Why We Sing – Psalm 96

1. As an act of…

1.A. Singing does not equal worship, but it’s…

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” (Romans 12:1)

“Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.” (Psalm 95:1)

“Oh, sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things!” (Psalm 98:1)

“Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing.” (Psalm 100:1-2)

“And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites in all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness, with thanksgivings and with singing, with cymbals, harps, and lyres.” (Nehemiah 12:27)

“And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” (Matthew 26:30)

1.B. We can’t help but sing because…

“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23)

“As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” (Luke 19:37-40)

“But the most obvious fact about praise – whether of God or anything – strangely escaped me. I thought of it in terms of compliment, approval or the giving of honor. I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise… The world rings with praise – lovers praising their mistresses, readers their favorite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favorite game – praise of weather, wines, dishes, actors, motors, horses, colleges, countries, historical personages, children, flowers, mountains, rare stamps, rare beetles, even sometimes politicians or scholars. I had not noticed how the humblest, and at the same time most balanced and capacious, minds, praised most, while the cranks, misfits and malcontents praised least…”

“I had not noticed either that just as men spontaneously praise whatever they value, so they spontaneously urge us to join them in praising it: “Isn’t she lovely? Wasn’t it glorious? Don’t you think that is magnificent? The Psalmists telling everyone to praise God are doing what all men do when they speak of what they care about. My whole, more general, difficulty about the praise of God depended on my absurdly denying to us, as regards the supremely Valuable, what we delight to do, what indeed we can’t help doing, about everything else we value. I think we delight to praise when we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation.” (C.S. Lewis)

2. As a means of…

“Let me write the songs of a nation, and I care not who writes the laws.” (Andrew Fletcher)

“I am convinced that congregations learn more theology (good and bad) from the songs they sing than from the sermons they hear. Many sermons are doctrinally sound and contain a fair amount of biblical information, but they lack the necessary emotional content that gets hold of the listener’s heart. Music, however, reaches the mind and the heart at the same time. It has the power to touch and move the emotions, and for that reason can be a wonderful tool in the hands of the Spirit or a terrible weapon in the hands of the Adversary.” (Warren Wiersbe)

“Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the LORD, saying, “I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed victoriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown in to the sea.” (Exodus 15:1)

“When they were few in number, of little account, and sojourners in it, wandering from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people, he allowed no one to oppress them; he rebuked kings on their account, saying, “Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm!” When he summoned a famine on the land and broke all supply[a] of bread, he had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave. His feet were hurt with fetters; his neck was put in a collar of iron; until what he had said came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him. The king sent and released him; the ruler of the peoples set him free; he made him lord of his house and ruler of all his possessions, to bind his princes at his pleasure.” (Psalm 105:12-22)

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” (Colossians 3:16)

“And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart.” (Ephesians 5:18-19)

3. As a declaration…