Psalm 96A - Sing to the Lord (Part 1)
Psalm 96 is one of the purest statements of praise in the entire book of Psalms. The psalm calls us to sing.
Sing to the Lord a new song;
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord, bless His name;
Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day. (Ps. 96: 1,2, NASB)
In 1 Chronicles 16: 23-33, the psalm is quoted in its entirety. Thus the historical setting can establish a date for the composition of this psalm.
The Setting of the Use of the Psalm in Chronicles
1 Chronicles 15 begins with the setting of the scene.
Now David built houses for himself in the city of David; and he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it. Then David said, “No one is to carry the ark of God but the Levites; for the Lord chose them to carry the ark of God and to minister to Him forever.” And David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the Lord to its place which he had prepared for it. (1 Chron. 15: 1-3, NASB)
The end of chapter 10 clearly states the reason that Saul died.
So Saul died for his trespass which he committed against the Lord, because of the word of the Lord which he did not keep; and also because he asked counsel of a medium, making inquiry of it, and did not inquire of the Lord. Therefore He killed him and turned the kingdom to David the son of Jesse. (1 Chron. 10: 13-14, NASB)
At the beginning of chapter 11, David is king over all Israel. David then captured Jerusalem, which was called Jebus, and defeated the Jebusites. Joab became the captain of the army, which was led by David’s mighty men. Then each of the 12 tribes gathered warriors together.
In chapter 13, David consulted with all of his leaders about bringing the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem. The ark was in Kiriath-jearim, which was also called Baalah in Judah.
They carried the ark of God on a new cart from the house of Abinadab, and Uzza and Ahio drove the cart. David and all Israel were celebrating before God with all their might, even with songs and with lyres, harps, tambourines, cymbals and with trumpets. (1 Chron. 13: 7-8, NASB)
When the ark started to tip, Uzza reached out to steady it and touched the ark. The Lord took his life. David became angry and realized that he was not ready to have the ark brought to his home. So the ark stayed at the home of Obed-edom for three months.
In chapter 14, Hiram king of Tyre sent building materials and men to build David’s house. David took more wives and fathered more children. The Philistines heard that David had become king and attacked, but the Lord gave them into his hand.
The establishment of the kingdom of David in Jerusalem occurred when the ark arrived. David constructed a tent for the ark in Jerusalem because there was no temple there, nor would there be a temple in Jerusalem until Solomon would build it. But the movement of the ark into the tent in Jerusalem was seen as a national religious event characterized by a vast procession and worship celebration. The Levites were to consecrate themselves to shoulder the ark for the trip. The priests prepared elaborate musical preparations. (Recall that David was an extremely proficient musician himself.)
Then David spoke to the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their relatives the singers, with instruments of music, harps, lyres, loud-sounding cymbals, to raise sounds of joy. (1 Chron. 15: 16, NASB)
The names of all the musicians were listed.
So the singers, Heman, Asaph and Ethan were appointed to sound aloud cymbals of bronze; and Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah and Benaiah, with harps tuned to alamoth; and Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel and Azaziah, to lead with lyres tuned to the sheminith. Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, was in charge of the singing; he gave instruction in singing because he was skillful. (1 Chron. 15:19-22, NASB)
Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah and Eliezer, the priests, blew the trumpets before the ark of God. Obed-edom and Jehiah also were gatekeepers for the ark. (1 Chron. 15: 24, NASB)
As the procession began, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams. Fine robes adorned the priests and Levites, who led the procession into the city with music.
Now David was clothed with a robe of fine linen with all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and the singers and Chenaniah the leader of the singing with the singers. David also wore an ephod of linen. Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting, and with sound of the horn, with trumpets, with loud-sounding cymbals, with harps and lyres. (1 Chron. 15:27-28, NASB)
It was a very joyful procession, as even David was leaping and celebrating. His wife, Michal, deemed his behavior inappropriate.
It happened when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came to the city of David, that Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and celebrating; and she despised him in her heart. (1 Chron. 15: 29, NASB)
So in chapter 16, the ark arrived at the tent by the house of David in Jerusalem. There they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. David demonstrated his thanks to God by giving everyone in Israel a loaf of bread, a portion of meat, and a raisin cake. The musical celebration continued.
He appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the Lord, even to celebrate and to thank and praise the Lord God of Israel: Asaph the chief, and second to him Zechariah, then Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom and Jeiel, with musical instruments, harps, lyres; also Asaph played loud-sounding cymbals, and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests blew trumpets continually before the ark of the covenant of God.
Then on that day David first assigned Asaph and his relatives to give thanks to the Lord. (1 Chron. 16: 4-7, NASB)
Then, in verse 8 of chapter 16, the psalms are listed as the liturgy of this event.
The first text is Psalm 105: 1-15.
and then
Psalm 96: 1-13 (whole psalm)
The date of writing of both Psalm 96 and Psalm 105 is before the events in 1 Chronicles 16, that is, just when the ark of the covenant entered into the tent which David had pitched for it as he built his own house in Jerusalem. How much earlier were these psalms composed? Enough that they were deemed the appropriate texts to use with this sacred event. Perhaps they were newly written for this consecration, but it seems more probable that these texts were selected from the repertoire of texts available since they come from two different sources, what we now know as Psalm 105 and Psalm 96.
