Psa 96:9 O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth.

Psalms 96 calls on people to praise God (verses 1-3, 7-9, 11-12) and gives reasons why God is worthy of praise (verses 4-6, 10, 13). Three times we are told to sing (verses 1-2), and after that to bless (verse 2), show forth (verse 2b), declare (verse 3), give (verses 7-8), bring (vs 8) and worship (verse 9). All those acts tell us a lot about what we should do in worship. Let’s go through them one by one. 

1. SING: “O sing unto the LORD” (vs 1)

This is praising the name of God. Singing is commanded in worship: “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:19). Singing is rejoicing of heart (James 5:13). One must joyful when he comes for worship: “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD” (Psalm 122:1).

2. BLESS: “Bless his name” (vs 2)

Of course God does not need our blessing. The Hebrew word is “barak” and means “to kneel (as an act of adoration) (Strong Definition, e-sword). Hence, “to bless the name of God” is to show forth our praises and adoration to Him: “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name” (Psalm 100:4). The first part, “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving” parallels the second part “be thankful unto him”. And the second part, “and into his courts with praise” parallels “and bless his name”.  

3. SHOW FORTH: “Shew forth his salvation from day to day” (vs 2)

The expression, “show forth” means “to tell, announce.” Worship is about telling the good news of salvation. In worship, we proclaim the glad tidings about Jesus Christ and His love for us in redeeming us: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14). We sing this hymn, I Love To Tell The Story, and let this greatest story be told again and again in worship. 

4. DECLARE: “Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people” (vs 3)

Worship is doing evangelism: “Declare his glory among the heathen”. We declare the wondrous work of Creation by our Almighty God (Genesis 1:1). We announce to the world who the God that we worship is: “For the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised” (vs 4a). 

5. GIVE: “Give unto the LORD” (vs 7, 8)

The word rendered “give” means “to ascribe”. To “ascribe” is to “attribute something to; to name a quality that belongs to a person or thing”. For example, to a deer we ascribe speed and grace. What are the things we are to ascribe to God?

(i) Glory and Strength (vs 7). This refers to His mighty works in creation (vs 3-5).

(ii) Glory due to His Name (vs 8). This refers to His great name who is LORD and GOD (vs 6). 

Worship is giving to God the glory and honour due to Him. 

6. BRING: “Bring an offering” (vs 6).

Did you forget to bring something to worship? Many come to worship hoping to receive but the psalmist says we are to give and bring. Did you bring your heart to worship, your ears to listen, your mouth to praise, your eyes to behold, and your hands to serve? The greatest offering you can offer to God is yourself. Are you actually present in worship: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1). 

7. WORSHIP: “O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth” (vs 9) 

Worship is not about us; worship is about God. God is holy and to be held in reverence in worship. The psalmist demonstrates to us that worship should always incorporate two elements: rejoicing and reverence (verses 1, 9). Did you bring those two elements with you when you come to worship? “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (Hebrews 12:28). 

As we read the book of Psalms, we realise that the psalmist is very passionate about worship. There is no such thing as “boring worship” to him. Every worship is joyous and he looks forward to it each time. This can only come about with genuine faith and love for God. How about you? Do you love the hour of worship?

Jimmy Lau

Psa 119:97  Oh how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day