another. We are to put our brothers and sisters—even enemies!—before ourselves. If and when we see a brother or sister in need, if we have the ability to meet that need, we are not to hesitate, nor are we to count the cost to ourselves.
The Gospel we preach should be less about choosing sides and more about the wonder of what awaits those who bow before the King. The heavens will rejoice, and the earth will be glad when the day of salvation arrives. The fields will be jubilant, and the trees of the forest will sing for joy. All that defiles creation will be gone, and everything will be remade into the perfection God intends for His creation. There will be no more heartache, no more death of loved ones leaving us grief-stricken and alone, no more senseless murder or tragic suicide. Storms will no longer ravage communities and floods will no longer sweep away our lives. No one will starve, and the color of one’s skin will be a non-issue.
II. SING BECAUSE OF WHAT GOD HAS DONE
DICTIONARY