I Will Sing of My Redeemer

1 By the waters of Babylon,
there we sat down and wept,
when we remembered Zion.
2 On the willows there
we hung up our lyres.
3 For there our captors
required of us songs,
and our tormentors, mirth, saying,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

4 How shall we sing the Lord's song
in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
let my right hand forget its skill!
6 Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,
if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem
above my highest joy!

7 Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites
the day of Jerusalem,
how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare,
down to its foundations!”
8 O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed,
blessed shall he be who repays you
with what you have done to us!
9 Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones
and dashes them against the rock. – Psalm 137:1-9 ESV

This psalm is a song of lament, written sometime after the fall of Jerusalem to Babylonian invaders in 587 B.C.. After a 30-month-long siege, the city’s inhabitants were on the brink of starvation, a fact that the prophet Jeremiah describes in great detail in the Book of Lamentations.

See how the precious children of Jerusalem,
worth their weight in fine gold,
are now treated like pots of clay
made by a common potter.

Even the jackals feed their young,
but not my people Israel.
They ignore their children’s cries,
like ostriches in the desert.

The parched tongues of their little ones
stick to the roofs of their mouths in thirst.
The children cry for bread,
but no one has any to give them.

The people who once ate the richest foods
now beg in the streets for anything they can get.
Those who once wore the finest clothes
now search the garbage dumps for food.

The guilt of my people
is greater than that of Sodom,
where utter disaster struck in a moment
and no hand offered help.

Our princes once glowed with health—
brighter than snow, whiter than milk.
Their faces were as ruddy as rubies,
their appearance like fine jewels.

But now their faces are blacker than soot.
No one recognizes them in the streets.
Their skin sticks to their bones;
it is as dry and hard as wood.

Those killed by the sword are better off
than those who die of hunger.
Starving, they waste away
for lack of food from the fields.– Lamentations 4:2-9 NLT

Eventually, the Babylonians breached the city's walls.

By July 18 in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign, the famine in the city had become very severe, and the last of the food was entirely gone.Then a section of the city wall was broken down. Since the city was surrounded by the Babylonians… 2 Kings 25:3-4 NLT

After a slight delay, Nebuchadnezzar ordered the wanton destruction of Jerusalem and the capture of many of its citizens, who were taken back to Babylon as slaves. 

On August 14 of that year,which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard and an official of the Babylonian king, arrived in Jerusalem. He burned down the Temple of the Lord, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem. He destroyed all the important buildings in the city. Then he supervised the entire Babylonian army as they tore down the walls of Jerusalem on every side. Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took as exiles the rest of the people who remained in the city, the defectors who had declared their allegiance to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the population. But the captain of the guard allowed some of the poorest people to stay behind to care for the vineyards and fields.– 2 Kings 25:8-12 NLT

The psalmist picks up the story sometime after the exiles arrived in Babylon. He describes them as weeping beside the rivers of Babylon, as they considered the full weight of their devastating circumstances. The depth of their sorrow is reflected in their decision to ban all music.    

We put away our harps,
hanging them on the branches of poplar trees.
For our captors demanded a song from us.– Psalm 137:2-3 NLT

Mocked relentlessly by their Babylonian overlords, the exiles mourned and wept in silence, refusing to assuage their grief with songs. This sad state of affairs should not have been a surprise to them, because Yahweh had warned it would happen.

“And now the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Because you have not listened to me, I will gather together all the armies of the north under King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, whom I have appointed as my deputy. I will bring them all against this land and its people and against the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy you and make you an object of horror and contempt and a ruin forever. I will take away your happy singing and laughter. The joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides will no longer be heard. Your millstones will fall silent, and the lights in your homes will go out.This entire land will become a desolate wasteland. Israel and her neighboring lands will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.” – Ezekiel 25:8-11 NLT

The former citizens of Jerusalem justified their actions, saying, “How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a pagan land?” (Psalm 137:4 NLT). From their perspective, they had no reason to sing. Their city had been destroyed, their homes burned, the Temple plundered and reduced to rubble, and they had been chained and forced-marched all the way to Babylon, where they would spend the next seven decades as slaves. Even if Yahweh's promise was true, and they would return to Jerusalem after 70 years, many of them knew they would never live long enough to see that day. 

