Psalm 96 (NRSV)
Read Psalm 96 on biblegateway.com
Verse 1O sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Verse 2Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.
Verse 3Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples.
Verse 4For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be revered above all gods.
Verse 5For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.
Verse 6Honor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
Verse 7Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Verse 8Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts.
Verse 9Worship the Lord in holy splendor; tremble before him, all the earth.
Verse 10Say among the nations, "The Lord is king! The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved. He will judge the peoples with equity."
Verse 11Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
Verse 12let the field exult, and everything in it. Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
Verse 13before 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.
Devotion
Christmas is a good time to be on guard against idolatry, because Christmas is big business. There are gifts to buy, decorations to put up, parties to prepare for. It’s almost a cliché now to complain about the commercialization of the holiday and to scold each other with the admonition that “Jesus is the reason for the season.” But idolatry is something more than just a loss of focus, and something more sinister than a round or two of overzealous shopping. Idolatry involves putting our full attention toward something empty and false even as we ignore the living God. Idols have no saving power, and yet we put our hope into them. “All the gods of the peoples are idols,” warns the psalmist, “but the LORD made the heavens.”
If we begin to care more about crafting the perfect Christmas than about caring for our neighbor, we have made the holiday itself into an idol—a false god. Human striving—whether for money or notoriety or power or adoration or perfection—is no match for the creative and saving power of our living Savior.
Prayer
“O sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth. Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.” (Psalm 96:1-2)
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