Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised

Psalm 95-96:13 (NASB)

Praise to the Lord, and Warning against Unbelief.

95 O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord,
Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.
² Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving,
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
³ For the Lord is a great God
And a great King above all gods,
⁴ In whose hand are the depths of the earth,
The peaks of the mountains are His also.
⁵ The sea is His, for it was He who made it,
And His hands formed the dry land.

⁶ Come, let us worship and bow down,
Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
⁷ For He is our God,
And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.
Today, if you would hear His voice,
⁸ Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
As in the day of ^]Massah in the wilderness,
⁹ “When your fathers tested Me,
They tried Me, though they had seen My work.
¹⁰ “For forty years I loathed that generation,
And said they are a people who err in their heart,
And they do not know My ways.
¹¹ “Therefore I swore in My anger,
Truly they shall not enter into My rest.”

A Call to Worship the Lord the Righteous Judge.

96 Sing to the Lord a new song;
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
² Sing to the Lord, bless His name;
Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.
³ Tell of His glory among the nations,
His wonderful deeds 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 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 of His name;
Bring an offering and come into His courts.
⁹ Worship the Lord in holy attire;
Tremble before Him, all the earth.
¹⁰ Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns;
Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not 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 it contains;
¹² Let the field exult, and all that is in it.
Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy
¹³ Before the Lord, for He is coming,
For He is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
And the peoples in His faithfulness.

O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord,
Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.
² Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving,
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.

It would seem that the psalmist believes that worship and praise of God is an activity which requires action. God is a holy God and we should show reverence and respect in His sanctuary. Yet the redemption and restoration He has provided for us should cause us to respond in joy. When we  worship  the God of all creation and the one who died for our sins we should be deeply moved. That expression of our gratitude might come out in different forms. We should not judge anyone else's expression of worship. We don't know the path they have taken to redemption and restoration.  

³ For the Lord is a great God
And a great King above all gods,

We praise and worship God for who and what He is. Not just for what He has done. Even if He had not sent His Son to die for our sins God would be a great God. He is the God of all creation. God created everything and controls everything, yet He is our God and we are His people.

⁶ Come, let us worship and bow down,
Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
⁷ For He is our God,
And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.

Again in Psalm96 the psalmist implores us to sing and to actively  worship the Lord.

As I read and reflected on these psalms I couldn’t help but to think how much has changed in my lifetime. When I was young God was acknowledged and worshipped by most people. Even most of those who did not regularly attend church still would have considered themselves Christians. Certainly there was no offense taken at the celebration of Christmas and Easter.  Today we are seeing a second generation of people who have little or no knowledge of the Bible or who Jesus really is. Many today would claim no religious affiliation.The thought of ever going to a church, other than for a wedding or a funeral, is the farthest thing from their minds.

 In Matthew 24:12 Jesus says:  Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold.

Whether lawlessness causes the decline in worship and praise of God, or the decline in worship and praise of God causes the increase in lawlessness it is hard to know. Surely though we can see that as these two conditions become more prevalent in our society and culture there is a real tendency for people’s love to grow cold.

We can’t control what others choose to believe, but we can as the psalmist says:

Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.
 Tell of His glory among the nations,
His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.

All of creation will praise and honor God.   

¹¹ Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; Let the sea roar, and  all it contains;
¹² Let the field exult, and all that is in it.
Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy
¹³ Before the Lord, for He is coming,

Today join with me and the psalmist.

O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord,
Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving,
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.