Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

Prophets, kings, chosen servants and the 12 tribes have ‘trembled’ and obeyed God through the ages of Israel’s history and now the Lord is expanding his reign to every land… ”go and make disciples of all the nations,…” (Mt. 28:19) His rule and his justice are as firm as the unshakeable earth; all of the nations tremble at his appearing. The prospect of his fairness causes the wicked to shake with dread.

IIl LET THE HEAVENS BE GLAD - 11-13: Command to the Heavens

There are five aspects of creation that are called to a new level of praise at the imminent return of the Lord. The first two are a general summons for both the heavenly and earthly realms to raise the vol- ume and intensity of praise while the last three are symbolic of humanity exalting the coming King! Just as the volume increases when you near the end of the symphony, the greatest crescendo of worship ever experienced in heavenly and earthly realms is beginning to sound from the nations. • Let the heavens- “Let the heavens be glad…” (11) There is joy in heaven in the last days be- cause people of many nations are being converted to faith in Jesus the Messiah… ”there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.” (Lk. 15:10) • Let the earth- “Let the earth rejoice!” (11) Even though there is great darkness and turmoil at the end of the age, there will be an equal amount of joy coming from the church. • Let the sea- “Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise!” (11) The sea is symbolic of the great ‘sea of peoples’ who will shout their praises to God just as the waves crash on the shores of all the continents. These are not only the small, gentle waves of worship but the exuberant, thundering breakers of praise. • Let the fields- “Let the fields and their crops burst forth with joy! “ (12) The fields can represent the various nations being harvested into the church in the last of time. “Vast fields are ripening all around us and are ready now for the harvest. The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and harvester alike!” (Jn. 4:35, 36) The joy that comes from the gift of eternal life bursts forth from the fields of salvation. Every field of grain and leaf that ripples in the wind is to remind us to respond to the moving of the Holy Spirit as he welcomes us to praise. • Let the trees- “Let the trees of the forest rustle with praise before the Lord!” (12, 13) The trees represent those who have been transplanted into the courts of the Lord’s house. Every tree branch ever created is to remind us to lift our hearts and our hands to the Lord as he comes near. The Jews thought that this verse referred to the 1st appearing of the Messiah and did not expect a 2nd coming of the Son of David. This is one of the reasons Jesus was rejected, he did not bring world wide political peace through a physical kingdom centered in Jerusalem. He did not seemingly ‘judge the world’ but it appeared that the world judged him through Pontius Pilate and the Roman Empire. We have the great advantage of looking at these verses through the eyes of the New Testament and from the perspective of Christ’s first coming. It is clear these closing verses are more about his second com- ing where he will not be the suffering savior but the conquering king. “…so also Christ died only once as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again but not to deal with our sins again. This time he will bring salvation to all those who are eagerly waiting for him.” (Heb. 9:28) All of the heavens, the earth, the seas of humanity, the trees of righteousness and the harvest fields of souls will be ascribing praise to him who is returning in triumph and glory “For the Lord is coming! He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and all the nations with his truth.” (13)

1 Scroggie 2 Keil & Delitzsch 3 Spurgeon

PSALM 97: THE LORD IS KING The Second Coming of Christ

While Psalms 96 and 98 are predictive of the second coming of Christ, Psalm 97 is a prophetic ac- count of what actually takes place during this greatest of human events. All of the psalms in the ‘King’ series (93, 95-99) are filled with praise and worship and are flavored by the expectancy of Christ’s com- ing again.

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