Yet, the psalmist refused to give up. He couldn’t bring himself to give up and give in to despair. He wasn't minimizing their situation; he was simply attempting to remind himself and his fellow exiles that they still had reason to hope. 

If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
let my right hand forget how to play the harp.
May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth
if I fail to remember you,
if I don’t make Jerusalem my greatest joy.– Psalm 137:5-6 NLT

When the Babylonians shouted, “Sing us one of those songs of Jerusalem!” (Psalm 137:3 NLT), they were mocking the Israelites' practice of singing the songs of ascent as they made their annual pilgrimages to Jerusalem during the feast days. The psalms were designed to remind the Israelites of the unique status of Jerusalem, not just as their national capital, but as the home of the Temple, considered to be Yahweh's earthly dwelling place. As they made their way up the paths to Mount Zion, they could see the glorious Temple, which stood as a reminder that they served a holy, all-powerful, and covenant-keeping God.

I look up to the mountains—
does my help come from there?
My help comes from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth!– Psalm 121:1-2 NLT

The LORD keeps you from all harm
and watches over your life.
The LORD keeps watch over you as you come and go,
both now and forever.– Psalm 121:7-8 NLT

What if the LORD had not been on our side?
Let all Israel repeat:
What if the LORDhad not been on our side
when people attacked us?
They would have swallowed us alive
in their burning anger.
The waters would have engulfed us;
a torrent would have overwhelmed us.
Yes, the raging waters of their fury
would have overwhelmed our very lives.– Psalm 124:1-5 NLT

But now, they sat by the rivers of Babylon, engulfed and overwhelmed by the reality that their God had not saved them. He had not been on their side. As they had walked away from Jerusalem in chains, their minds were seared with the parting image of their once-glorious Temple in ruins and their impregnable city reduced to rubble. 

But the psalmist wanted to remember Jerusalem as it had been before the Babylonians arrived. He longed to relish the halcyon days when Yahweh's Shekinah glory dwelled above the Mercy Seat in the Holy of Holies. He still held out hope that their God had not completely abandoned them. While their circumstances were bleak and their chances for survival seemed slim, he believed that Yahweh was still on His throne and would remain faithful to His covenant promises. He offered up a prayer to the LORD, begging Him to remember what the Edomites said as they gleefully witnessed the fall of Jerusalem.

O LORD, remember what the Edomites did
on the day the armies of Babylon captured Jerusalem.
“Destroy it!” they yelled.
“Level it to the ground!” – Psalm 137:7 NLT

The Edomites were descendants of Esau, the brother of Jacob, and thus blood relatives of the Israelites. But the Edomites held a long-standing grudge against Jacob's progeny, and rejoiced in their destruction. The sight of Jerusalem being invaded by Babylonian troops spurred the Edomites to demand its complete destruction. They wanted the Israelites and their capital city wiped off the face of the earth. 

The psalmist called on Yahweh to act. Surely, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would not stand back and allow His chosen people to suffer permanent extinction. He had heard the cries of the prophets, warning the Israelites to repent of their sins or face God’s judgment, and he had lived to experience it firsthand. But he had also heard the prophets speak of God’s promise to redeem and restore them.

This is what the LORD says: “You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” says the LORD. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.” – Jeremiah 29:10-14 NLT

He might not live to see that day, but he was willing to trust that the LORD would bring it about. With the words of the prophet Jeremiah ringing in his ears, the psalmist expressed his belief that Yahweh would do what He promised to do.

“Listen to this message from the LORD,
    you nations of the world;
    proclaim it in distant coastlands:
The LORD, who scattered his people,
    will gather them and watch over them
    as a shepherd does his flock.
For the LORD has redeemed Israel
    from those too strong for them.
They will come home and sing songs of joy on the heights of Jerusalem.” – Jeremiah 31:10-12 NLT

Notice the emphasis on songs of joy. While the Babylonians mocked the Israelites' songs of ascent, the psalmist focused on the day when singing would be renewed because of God’s faithfulness. The highways and byways surrounding Jerusalem would once again ring with joyful praise as the Israelites made their way to a restored city and a rebuilt Temple, where they would enjoy a renewed relationship with their God. This news, coupled with Jeremiah's prediction of Babylon's eventual fall, produced hope in the heart of the psalmist.

