Psalm 96

When preparing sermons, preachers are taught to answer two basic questions: What? and So what? First, what does the text say? Next, what does the text mean to me? How does it apply to my life today? The psalmist in Psalm 97 followed this pattern. He answered the first question using a confession of faith: “The Lord is King!” (v.1a) The psalmist continues confessing God’s nature for six verses and then answers the second question by stating several implications of God’s reign and concluding with: “May all who are godly rejoice in the Lord and praise his holy name!” (v.12)

Psalm 97 is an invitation to the followers of Jesus to respond to the confession: “The Lord is King!” Our response is difficult to formulate because we have been conditioned to think in terms of, “God is my co-pilot,” rather than “The Lord is King!” We talk about entering into a relationship with God as though God is our co-equal, but the text says, “The Lord is King!”

In responding to this psalm, I remember the New Testament affirms that Jesus came to establish the Kingdom of God, as the angel Gabriel announced to Mary: “And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end’” (Luke 1:31-33 NRSV).

When Jesus began His ministry, he affirmed his mission was about the Kingdom of God by bracketing the Beatitudes with promises of His Kingdom:

“God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him,

    for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right,

    for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.”

(Matthew 5: 3, 10)

We are conditioned by our culture to think in terms of the decisions and choices we get to make. However, if I am tempted to think that I made a decision to be a part of Jesus’ Kingdom, Jesus reminds me, “You didn’t choose me. I chose you” (John 16a).

“The Lord is King!”

Sē’lah

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What word or phrase in today’s reading of the Psalms

 attracts your attention?

Reflect on that word or phrase.

What insights come to you?

How does this passage touch your life today?

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

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Reading for August 7, 2012       Psalm 98