Sometimes your team wins. Sometimes they lose. Sometimes they are not even playing!
Life can be tough. But life is NOT out of control. You know why I can say this? Because the LORD reigns (Psalm 96:10). He is the King. He is sovereign. The Hebrew word melek can be translated “reigns” or “king,” depending on whether it is used as a verb or a noun. Any way you look at it, the LORD is in control.
This is great news.
You see the evidence of God-at-work in the pages of Scripture and in your own life. And others need to know how amazing God is. They need you to tell them. And they need a Bible so they can read it for themselves.
Psalms 96:1-13 (HCSB)
1 Sing a new song to the Lord; sing to the Lord, all the earth. 2 Sing to Yahweh, praise His name; proclaim His salvation from day to day. 3 Declare His glory among the nations, His wonderful works among all peoples.
4 For the Lord is great and is highly praised; He is feared above all gods. 5 For all the gods of the peoples are 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, you families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 8 Ascribe to Yahweh the glory of His name; bring an offering and enter His courts. 9 Worship the Lord in the splendor of ⌊His⌋ holiness; tremble before Him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations: “The Lord reigns. The world is firmly established; it cannot be shaken. He judges the peoples fairly.” 11 Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice; let the sea and all that fills it resound. 12 Let the fields and everything in them exult. Then all the trees of the forest will shout for joy 13 before the Lord, for He is coming— for He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with His faithfulness.
In Psalm 96, we are encouraged to sing a new song to the LORD. As long as there are Christ-honoring musicians, new songs will be written to declare how great our God is. Let these songs declare that our LORD reigns!
In Psalm 96, we are encouraged to open our mouths to tell everyone of the LORD’s salvation, from day to day. I encourage you to pray every day for opportunities that day to tell people how the LORD saved you! Tell of His wonderful works throughout the centuries and in your own life.
In Psalm 96, the psalmist challenges us to tell people of all nations how great our LORD is. Some are called to go to the ends of the earth as missionaries to be witnesses for Christ. All of us are called to share the good news of Jesus with the people who live around us. And the amazing thing is that the nations are moving to our cities and towns. Praise God. Our sovereign LORD is bringing the nations to us.
In Psalm 96, the Bible declares that the LORD is the creator of the universe. He is high above the idols of the peoples. So don’t worship cars or money or awards or fame or any other thing. Worship the LORD. He reigns.
The earth cries out, “The LORD reigns!” The heavens declare it, the seas shout with a roar, the fields tell how amazing God is, the trees tell of His greatness. Read Psalm 96 again to soak it in — our God reigns!
In Psalm 96:10, we learn that the earth is firmly established. It cannot be shaken. Wars can’t shake it. Natural disasters can’t shake it. Wars may make you think the world is out of control. Natural disasters may leave people unsettled. But in the strong arms of the LORD, we know we are safe. He reigns.
We know that He judges fairly. Only He is righteous. He has provided the way of salvation – Jesus. Because we have trusted in Jesus as LORD and Savior, receiving His forgiveness and His righteousness into our lives, we know we are saved. In our hearts and in our lives, the LORD reigns!
About a thousand years BC, the psalmist proclaimed, “The LORD is coming” (Psalm 96:13). He came to earth, right on time! Jesus was God-in-the-flesh, the Son of God, the One who came to save us from our sins. He died for us. He rose again. He reigns! And He is coming again. He has delayed His second coming so that more people can be saved. What seems like forever (more than two thousand years) is like a couple of days to the LORD. Hear the words of Scripture:
2 Peter 3:8-9 (HCSB)
8 Dear friends, don’t let this one thing escape you: With the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. 9 The Lord does not delay His promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.
Jesus is our Savior. He is everything we need. He wants others to be saved. Tell them. The LORD reigns!
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excellent message…God is in control…thanks for the reminder!