“How Babylon is fallen—
great Babylon, praised throughout the earth!
Now she has become an object of horror
among the nations.
The sea has risen over Babylon;
she is covered by its crashing waves.
Her cities now lie in ruins;
she is a dry wasteland
where no one lives or even passes by. – Jeremiah 51:41-43 NLT

The tables will be turned, and the fortunes of Israel and Babylon will be reversed, which led the psalmist to end his song with an exuberant, if not macabre, refrain of praise and rejoicing.

O Babylon, you will be destroyed.
    Happy is the one who pays you back
    for what you have done to us.
Happy is the one who takes your babies
    and smashes them against the rocks! – Psalm 137:8-9 NLT

Father, when times get tough, it can be difficult to sing Your praises. Suffering seems to cause short-term memory loss, leaving us unable to recall Your many acts of grace, mercy, kindness, and love. Dark days can produce a cloudy recollection of Your power and providential provision of all our needs. We can find ourselves sitting by our “rivers of Babylon,” whining about our lot in life rather than singing about Your glory and goodness. Help me keep a song on my lips at all times because You are forever faithful, all-powerful, never unaware of my circumstances, and . always ready to act on my behalf. I have plenty of reasons to sing Your praises even when I can't sense Your presence. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Good Shepherd

A Psalm for giving thanks.

1 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!
2  Serve the LORD with gladness!
    Come into his presence with singing!

3 Know that the LORD, he is God!
    It is he who made us, and we are his;
    we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
    and his courts with praise!
    Give thanks to him; bless his name!

5 For the LORD is good;
    his steadfast love endures forever,
    and his faithfulness to all generations. – Psalm 100:1-5 ESV

This anonymous psalm closes out this section of the psalter that celebrates Yahweh's rule and reign. It provides a succinct yet triumphant statement regarding the Almighty's worthiness of worship and adoration, and repeats a phrase found in an earlier psalm.

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;
    break forth into joyous song and sing praises! – Psalm 98:4 ESV

This call for God's people to respond to His majesty and might with joy-filled voices is meant to be a command, not a suggestion. The psalmist can't imagine any other acceptable response to all that God has done. He is a great and good God who not only formed man out of the dust of the ground, but also created the nation of Israel from an elderly man and his equally old and barren wife. The Israelites existed because God had done the impossible. He took a pagan idol worshiper and commissioned him for an impossible mission.

“Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you.” – Genesis 12:1 NLT

Abram had to abandon his false gods and follow Yahweh, leaving behind his homeland and family to travel to a distant land that God promised to give his descendants as their inheritance. If Abram obeyed, God assured Abram that his future descendants would be great in number and a blessing to the nations.

“I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” – Genesis 12:2-3 NLT

And God had kept that promise. That is why the psalmist calls on the people of Israel to acknowledge the miracle God had done for them.

Acknowledge that the LORD is God!
    He made us, and we are his.
    We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. – Psalm 100:4 NLT

The Israelites had been richly blessed by God, but they had responded with disobedience, unfaithfulness, and ingratitude. For generations, they had chosen to worship the gods of the pagan nations around them. Their kings had proven to be poor leaders, and their priests had exposed themselves as unreliable shepherds.

Yet, the psalmist knew that God still deserved their adoration and praise. That is why he called them to reverse their trend of infidelity and return to the One who created them and called them His own.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
    go into his courts with praise.
    Give thanks to him and praise his name. – Psalm 100:4 NLT

The people of Israel had proven to be unreliable, unfaithful, and undeserving of Yahweh's grace and mercy, but they remained His chosen people. Yahweh's faithfulness was unshakeable, and His love was unfailing.

