One of the things that we really missed when churches weren't allowed to meet together was being able to worship God as a group of his people, being able to sing praise to him. And now that we are able to meet again, at one of our great delights, is singing praise to God. And this morning we're going to think about singing praise to God. We're going to think about the reasons that we have, some of the reasons we have for singing praise to God. Why should you praise God? Psalm 96 tells us to praise God. And then it gives us three main reasons for praising God. First, it tells us, sing to the Lord because he is great. at verses one to six. The psalm starts by telling us to sing to the Lord. It tells us to do that three times. Oh, sing to the Lord a new song. Sing to the Lord all the earth. Sing to the Lord, bless his name. It tells us to sing a new song to the Lord. We might wonder how we can sing about singing a new song when the song that we're singing is actually 3,000 years old. And yet, there are six times when the Psalms tells us to sing a new song. And of course, when the song was first written, it was a new song. And the first time that we sing it, it is a new song for us. But the word that's used here for new can also sometimes mean fresh. It's translated that way in Job chapter 29, verse 20, where Job says that before he suffered all his troubles, my glory was fresh within me. It was always new, it was fresh. And as we sing to God, we're to sing in an always new way, in a fresh way. It says, sing to the Lord all the earth. It goes on to speak of the nations, declare his glory among the nations, and then all the peoples, his marvelous works among all peoples. This psalm has a very broad view. It's calling all the earth, everyone on the earth, all the different nations, to worship and to praise God. And that continues right throughout the psalm. It tells us to sing to the Lord. Sometimes we can forget that, can't we? When we sing in church, we are singing primarily not for any other human being, but primarily we are singing to God himself. He is sitting in heaven listening to our song. We are singing it to him. And yet, We can often forget that. We can just sometimes say the words without even really thinking about them at all. How much of your singing is sung to God? Sometimes we need to refocus. And to remember who we are singing to. If we're not singing to God, it would be better if we didn't sing at all. As we worship, we are singing to the Lord. And so we need to discipline our minds. We need to focus on God. We need to think of his majesty, his greatness, his splendor and his strength. We are singing to the God who created us, to the God who gives us everything. And we're singing about his salvation. Verse two says, sing to the Lord, bless his name. Tell his salvation. from day to day. His salvation. Salvation is God's. It's about what God has done. Not really about what we do. It goes on to describe it as His marvelous works in verse three. We don't get to heaven because of what we do. If we get to heaven, it's because of what God does. God the Son laid aside the glory that was His in heaven. He became a human being. He was made to be sin for us. He took our sin on himself. And he died under God's curse. Who could ever have come up with something like that. We could never have imagined it. And yet this is what God has brought about. That God the Son took the form of one of his creatures. He became a man. And then he took the punishment that he himself had placed on this world. Would God have done that to his own son? If we could get to heaven just by being a little bit better? Just by being nicer to our neighbors? You wouldn't let your child be viciously mocked and mutilated if there was anything you could do to stop it. And God wouldn't let his son be viciously mocked and mutilated if there was any other way he could get his people to heaven. You can't get to heaven by your own efforts. Your debt, it is too big. And even the good things that you do all fall short of God's perfect standard. And God tells us in Isaiah 64 verse six, We have all become like one who is unclean. And all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. Even the best things that we do, even our righteous acts, are like filthy rags. They're disgusting to God. It says, tell of his salvation from day to day. We're to tell others of God's salvation. And we do that as we sing Psalms like this. And we also do it as we speak to people about Jesus. It tells us to do it from day to day. We speak of what Jesus has done occasionally, but surely this implies that this is something we should do constantly, day after day. We're to be talking about God's salvation. Declare His glory among the nations. Verse three. His glory. It's all about God. About what He's like, about what He has done. And we're to tell the nations about Him. We're to tell everyone about Him, wherever they are, whatever their background. We're to tell everyone about God's glory. Why? Because God is great, verse four. For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised. He's to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols. But the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him. Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. The Lord is great. He made the world. He made the universe. He made everything that we see and know. Splendor. and majesty are before him. If we could even begin to get a glimpse of the glory of God in heaven, of the splendor that surrounds him, of the majesty, surely we would just crumble. All the gods of the peoples are worthless idols. Verse five. What gods do people worship today? Maybe footballers. A goalkeeper who saves a penalty. A striker who scores in the cup final. Maybe pop stars. Maybe others worship, maybe they live for money, for family, for pleasure. There are many things people worship today, and yet we're told all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols. but the Lord made the heavens. He is far, far greater than anything or anyone people worship. When you find it hard to truly praise God, when your heart's cold, or when you're burdened, or when you're distracted. Bring yourself back to think of God's greatness. To think of his splendor and his majesty. To think of how he's so much better than anything else that anyone else lives for. and that will help you and stir you to sing to the Lord. The psalm tells us, sing to the Lord because He is great. But secondly it tells us, ascribe glory to the Lord. And because he is glorious, it stands as seven to 10. The psalm started by saying three times, sing to the Lord. And now in verses seven and eight, it says three times, ascribe to the Lord. Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples. Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name. We're to ascribe glory to the Lord. And we're to declare how magnificent He is. Again, we do that as we sing and also as we speak. We're to ascribe to the Lord the glory that's due to his name. We're to give him what he deserves. We're to give credit where credit is due. God is glorious. And so we are to tell people that he's glorious. One of the ways in which we see God's glory is in how he reigns over the world. Verse 10 says, say among the nations, the Lord reigns. Most kings and queens today are little more than figureheads. They have very little real power or authority. The kings in Bible times were different. They had total authority. They had the power of life and death. God has total authority. He is in complete control of this world. It says, say among the nations, the Lord reigns. Now verse three said that we were to declare his glory among the nations. Now in verse 10, we're to tell the nations that God reigns. We're to tell them that God is in control. The nations ignore the fact that God reigns. Even when God brings the whole world to a stop with a pandemic. When they talk about the pandemic on the news, there's never a mention of God. When the politicians talk about the pandemic and what should be done, never a mention of God. They ignore the fact that God is in control. We are to declare to the nations that the Lord reigns. We are to tell the world that it is God who is in control. And verse 10 goes on to tell us about two ways in which we see God being in control. It says, yes, the world is established. It shall never be moved. God's reign is seen in the fact that God created this world and that God keeps this world in existence. It's also seen in the fact that he will judge the peoples with equity. One day God will bring this world to an end and he will bring justice. We see God's glory in Him reigning over the world. He reigns over the world in creating and sustaining the world and in judging the world. And all of that happens through the Lord Jesus Christ. It is in Jesus that we see God's glory most clearly. At the start of John's gospel, John tells us, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory. Glory as the only son from the father. The start of the letter to the Hebrews in the New Testament tells us, He, Jesus, is the radiance of God's glory. It is in Jesus that we see the glory of God. God reigns through Jesus. Jesus himself told us that at the end of Matthew's Gospel. Jesus came and said to them, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. And one of the ways that reign is seen is that the world was created through Jesus. Again, the start of Hebrews. But in these last days, he has spoken to us by his son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the world. It goes on to say he upholds the universe by the word of his power. And this world was created through Jesus. It's Jesus that keeps this world existing from moment to moment. And finally, God will judge the world through Jesus. John tells us in his gospel, chapter five and verse 22, the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son. So we're to ascribe glory to the Lord, because the Lord is glorious. And it is in Jesus that we see God's glory. Sing to the Lord because he is great. Ascribe glory to the Lord because he is glorious. Thirdly, call all creation to rejoice before the Lord. because he will judge. Verses 11 to 13 of Psalm 96. We've seen that all nations is a theme that runs through this psalm. We're to delight in God so much that we call all the peoples of the world to praise him. But our delight in God is to be so great that it's to go beyond even or what we call even creation itself, to praise God. It's a picture of the fullness of absolutely everything praising and worshiping God. It is a picture. But there's also a sense in which creation does praise God. And we're told that creation itself groans as it waits for Christ to return. Romans 8, verses 19 to 22. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. So the whole of Creation is involved in this. And as we think of the different parts of creation in this psalm, as we think of the heavens being glad, and the earth rejoicing, and the sea roaring, the fields exulting, all the trees singing for joy, as we think of those various parts of creation praising God, Surely that should stir us to praise God more joyfully, more enthusiastically. When you struggle to praise God, think of the heavens, think of the earth, think of the trees, the mountains, praising and worshipping Him. That's what's described for us here. And why will they do that? Because God will judge. Because God will judge the world. Maybe that doesn't make you feel like praising God. We're so aware that we don't even measure up to our own standards of what we would like to be like, never mind God's standards. In ourselves, we can never stand before God. It's only if we're clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ, if his perfection is given to us and put on us, that we can stand before God. And the emphasis here, when it speaks of God's judgment, is that God will judge fairly. At the end of verse 10, he will judge the peoples with equity. At the end of verse 13, he will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with fairness. Justice will be done. There's so much injustice in this world today. We see it all around us. People get off with things that they should never get off with. One day God will put it all right. He will judge justly. And so all creation praises Him. Why should you praise the Lord? We should praise the Lord because He is great. We should praise the Lord because He is glorious. And we should praise the Lord because He will judge. Let's do that now. as we sing this song.