God’s victory in the past

Posted on April 5, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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God’s victory in the past

Psalm 98:1-3 (JDV)

Psalm 98:1 Sing a new song to Yahveh because he has performed wonderful things; his right hand and sacred arm have won him victory.
Psalm 98:2 Yahveh has made his deliverance known; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.
Psalm 98:3 He has remembered his love and reliability to the house of Israel; all the ends of the land have seen our God’s deliverance.

God’s victory in the past

McEachern writes on this section: “God’s mighty acts on behalf of his people caused them to sing a new song (v. 1). God had granted victory and salvation, vindicating Israel in the eyes of their enemies and “all the ends of the earth” (v. 3). God kept his covenant promises to the nation. This called forth their praise. Paul also promised that God will complete what he has begun in us (Phil. 1:6). This psalm is a song of victory which recalls the triumph of Easter for Christians” (120).

God’s victories in the past are a reason that we can put our faith in him for our future destiny.

McEachern, Alton H. Psalms. Nashville, Tenn: Broadman Press, 1981.

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be glad in Him

Posted on April 4, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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be glad in Him

Psalm 97:8-12 (JDV)

Psalm 97:8 Zion hears and is glad, Judah’s villages rejoice because of your judgments, Yahveh.
Psalm 97:9 Yes, you, Yahveh, are the Highest over the whole land; you are exalted above all the gods.
Psalm 97:10 You who love Yahveh, hate evil! He protects the throats of his faithful ones; he rescues them from the power of the wicked.
Psalm 97:11 Light dawns for the righteous, gladness for the upright in heart.
Psalm 97:12 Be glad in Yahveh, you righteous ones, and give thanks to his sacred name.

Darkness may come for the righteous ones, but God is above it all. His people are encouraged to be glad in Him and wait for the light to dawn.

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bowing gods

Posted on April 3, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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bowing gods

Psalm 97:6-7 (JDV)

Psalm 97:6 The sky proclaims his righteousness; all the peoples see his fame.
Psalm 97:7 All who serve carved images, those who brag about idols, will be put to shame. All gods must bow to him.

bowing gods

The gods of the nations will all bow to the creator, whose presence melts mountains. All those who put their trust in these false gods will be put to shame. Rejection of the God of the Bible will have its price.

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melting mountains

Posted on April 2, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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melting mountains

Psalm 97:1-5 (JDV)

Psalm 97:1 Yahveh reigns! Let the land rejoice; let the many coasts and islands be glad.
Psalm 97:2 Clouds and total darkness surround him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
Psalm 97:3 Fire walks before him and burns up his foes on every side.
Psalm 97:4 His lightning lights up the world; the land sees and trembles.
Psalm 97:5 The mountains melt like wax at the presence of Yahveh – at the presence of the Lord of the whole land.

melting mountains

Seif and Blank write of this passage: “Describing the invisible, within the parameters of a covenant that prohibits the making of images for Deity, is a challenge. The poet begins with “clouds and darkness” (2)— recalling the scene when God descended onto Mount Sinai. He adds fire — like the fire that never consumed; the bush, yet does burn up “His adversaries on every side” (3). Then “lightning lights up the world” (4)— a stunning display of His sudden splendor! This display calls for a response of awe, as “mountains melt” (5) as His presence approaches.

LORD, may we respond to your presence with humility and reverence, like the mountains.

Seif, Jeffrey L., Blank, Glenn, and Paul Wilbur. TLV Psalms with Commentary: Hope and Healing in the Hebrew Scriptures. S.l.: Destiny Image Messianic, 2013.

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bring it on

Posted on April 1, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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bring it on

Psalm 96:11-13 (JDV)

Psalm 96:11 Let the sky be glad and the land rejoice; let the sea and all that fills it resound.
Psalm 96:12 Let the fields and everything in them celebrate. Then all the trees of the forest will shout for joy
Psalm 96:13 before Yahveh, for he is coming – for he is coming to judge the land. He will judge the world with righteousness and the people with his reliability.

bring it on

The created universe has every right to rejoice at the coming of Yahveh to the world. Sin has marred not only human souls but every aspect of the planet they touch. When our Lord comes to make everything new, it will be a renewal of the universe we reside in and will be just as welcomed by the land and trees and sky and sea creatures as it is by human beings.

All creation waits for renewal. They are shouting “bring it on!”