For the Lord is good.
    His unfailing love continues forever,
    and his faithfulness continues to each generation. – Psalm 100:5 NLT

There is no indication of when this psalm was written, but it could have been at any time in Israel's less-than-flattering history. Their very existence as a nation was due to God's unmerited love and favor, and He deserved their undivided adoration and appreciation.

Over the centuries, this moving psalm has inspired other authors to pick up the pen and “ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name” (Psalm 29:2 ESV). In 1561, William Kethe used Psalm 100 as the inspiration for his hymn: “All People That On Earth Do Dwell.”

All people that on Earth do dwell,
Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice;
Him serve with fear, his praise forthtell;
Come ye before him and rejoice.

The Lord, ye know, is God indeed;
Without our aid he did us make;
We are his folk, he doth us feed,
And for his sheep he doth us take.

O enter then his gates with praise,
Approach with joy his courts unto;
Praise, laud, and bless his name always,
For it is seemly so to do.

For why? The Lord our God is good;
His mercy is forever sure;
His truth at all times firmly stood,
And shall from age to age endure. – William Kethe (1561)

But this engaging imagery of Yahweh as the good and gracious shepherd must be balanced by the weight of His holiness and justice. God could not turn a blind eye to the disobedience of His chosen people or the poor leadership of those appointed to serve as His undershepherds. The Book of Ezekiel records God's less-than-pleased response to the shoddy shepherding of Israel’s kings and priests.

“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds, the leaders of Israel. Give them this message from the Sovereign Lord: What sorrow awaits you shepherds who feed yourselves instead of your flocks. Shouldn’t shepherds feed their sheep? You drink the milk, wear the wool, and butcher the best animals, but you let your flocks starve. You have not taken care of the weak. You have not tended the sick or bound up the injured. You have not gone looking for those who have wandered away and are lost. Instead, you have ruled them with harshness and cruelty. So my sheep have been scattered without a shepherd, and they are easy prey for any wild animal. They have wandered through all the mountains and all the hills, across the face of the earth, yet no one has gone to search for them.” – Ezekiel 34:2-6 NLT

They had dropped the ball, and Yahweh was not pleased.

“As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, you abandoned my flock and left them to be attacked by every wild animal. And though you were my shepherds, you didn’t search for my sheep when they were lost. You took care of yourselves and left the sheep to starve. Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I now consider these shepherds my enemies, and I will hold them responsible for what has happened to my flock. I will take away their right to feed the flock, and I will stop them from feeding themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths; the sheep will no longer be their prey.” – Ezekiel 34:8-10 NLT

Despite the failed leadership of Israel's royal and religious castes, Yahweh was going to restore the fortunes of His abandoned flock. He would step in and remedy the problem by rescuing His sheep

“I myself will search and find my sheep. I will be like a shepherd looking for his scattered flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day. I will bring them back home to their own land of Israel from among the peoples and nations. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel and by the rivers and in all the places where people live. Yes, I will give them good pastureland on the high hills of Israel. There they will lie down in pleasant places and feed in the lush pastures of the hills. I myself will tend my sheep and give them a place to lie down in peace, says the Sovereign Lord. I will search for my lost ones who strayed away, and I will bring them safely home again. I will bandage the injured and strengthen the weak. But I will destroy those who are fat and powerful. I will feed them, yes—feed them justice!” – Ezekiel 34:11-16 NLT

God will accomplish this divine rescue by appointing a shepherd who will replicate the leadership of David, the great shepherd-king of Israel.

“So I will rescue my flock, and they will no longer be abused. I will judge between one animal of the flock and another. And I will set over them one shepherd, my servant David. He will feed them and be a shepherd to them. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David will be a prince among my people. I, the Lord, have spoken!” – Ezekiel 34:22-24 NLT

And centuries later, Jesus would claim to be the fulfillment of this divine promise of restoration and redemption.

“I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep.

