Sing, The Lord Reigns, How Great Thou Art, Holy Forever

What would you say is your ultimate goal in life?

Sing to the Lord a new song;
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
² Sing to the Lord, bless His name;
Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.
³ Tell of His glory among the nations,
His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.
⁴ For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised;
He is to be feared above all gods.

⁵For all the gods of the peoples are ^[a]idols,
But the Lord made the heavens.
⁶ Splendor and majesty are before Him,
Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary

What kind of worship does God want? He looks for true worship that springs from the heart. Amos 5:21-24 is a rebuke which addresses the supposed “worship” of Jewish people during Old Testament times – while they offered sacrifices and offerings, their lives were not aligned to a life of worship. We may think that we are worshiping God with the things we do. Jesus rebuked these set of people – God looks at our hearts, and the proof that we are truly worshipping God is loving Him and obeying Him (Mark 7:6-8). We must, as the title says, LIVE A LIFE OF WORSHIP. Worship, as we have defined, is our proper response to who God is, what He has done, and what He will continue to do. How do we do this?

WORSHIP IS SINGING

Psalm 96:1-2 begins with a command to SING to the LORD. When we come to worship, do we sing to the Lord or to ourselves? Worship is singing out of delight in Him. The encouragement was even to sing a NEW SONG – we often worship God for our past experiences, but this reminds us that our worship must come from our fresh experiences with God. It must be our lifestyle. We count our blessings, be filled with the Spirit, and our perspective changes, empowering us to always give thanks for ALL things, even in the seemingly bad situations (Ephesians 5:18-20).

WORSHIP IS PROCLAIMING

Psalm 96:2-3 commands us to proclaim the good news of His salvation day to day. Worship is proclaiming the goodness and faithfulness of the Lord. What do we declare and proclaim? We worship because “great is the LORD” – we worship the Creator of the heavens and the great splendor (Psalm 96:4-5). The combination of strength and beauty in the Lord reminds us that worship is about proclaiming the goodness of God. When we share the gospel, we proclaim God’s salvation and the good news about the love and faithfulness of God, even when we go through very challenging times in our lives. Like Horatio Spafford who wrote “IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL”– we sing even with our challenges!

WORSHIP IS GIVING

What do we mean by giving? Psalm 96:7-9 commands us to “ascribe to the LORD” which means to recognize and give unto God what is due Him. The command includes bringing an offering to the Lord, but what do we give Him? Deuteronomy 16:16-17 tells us that when we worship, we bring something to the Lord. It is in recognition of the fact that God owns everything, and we give back to Him as an antidote to materialism. We are to practice “proportionate giving” (giving according to our ability), and the minimum is the tithe (ten percent). In the New Testament, Jesus observed how people worshipped God. He acknowledged the poor widow who gave out of her poverty (Luke 21:1-4). Jesus did not scold the woman and instead appreciated the woman’s heart to give. 1 Corinthians 16:1-2 also shows that Paul practiced proportionate giving. 2 Corinthians 9:6-7 is a great reminder: God loves a cheerful giver! It is a privilege to be able to recognize God’s ownership of everything. We can give without worship but cannot worship without giving!

Psalm 96 also says to “worship the Lord in holy attire” – to honor and to adorn, to live a life of worship! The New Testament way of doing this is to present our bodies as living and holy sacrifices which is a spiritual service of worship (Romans 12:1).

WORSHIP IS ANTICIPATING

The power of anticipation has been proven by experiments – those who anticipate and have hope in them are able to keep fighting and striving for life! Psalm 96:10-11 exalts the reign of the LORD, and notes that He will judge the people with equity. Even the fields and the trees of the forest will “sing for joy” at the coming of the Lord to judge the heavens and the earth (vv. 12-13)! The entire universe will sing for joy because the King is returning to judge with righteousness and faithfulness. Vengeance is the Lord’s, so we don’t take our own revenge (Romans 12:19). We must see things on the side of heaven – clearly, there will be justice. On the day of His return, the distinction between the righteous and the wicked will be made very clear (Malachi 3:17-18). We are commanded to continue preaching and testifying about this coming judgment (Acts 10:42). The Bible paints a picture of the “day of great wrath” and also paints a picture of His return as a time of joy and worship for those who truly belong to Him (Revelation 6:16-17, 11:15-17). When Jesus comes back, we will not only have God’s presence with us, but the removal of death, mourning, crying, or pain, as He makes all things NEW (Revelation 21:3-4). As we wait, Paul tells believers to always abound in God’s work (1 Corinthians 15:58) as we, like Paul, look forward to the Righteous Judge, and the rewards that come to those who love His appearing (2 Timothy 4:8). May we find ourselves on the side of righteousness on the day of judgment as we live a life of worship today.

Pray that more and more people from all nations to live a life of worship directed towards Jesus.

Help others know God personally by living out a life of worship based on who He is.

Proclaim the gospel to as many as possible, as part of a life of worship.

• Worship God for who He is, what He has done, and what He will do in our lives.

• Upright and moral governance of public servants; repentance and salvation for government leaders and citizens for a Christ-centered Philippines.

• For legislators to promote and support bills and laws aligned with God’s Word.

• War in Ukraine to end, loss of lives prevented.

• For the rest of the Israeli hostages to be restored to their families safely. For Israel’s war with terrorists to end according to God’s purpose and for His glory.

• For the civil war in Syria to end peacefully, protection for Christians and other minorities; that there will be freedom from oppression for Syrians. Pray for the gospel to spread rapidly throughout the country.

• Pray for Nigeria and persecuted Christians there; earnestly seek God’s intervention to stop the bloodshed. Pray for freedom from oppression, that God’s word and His people bring them comfort and hope.

• That CCF Members would honor and love God and make disciples.

• Elders, pastors, dleaders, and families (holy, humble, harmonious, happy, heart-working).

• Ministries and churches expand worldwide.

• Worship and Training Center

• Prayer Mountain

• Deeper intimate relationship with God.

• Righteous living.

• Salvation of family and friends.

Sing to the LORD a new song;
Sing to the LORD, all the earth.
² Sing to the LORD, bless His name;
Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.