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among the nations

Posted on March 31, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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among the nations

Psalm 96:10 (JDV)

Psalm 96:10 Say among the nations: “Yahveh reigns. The world is firmly established; it cannot be shaken. He judges the peoples fairly.”

among the nations

The message of the gospel needs to go out to all the nations because everyone who has ever lived is accountable to God.

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from singing to bringing

Posted on March 30, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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from singing to bringing

Psalm 96:7-9 (JDV)

Psalm 96:7 Ascribe to Yahveh, you families of the peoples, ascribe to Yahveh fame and strength.
Psalm 96:8 Ascribe to Yahveh the fame of his name; bring an offering and enter his courts.
Psalm 96:9 Worship Yahveh in the splendor of his holiness; let the whole land tremble before him.

from singing to bringing

In this psalm, we are first instructed to sing praise to God, then we are told to bring an offering to him. This is how it should be. We give becase we appreciate who God is. Our offerings are part of our worship. He is worthy of our singing. He is also worthy of our gifts.

Thank you, LORD, for giving us different opportunities to express our gratitude.

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sing to the sky maker

Posted on March 29, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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sing to the sky maker

Psalm 96:1-6 (JDV)

Psalm 96:1 Sing a new song to Yahveh; let the whole land sing to Yahveh.
Psalm 96:2 Sing to Yahveh, bless his name; proclaim his deliverance from day to day.
Psalm 96:3 Declare his fame among the nations, his wonderful things among all peoples.
Psalm 96:4 Yes, Yahveh is great and is highly praised; he is feared above all gods.
Psalm 96:5 Yes, all the gods of the peoples are idols, but Yahveh made the sky.
Psalm 96:6 Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

sing to the sky maker

As I write this, I am looking out over a huge corn field, covered with a beautiful blue sky. At night, the sunsets turn the sky bright orange and pink, and gray. It is a spectacular show every night, free of charge.

We take the sky for granted because it is. It is a sign from God granted to us so that we will always have reason to sing. Why waste our time on the gods of the peoples? They are just empty idols. Yahveh made the sky. Yahveh brought us deliverance through the Son, Jesus. So while we are singing, we should think up new ways to proclaim that deliverance from day to day.

Thank you, sky maker.

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testing or resting

Posted on March 28, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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testing or resting

Psalm 95:6-11 (JDV)

Psalm 95:6 Come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before Yahveh our Maker.
Psalm 95:7 Yes, he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, the sheep under his hand. Today, if you hear his voice:
Psalm 95:8 Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah, as on that day at Massah in the open country,
Psalm 95:9 where your ancestors tested me; they tried me, though they had seen what I did.
Psalm 95:10 Yes, forty years I was disgusted with that generation; I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray; they do not know my roads.”
Psalm 95:11 So I swore in my anger, “They will not enter my rest.”

testing or resting

By hardening their hearts against his, and refusing to learn his roads, the people of Israel lost out on God’s promised rest. An entire generation struggled and died in the wilderness, testing God.

You and I have the same choice. We can continue testing God, and never see the fulfillment of his promises. Or, we can choose to obey him, and he can take us where we need to go in this life.

There are all kinds of alternate choices, but none of them clearly reflect God’s will. We can (for example) pretend that the struggles we face today are some kind of purgatorial work. We could pride ourselves on how hard our road is. Wrong choice.

As long as we set ourselves against God’s word and stubbornly seek our own path, we will stay on the wrong road. We have to surrender to his will — bowing down to him. That is true repentance. Only true repentance leads to God’s rest.

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a mingled din of praise

Posted on March 27, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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a mingled din of praise

Psalm 95:1-5 (JDV)

Psalm 95:1 Let us walk, let us shout joyfully to Yahveh, shout triumphantly to the rock of our salvation!
Psalm 95:2 Let us enter his presence with thanksgiving; let us shout triumphantly to him in song.
Psalm 95:3 Yes, Yahveh is a great God, a great King above all gods.
Psalm 95:4 The depths of the land are in his hand, and the mountain peaks are his.
Psalm 95:5 The sea is his; he made it. His hands formed the dry land.

a mingled din of praise

Horsley says that the Hebrew verb here rendered “shout joyfully” in verse 1 “signifies to make a loud sound of any sort, either with the voice or with instruments. In the Psalms, it generally refers to the mingled din of voices and various instruments, in the Temple service” (236).

Our voices are not enough. Music is not enough. We should praise our glorious God with a mingled din of praise!

Horsley, Samuel. The Book of Psalms; Translated from the Hebrew: with Notes, Explanatory and Critical. By Samuel Horsley, LL. D. 1815.

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