“I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep. I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd.” – John 10:7-16  NLT

The psalmist had no way of knowing about Jesus’ incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection. He was equally oblivious to the Second Coming of Christ and His role as the Shepherd-King who would reign in righteousness from David's throne in Jerusalem for a thousand years. But the psalmist knew enough about Yahweh's faithfulness and unfailing love to understand that He could be trusted and was worthy of worship and praise. How much more should we be willing to acknowledge the greatness of our God when we know how the story ends?

“His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation” (Psalm 100:5 NLT). Jesus is the proof of that statement, and should be all the motivation we need to sing Yahweh's praises.

Father, I don't praise You enough, and I certainly don't thank you enough for all that You have done for me. I am blessed beyond belief. That You, the God of the universe, chose to have a relationship with me and made it possible through the gracious gift of Your Son's sinless life should blow me away and leave me with no other response that to shout Your praises. Forgive me for my ingratitude. I am sorry that I treat Your grace so cheaply and your love as if I somehow deserve it. I know nothing could be further from the truth. So, I stop right now to say, “the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, nand his faithfulness continues to each generation. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The LORD Reigns

1 Oh sing to the LORD a new song;
    sing to the LORD, all the earth!
2 Sing to the LORD, bless his name;
    tell of his salvation from day to day.
3 Declare his glory among the nations,
    his marvelous works among all the peoples!
4 For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;
    he is to be feared above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the peoples are worthless 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, O families of the peoples,
    ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!
8 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
    bring an offering, and come into his courts!
9 Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness;
    tremble before him, all the earth!

10 Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns!
    Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved;
    he will judge the peoples with equity.”

11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
    let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
12     let the field exult, and everything in it!
Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
13     before the LORD, for he comes,
    for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness,
    and the peoples in his faithfulness. – Psalm 96:1-13 ESV

This psalm is prominently cited in a song ascribed to King David when he brought the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem. As the centerpiece of Israel’s worship, the Ark represented the presence of God. During their days wandering through the wilderness, the Israelites were comforted by the fact that Yahweh's Shekinah glory rested above the mercy seat, which served as the lid for the Ark. So, when David relocated the Ark into his capital city, he wrote a celebratory song that reminded the people of Israel of the goodness and greatness of their God.

In penning the words to his song, David borrowed heavily from Psalm 96, incorporating some of its most memorable lines to encourage the heartfelt worship of Yahweh among his people. God's presence among them was not to be taken lightly or for granted. As the sovereign King of the universe, Yahweh demanded honor, reverence, and unwavering allegiance from His covenant people. Their obedience to His commands was not optional, and their steadfast devotion to Him alone was not up for debate. He had clearly communicated the terms of His relationship with the people of Israel, and He expected wholehearted compliance on their part. 

“I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods.” – Exodus 20:5 NLT   

If they wanted to experience Yahweh’s presence, power, and provision, they would need to be faithful. By bringing the Ark into Jerusalem, David was relocating God's presence into the heart of his capital and reminding his people of their complete reliance upon Him for all their needs. He alone could protect them from their enemies, provide for all their needs, and pour out forgiveness and redemption for their sins. Without Yahweh, they would be just another nation striving to preserve their existence in a world marked by hostility and mired in sin.

Psalm 96 opens with the words, “Sing to the Lord a new song.” This was a call for the people of Israel to praise Yahweh, not just for His past acts of deliverance but for His present activity in their lives. He was present and moving powerfully in their midst. The God who created the universe and delivered their ancestors from their captivity in Egypt was still moving mightily in their lives. That is why the psalmist states, “Each day proclaim the good news that he saves. Publish his glorious deeds among the nations. Tell everyone about the amazing things he does” (Psalm 96:2-3 NLT).

As David celebrated the arrival of the Ark into Jerusalem, he used the words of Psalm 96 to encourage faithfulness among his people. He wanted them to understand their need for God and their obligation to declare His glory to the nations around them. Every time Yahweh moved among His people, they were to declare His majesty, power, and sovereignty to the surrounding nations. His glorious deeds among His people were to be a testimony to His greatness and evidence of His role as the one true God. That is why the psalmist addresses the pagan nations and calls on them to reject their false gods and worship Yahweh alone.

