“Tremble Before Him All the Earth” (Ps 96)

Give to the LORD, O families of the peoples, Give to the LORD glory and strength. Give to the LORD the glory due His name; bring an offering, and come into His courts. Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth. (vs7-9)

We are all, everyone of us, to glorify God (vs1-9)! Christ redeemed elect souls out of every nation, and we're responsible to praise God, each one of us, no matter who we are. No sinner is excluded from the gospel, so the COMMAND goes to all: Praise, honor, love, and enjoy the gospel, loving God for who He is, your Redeemer, the One true God. He says, “Oh, sing to the Lord a new song! Sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, bless His name; proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples.”

Other gods are idols made in the factory of human opinion, but they have no merit. They didn't make the world. He says, “For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Honor and majesty are before Him; strength and beauty are in His sanctuary”.

Thousands of years ago, the Lord Jesus Christ, in His pre-incarnate form made the heavens and earth as the pre-existent Son of God. He created all things and now upholds all things by the word of His power, being the Savior and the perfect reflection of God, exactly who He is in character (Heb 1:1-3). He is to be worshiped for this, because He is real, and all others are false, idols, made up by men, but incapable of saving. Scripture says, “Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons” (1 Cor 10:20). They pose as gods, deceiving foolish souls with lies and trickery.

Christ is the God without borders, and the gospel isn't bound by familial ties. He says, “Give to the Lord, O families of the peoples, give to the Lord glory and strength”. Let every family praise Him, even if you're the only one in your family. It doesn't matter what your ancestors have believed. It only matters that you worship Jesus Christ, the God who made everything, the Truth, the reality whom we'll meet soon in Judgment. He says, “Say among the nations, The Lord reigns; the world also is firmly established, ti shall not be moved; He shall judge the peoples righteously” (vs10). I wouldn't be so foolish as to die in sin simply because my grandmother did. I'd believe the gospel and preserve my family, my house, and those who will hear me speak.

This praise is mandatory (vs10-12). He says, “Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and all its fullness; let the field be joyful, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before the Lord. For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with His truth”. It doesn't matter what you're dealing with - if saved by grace apart from any works of your own, if predestined in love and made holy by the Spirit, then we have REASON to praise God, even when things are bleak. We BELIEVE the present is temporary, and the eternal, which is promised, is of far greater value and importance (2 Cor 4:16-18). We praise God for the strength to praise Him.

Take this seriously. Praise is commanded, not merely in word and song, but in the beauty of holiness. He says, “Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth”. This praise is more than lip service; it is FEARING God with obedience, and it's getting grace because I have no choice. I imagine that Noah was tired on days, unbelieving on others, but he knew the wrath was coming, so he looked to Christ for strength to keep His command. He got it, and salvation is the result. Praising God FOR salvation will usher us into everlasting life, where praise will no longer be difficult. There'll be no war with sin, and God's commands will be 100% fulfilled in us.