Praise the Lord, all the earth, for He is worthy!

This was the theme of the message I recently preached from Psalm 96 on Palm Sunday, March 28, 2021, at Snohomish Evangelical Free Church. You can view the video of the message below.

The psalm is a rousing call not only for God’s people to praise the Lord, but for them to draw all nations, all people groups, all families of the earth, to join in praising God. On the day when we remember Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem less than a week before His crucifixion, Psalm 96 takes us to an earlier triumphal entry, recorded in 1 Chronicles 16, when the ark of the covenant entered Jerusalem and was placed in the tabernacle. King David and the Israelites praised the Lord, possibly with the words of Psalm 96.

Three key themes emerge from this psalm, repeated many times:

What are we to do: Praise the Lord (19x) – Sing to Lord (3x)-1-2, bless His name-2, tell of His salvation-2, declare His glory-3, ascribe to Lord (3x) glory and strength -7-8a, bring offering-8, come into His courts-8, worship the Lord-9, tremble before Him-9, say “The Lord reigns!”-10, heavens be glad-11, earth rejoice-11, sea and all that fills it roar-11, field and everything in it exult-12, all trees of forest sing for joy before Lord-12

Who is to do it: All people/creation (16x) – All the earth-1, nations-3, all the peoples-3, families of the peoples-7, all the earth-9, among the nations-10, world-10, peoples-10, heavens-11, earth-11, sea and sea life-11, field and field life-12, all trees of forest-12, earth-13, world-13, peoples-13.

Why do it: For He is worthy (23x aspects of God’s worthiness) – His salvation-2, His glory-3, His marvelous works-3, great is Lord-4, greatly to be praised-4, feared above all gods-4, all gods are worthless but God is creator-5, splendor and majesty, strength and beauty surround him (characterize him)-6, glory and strength-7, glory due his name-8, splendor of holiness-9, the Lord reigns-10, world is established not to be moved (He created it well)-10, God judges peoples with equity-10, for He is coming to judge (3x) all with righteousness and faithfulness-13.

May we join with a great multitude of saints, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory.” (Rev.19:6-7)