O nations of the world, recognize the LORD;
    recognize that the LORD is glorious and strong.
Give to the LORD the glory he deserves!
    Bring your offering and come into his courts.
Worship the LORD in all his holy splendor. – Psalm 96:7-9 NLT

But their acknowledgment of Yahweh depended on the Israelites’ faithfulness and willingness to declare His glory. If God's people don't see Him as active in their lives and refuse to declare His power and presence, the nations will continue to seek help and hope from false gods. God’s people were to declare, “The Lord reigns!” (Psalm 96:10 ESV). But this was to be more than lip service or pious-sounding rhetoric. It was to come from the heart and express their own personal experience. 

This psalm provides a glimpse of what it means to worship God. It is less an activity than an awareness of God's character and attributes. It is a recognition of who He is, what He has done, and what He will do because of His unchanging character. God is loving and kind. He is holy and righteous. He is powerful and completely in control. What He says, He will do. He can be trusted. He is reliable. Even when things do not appear to be going as expected, and God seems nowhere in sight, He is there.

His character is consistent with His behavior, and it is in keeping with His word. If we don’t understand who God is, we will never truly worship Him. The reality of HIS faithfulness allows us to be faithful to Him. If we view Him as untrustworthy, we will doubt and disobey Him. If we don’t believe His promises, we will never rest in them. And we will never be able to say, “The Lord reigns!” and mean it. Our testimony to God's goodness and greatness will become second-hand and lack personal evidence that He is alive and active in our lives. This lack of firsthand experience with Yahweh will weaken our testimony and fail to impress a lost and dying world that our God rules and reigns.

Our worship of God is fickle and feeble at best. It tends to be based on present circumstances. If things are going well, our God is good and worthy of praise. If things are going poorly, we begin to doubt Him and even complain about our lot in life. When we do, we portray Yahweh as a fickle, fairweather God who can’t be trusted or relied upon. 

Even when we worship Him, our efforts can portray a half-hearted commitment that paints God as an add-on to our lives rather than the sole focus of our affection. We turn worship into an activity that we only participate in on Sundays. Our devotion to Him is relegated to a worship hour and a particular music style. The entire endeavor becomes more about us than Him. We judge the effectiveness of our worship based on our personal tastes. If we enjoy our worship service of choice and like the music and the message we hear, we believe we’ve worshiped. But we can go through that process and never acknowledge God's lovingkindness, faithfulness, righteousness, truth, and strength. We can feel good, but leave without having grown closer to God. In essence, the worship service becomes more about us than Him.

This psalm reminds us that God is to be our focus. Not because of what He is currently doing for us, but simply because of who He is. He is God, and there is no one else like Him. He is God, and He is entirely trustworthy and true. He is God, and is all-powerful, and capable of doing whatever He chooses to do. If He is not doing what we THINK He should be doing, He has a very good reason. If He allows difficulty into our lives, He is not asleep, apathetic, or impotent; He has a plan.

Yahweh has made us, and we are His sheep. We belong to Him, and He knows what is best for us. But do we trust Him? Do we believe He is strong enough to meet any and all of our needs? Do we comprehend just how much He loves us? The psalmist reminds us that when God made a promise to David that his kingdom would endure forever, even the people's unfaithfulness and disobedience could not alter that promise's reality and reliability. God's word endures. His faithfulness is unfailing. His lovingkindness is everlasting. His truth never falters. His strength never diminishes.

Tell the nations about his splendor.
Tell all the nations about his amazing deeds.
For the LORD is great and certainly worthy of praise;
he is more awesome than all gods. – Psalms 96:3-4 NET

Father, so often I attempt to worship You in ignorance. I try to sing Your praises but I don't fully understand or appreciate who You are. I tend to sing only when I feel like it. I praise You only when You’ve done something for me. Yet You are worthy of praise all the time. You are loving, kind, righteous, holy, trustworthy, and powerful to save. Help me come to know You better so that I might better worship You rightly. Not just for what You do but just because of who You are. And may I be able to declare to the nations, “The LORD reigns!” and truly mean it because I have experienced it in my own life. Amen 

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

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