Daily Devotion – December 27, 2021 – Dr. Pat Taylor Ellison
Psalm 96
96:1 O sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth.
96:2 Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.
96:3 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples.
96:4 For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; he is to be revered above all gods.
96:5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the LORD made the heavens.
96:6 Honor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
96:7 Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
96:8 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts.
96:9 Worship the LORD in holy splendor; tremble before him, all the earth.
96:10 Say among the nations, “The LORD is king! The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved. He will judge the peoples with equity.”
96:11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
96:12 let the field exult, and everything in it. Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
96:13 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 truth.
The world is full of gods. It always has been. Otherwise, in the Ten Commandments there wouldn’t be a command to have no other gods before God, Yahweh.
When Psalm 96 was written, Jesus hadn’t arrived yet. But its praise for the Lord, God of Israel, is high praise indeed and places this living God, Creator of all things, well above gods that are mere idols or stories. The God of Israel deserves glory ascribed to his name. He made the heavens and the earth, the fields and the trees. And he will come, it says, to judge the earth rightly and truly, righteously (keeping the relationship right between God and human beings).
Other gods of this time were the gods of the ancient world. I loved Greek mythology and even taught it, many years ago, in English class. My students loved it, too. We learned all the names and what each Olympian ruled over, we read The Iliad and The Odyssey, and learned all the stories of Zeus walking among the humans disguised as a shepherd or some other kind of peasant. Or even a swan.
But this God that Psalm 96 asks us to hold in higher esteem than any other god, this God of ours did something that the psalmist probably never saw coming. In order to keep the relationship right between the Creator of the Universe and human beings, this God of ours came to live among humans as a baby. Born into a family. Growing up in a small town. This revered and esteemed God of Psalm 96 came to live among us as Jesus, whose mission was to teach humans about the heavenly Father and to love us, hoping we would love one another in response, and even came to die so that he could break death’s hold on us. And beyond even that, God sent us the Holy Spirit to tap us on the shoulder and turn our attention toward God and Jesus as often as possible.
Our God is the Creator, the Redeemer, and the Attention-Getter who helps make us holy, too. Let the heavens and earth rejoice in such a wonderful God.
Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for sharing yourself with us. Help us to pay attention and be grateful way more than we usually are. Amen.
