A Song of Thanksgiving

Some songs are almost impossible to get out of your head. In 1973 the Carpenters had a hit called "Sing." Chances are, just reading the title, you're already humming it. The song tells you, over and over, to sing: to sing out loud and strong, to sing about good things and happy things. And it asks you to keep it simple, so the song will last your whole life long.

The lyrics are almost embarrassingly simple, yet nearly impossible to forget. And that's the point.

More than fifty years later, people still remember Karen and Richard's song. But there's another, much older song just like it, one that will be remembered long after the last memory of the Carpenters' hit fades away. It's titled simply Song (or Psalm) 96.

"Oh 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. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!" (96:1–3).

This psalm carries the same simple message and dream of the whole world singing the same song. But while the song of the '70s sings vaguely of good things and happy things, the psalmist gives our praise an object and a focus. "For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods" (96:4).

Something to Sing About

Read through Psalm 96 and you'll notice that the psalmist never asks us to sing without giving us a reason. Every call to praise comes with something specific to praise God for.

He is great and worthy of praise (96:4). He is the Creator: "For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the LORD made the heavens" (96:5). He is glorious: "Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary" (96:6). He is King: "Say among the nations, 'The LORD reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved'" (96:10). And He is the righteous Judge who is coming: "He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his faithfulness" (96:13).

The rest of the Psalms are full of these reasons, too. Several specific things we can praise God for are:

• God is good (Psalm 31:19–24). "Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you" (31:19). David had been slandered, plotted against and abandoned by his friends, yet he found God's goodness stored up for him like treasure. He responds with love and encouragement: "Love the LORD, all you his saints! … Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the LORD!" (31:23–24). What evidence of God's goodness have you seen in your own life this week? That's a song waiting to be sung.

• God will save (Psalm 49). Psalm 49 is a hard look at people who trust in their wealth. The psalmist points out that no amount of money can rescue anyone from death: "Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life" (49:7). It's foolish to trust anyone but God with something that important. But then comes a ray of hope: "God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me" (49:15). The psalmist saw that hope from a distance. We know the rest of the story. We know the ransom was paid by Jesus Christ on the cross. If the psalmist could sing about a salvation he only glimpsed, how much more should we sing about one we have seen fulfilled?

• God will comfort (Psalm 4). David begins this psalm in distress, but he remembers how God has met him before: "You have given me relief when I was in distress" (4:1). He ends it with one of the most peaceful lines in Scripture: "In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety" (4:8). Sometimes the things that keep us from experiencing God's comfort are worry, busyness or simply looking for comfort in other places first. David found that God "put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound" (4:7). God's comfort is better than anything the world can offer, and that's worth singing about.

• God will protect (Psalm 91). Count the words the psalmist uses to describe God's protection: shelter, shadow, refuge, fortress, wings, shield, buckler. "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the LORD, 'My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust'" (91:1–2). It's as if one word isn't enough to capture how completely God surrounds His people. Think back over the past year. How have you seen God's protection in your life, maybe in ways you didn't recognize at the time?

• God will forgive (Psalm 51). This may be the greatest reason of all. David wrote Psalm 51 after his sin with Bathsheba, and he holds nothing back. Why would he even expect God to forgive him? Not because he deserved it, but because of who God is: "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions" (51:1). And what is God really looking for? Not a perfect performance, but "a broken and contrite heart" (51:17). Notice what David says will happen once he's forgiven: "My tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise" (51:14–15). Forgiveness turns into a song.

Goodness, salvation, comfort, protection and forgiveness. Any one of these would be enough to keep us singing for a lifetime. Together, they remind us that we will never run short of reasons for praise.

A Song That Lasts

The songs of ancient Israel became the songs of the church, and they're still being sung today. That's the kind of song Psalm 96 is talking about: a song that lasts forever. God's people have been turning these reasons into songs for thousands of years. Many of the hymns we still sing were inspired directly by the Psalms. Martin Luther's "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" grew out of Psalm 46. Isaac Watts based "O God, Our Help in Ages Past" on Psalm 90. "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty" draws on Psalm 103, and "Bringing in the Sheaves" comes from the harvest imagery of Psalm 126.

And by the end of Psalm 96, it isn't only people who are singing. All of creation joins in. "Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it! Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes" (96:11–13).

So Sing!

When was the last time you sang for God? When was the last time you took real delight in your relationship with Him? The psalmist calls us to respond: "Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength! Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts!" (96:7–8).

If your voice is hoarse and cracked, sing! If your voice is weak and off-pitch, sing! If your voice can only be expressed through the movement of your hands, sing! Take one of the reasons above, whether it's God's goodness, His salvation, His comfort, His justice, His protection or His forgiveness, and let it become your song today.

Like the Carpenters said, a simple song can last your whole life long. But the song of Psalm 96 lasts even longer, because the One we sing about will reign forever.