Pastor Billington's Blog

Psalm 97:1-7 “The LORD reigns! Let the earth rejoice! Let the multitude of islands be glad! Clouds and darkness are around him. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. A fire goes before him, and burns up his adversaries on every side. His lightning lights up the world. The earth sees, and trembles. The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. The heavens declare his righteousness. All the peoples have seen his glory. Let all them be shamed who serve engraved images, who boast in their idols. Worship him, all you gods!”

God is awesome, sovereign, and scary. All the so-called gods, all the angels, all those in authority, all people everywhere need to turn to and worship Him. And by Him, we also understand it to mean Jesus!

Hebrews 1:6-8 “When he again brings in the firstborn into the world he says, ‘Let all the angels of God worship him.’ Of the angels he says, ‘He makes his angels winds, and his servants a flame of fire.’ But of the Son he says, ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your Kingdom.’ ”

For additional worship: Day of Judgment, Day of Wonders (John Newton)

For a very short testimony from the singer/arranger of the Newton hymn, click here.

Psalm 96:7-13 “Ascribe to the LORD, you families of nations, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory due to his name. Bring an offering, and come into his courts. Worship the LORD in holy array. Tremble before him, all the earth. Say amongst the nations, “The LORD reigns.” The world is also established. It can’t be moved. He will judge the peoples with equity. Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice. Let the sea roar, and its fullness! Let the field and all that is in it exult! Then all the trees of the woods shall sing for joy before the LORD; for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, the peoples with his truth.”

We are to recognize and praise God for His glory and strength. We should tremble at His might and bring offerings to His court. One day He is coming to judge the earth with righteousness and truth. One day creation itself will cry out His majesty! Until then, we need to make sure that we say among the nations, “The LORD reigns.”

Romans 8:19-22 “For the creation waits with eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of decay into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now.”

For additional worship: Go Tell It On The Mountain (Reawaken Hymns)

Psalm 96:1-6 “Sing to the LORD a new song! Sing to the LORD, all the earth. Sing to the LORD! Bless his name! Proclaim his salvation from day to day! Declare his glory amongst the nations, his marvelous works amongst all the peoples. 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.”

Does anything more need to be said? Perhaps this: “In him are combined all that is mighty and lovely, powerful and resplendent. We have seen rugged strength devoid of beauty, we have also seen elegance without strength; the union of the two is greatly to be admired.” (Treasury of David, Spurgeon, Volume 4, 182)

For additional worship: Jesus Saves (We Have Heard The Joyful Sound)

Psalm 95:6-11 “Oh come, let’s worship and bow down. Let’s kneel before the LORD, our Maker, for he is our God. We are the people of his pasture, and the sheep in his care. Today, oh that you would hear his voice! Don’t harden your heart, as at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the wilderness, when your fathers tempted me, tested me, and saw my work. Forty long years I was grieved with that generation, and said, ‘They are a people who err in their heart. They have not known my ways.’ Therefore I swore in my wrath, ‘They won’t enter into my rest.’ ”

What a description: we are the people of His pasture and the sheep in His care. Knowing His care of us, why wouldn’t we listen to Him? Massah and Meribah can be translated as “quarreling” and “testing.” There were multiple times when the Israelites accused God of not caring for them, and that generation (and Moses!) ended up paying the price. We are warned: don’t be like they were!

Hebrews 3:7-13 “Therefore, even as the Holy Spirit says, ‘Today if you will hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of the trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested me and tried me, and saw my deeds for forty years. Therefore I was displeased with that generation, and said, ‘They always err in their heart, but they didn’t know my ways.’ As I swore in my wrath, ‘They will not enter into my rest.’ ” Beware, brothers, lest perhaps there might be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God; but exhort one another day by day, so long as it is called ‘today’, lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”

For additional worship: Let All Things Now Living (Michael Card)

Psalm 95:1-5 “Oh come, let’s sing to the LORD. Let’s shout aloud to the rock of our salvation! Let’s come before his presence with thanksgiving. Let’s extol him with songs! For the LORD is a great God, a great King above all gods. In his hand are the deep places of the earth. The heights of the mountains are also his. The sea is his, and he made it. His hands formed the dry land.”