So why was Psalm 96 selected for this special ceremony? Psalm 96 is celebratory, and this was indeed a celebration. The opening lines of the psalm are an exhortation to make music - to sing to the Lord. As a musician, David desired that the ceremony of bringing the holy ark into his new home environment be accompanied by great music.
So today, when we worship, there is also a desire for great music. The style and instrumentation of music changes with time. Whether it is a traditional style of worship with a choir, organ, piano, handbells, and orchestral instruments, or the Worship Team model using what used to be called a “rock band” - drums, bass, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, keyboard, lead singer, and backup vocals, the goal is the same: to accompany worship with great music so that we can sing to the Lord and shout joyfully.
The Content of Psalm 96
A) Verses 1-3: Exhortations to Praise
Sing to the Lord a new song;
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord, bless His name;
Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.
Tell of His glory among the nations,
His wonderful deeds among all the peoples. (Psalm 96: 1-3, NASB)
The exhortations to sing appear to be in synonymous parallelism, that is, each phrase is amplifying the central thought, and yet each phrase emphasizes a slightly different truth.
1) “Sing to the Lord a new song." Why a “new” song? New songs are fresh. New songs are recent expressions of thought and emotion. Psalm 40: 3 says that the Lord put a new song into the writer's mouth.
He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will see and fear
And will trust in the Lord. (Psalm 40:3, NASB)
New songs as opposed to what? Old songs. Are old songs bad? Of course not, but songs do get old. How often have you heard the same song on the radio and thought, “not that song again." One pastor wanted the same song at the end of each service, a great song by pastor Jack Hayford of Church on the Way in Van Nuys, California, called “Majesty." It is a lovely song, but with the repetition each week, the song became one of those “not that song again” songs.
There is a danger here - if all songs are new, then none become familiar. The repetition of songs allows the worshiper to “know” the song and to memorize the melody and the lyrics.
One of the characteristics of songs in the current Worship Team Model of worship is that we learn songs mostly by rote. There is no printed nor projected music, so all musical ideas are acquired only by hearing. Thus the songs tend to be very simple for the listener to absorb them quickly and easily. It is common in this model for the melody to be
dominated by a single pitch
dominated by step-wise motion rather than intervallic motion
dominated by pentatonic scales
accompanied by voices improvising other lines at the same time
accompanied by a three-part stack, where the other two pitches of the chord (or a chord placed on top of the accompaniment chord) move precisely as the melody moves
Are these things wrong? No, merely a description of the kinds of music which of necessity accompanies this style of musical worship. The songs must be musically simple rather than complex to be learned by rote.
2) “Sing to the Lord, all the earth." Another truth of the modern worship movement is the globalization of worship music. Due to the incredible advances in technology over the last half-century, the whole world hears this music. Churches all over the world do the same songs. In the 1960s and '70s, this was true in America, where Christian music publishers tended to be the driving force in the selection of music for worship. That kind of influence became global as the transmission of music became easier. Today when Hillsong of Australia publishes new songs, they are instantly available to churches worldwide. The reach of Christian songwriters today is truly global - to all the earth.
3) “Sing to the Lord, bless His name.” As we will see in Psalm 103, blessing the Lord is something that our souls should desire. We are never to forget his benefits, and there are five specific benefits listed in that psalm.
For a time, some churches taught that all songs in worship should address the Lord. Only songs directed to the Lord were appropriate for congregational use.
While it is undoubtedly true that songs sung to the Lord are appropriate, Colossians 3 and Ephesians 5 tell us to “sing to one another” with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. It is appropriate to encourage one another, teach one another, and exhort one another in some of the worship music.
Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (Colossians 3: 16, NASB)
Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. (Ephesians 5: 15-21, NASB)
4) “Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.” We are to proclaim the gospel, the brilliant plan of God conceived in the mind of God before the creation event.
God decided to allow choice in His creation. With choice come good decisions and bad decisions. Bad decisions of a moral nature require a penalty to fulfill the justice of God. (Who wants a judge who doesn’t judge?) God determines that we cannot pay that penalty, so He chooses the ultimate payment - Himself. There can be no higher payment. Thus, the second person of God takes human form in Jesus and dies on the cross to pay once for all sin. All humans are free to choose whether or not to accept that payment for themselves. When they do, they become new creations in Christ and become members of the family of God forever. What an incredibly brilliant plan! We have the opportunity to make His salvation known every day.
5) “Tell of His glory among the nations…” Everyone on earth should know about this brilliant plan of God. Rather than writing in the sky for everyone to see, God chooses us to make Himself known worldwide. People need to hear who God is and to know about His nature and character.
6) “…His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.” We also have the opportunity and responsibility to tell what God has done. God wanted the people of Israel to remember the Exodus acts by celebrating the Passover every year. So we remember the acts of Jesus as the substitutionary sacrifice of atonement when we take communion with a piece of bread and a cup.
The book of Genesis is not a textbook of theology. It is a series of stories about the acts of God and the choices of people. Throughout the history of Israel, the garden, the promises to Abraham, the Exodus of God’s people, the struggles of living as the people of God in the promised land, God was active and involved. In coming to earth as the Son of God and then providing the third person of God, the Holy Spirit, to reside in those who become the children of God, God continues to act, even to this day.
In the future, He will come again to judge the living and the dead. He will reign over His people for all eternity, and we will dwell with Him forever.
These are amazing truths, and we proclaim these to all people.
On to Part 2 …