Sing to God! Sing to Him because He made us! Sing to Him because He made this world that we live in! Sing to Him because He is great and mighty, and no-one is greater than He is!

For additional worship: Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above

Psalm 94:16-23 “Who will rise up for me against the wicked? Who will stand up for me against the evildoers? Unless the LORD had been my help, my soul would have soon lived in silence. When I said, ‘My foot is slipping!’ Your loving kindness, LORD, held me up. In the multitude of my thoughts within me, your comforts delight my soul. Shall the throne of wickedness have fellowship with you, which brings about mischief by statute? They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood. But the LORD has been my high tower, my God, the rock of my refuge. He has brought on them their own iniquity, and will cut them off in their own wickedness. The LORD, our God, will cut them off.”

Why should we trust God? Because of what Jesus did on the cross. We were sliding into hell, and the Lord held us up! He continues to be our high tower and rock of refuge in this life. We have the guarantee of His love, His Spirit, His hope, and His faithfulness now, as well as the guarantee of an eternity with Him. The wicked will face a much different future.

For additional worship: Dear Refuge Of My Weary Soul (Indelible Grace)

Psalm 94:8-15 “Consider, you senseless amongst the people; you fools, when will you be wise? He who implanted the ear, won’t he hear? He who formed the eye, won’t he see? He who disciplines the nations, won’t he punish? He who teaches man knows. The LORD knows the thoughts of man, that they are futile. Blessed is the man whom you discipline, LORD, and teach out of your law, that you may give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit is dug for the wicked. For the LORD won’t reject his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance. For judgement will return to righteousness. All the upright in heart shall follow it.”

God knows us. He knows that we’re dull of eyes and dull of heart. He knows that our thoughts are futile. If we’re unwilling to learn the easy way, He teaches us the hard way: through adversity. That’s actually a blessing! Because we’re His we can trust that He’ll preserve us and judge the wicked. God’s faithfulness should encourage us to follow Him!

1 Corinthians 3:18-20 “Let no one deceive himself. If anyone thinks that he is wise amongst you in this world, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, ‘He has taken the wise in their craftiness.’ And again, ‘The Lord knows the reasoning of the wise, that it is worthless.’ ”

For additional worship: Will You Not Listen? (Michael Card)

Psalm 94:1-7 “LORD, you God to whom vengeance belongs, you God to whom vengeance belongs, shine out. Rise up, you judge of the earth. Pay back the proud what they deserve. LORD, how long will the wicked, how long will the wicked triumph? They pour out arrogant words. All the evildoers boast. They break your people in pieces, LORD, and afflict your heritage. They kill the widow and the alien, and murder the fatherless. They say, “The LORD will not see, neither will Jacob’s God consider.”

This is a cry for God to avenge His people and punish the wicked. The wicked are seen as especially heinous, not just because of what they do, but because they don’t believe in Israel’s God or that there will be any punishment for their actions.

There is an important reminder here that we aren’t to take vengeance into our own hands. God has given us our government and Himself to rely on for justice!

Romans 13:3-4 “For rulers are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil. Do you desire to have no fear of the authority? Do that which is good, and you will have praise from the authority, for he is a servant of God to you for good. But if you do that which is evil, be afraid, for he doesn’t bear the sword in vain; for he is a servant of God, an avenger for wrath to him who does evil.”

Romans 12:19 “Don’t seek revenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to God’s wrath. For it is written, ‘Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay,’ says the Lord.”

For additional worship: O Lord, Thou Judge of All the Earth

Psalm 93:1-5 “The LORD reigns! He is clothed with majesty! The LORD is armed with strength. The world also is established. It can’t be moved. Your throne is established from long ago. You are from everlasting. The floods have lifted up, LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice. The floods lift up their waves. Above the voices of many waters, the mighty breakers of the sea, the LORD on high is mighty. Your statutes stand firm. Holiness adorns your house, LORD, forever more.”

Why sing praises to the Lord? Because He is sovereign, majestic, strong, mighty, holy and eternal. Even the chaos of the storm and the flood are nothing compared to Him. He created the universe and His plans for it are assured. He is in control, and worthy to be praised!

Revelation 4:11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, the Holy One, to receive the glory, the honor, and the power, for you created all things, and because of your desire they existed and were created!”

For additional worship: Worthy of Worship (Lifeway Traditional)