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. 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. 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. Psalm 96:1-9
The substance of this psalm, and portions of other psalms, 97, 98, and 100 are found in 1 Chronicles 16, which was used by David’s direction in the dedication of the tabernacle on Mt. Zion. The psalm has importance beyond that historical occasion, because it anticipates kingdom praise for the Lord from all the nations of the world. The Nations Worship the King: And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, on them there will be no rain. If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the Lord strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles (Zechariah 14:16-19). This very important passage reveals that some Gentiles will go into the millenial kingdom alive along with the redeemed Jews. A converted remnant from those Gentile nations will make annual pilgrimages to Jerusalem to worship the Lord and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles during the Millennium. Commemorating the time when God “tabernacled” with Israel in the wilderness, the feast represented the last of three major pilgrimage festivals (Leviticus 23:34-36), which marked the final harvest of the years crops, and provided a time of rejoicing. In the Millennium, it will celebrate Messiah’s presence again dwelling among His people and the joyful restoration of Israel, including the ingathering of the nations. Those who refuse to go will experience drought (no rain always represented judgment since it deprives the people of life-sustaining water) and plague. Tragically, as the thousand years go on, there will be many people from all over the world who will reject Christ as Savior and King, joining in a final war against Him, only to be destroyed and cast into hell forever (Revelation 20:7-15). According to the psalmists and prophets, offerings and sacrifices will be presented to the Lord in the millennial kingdom, and that we worship the Lord because of the splendor of His holiness.
Beloved friend, Today we offer ourselves our bodies to God as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1-2) because of Christ’s ultimate sacrifice, the Old Testament sacrifices are no longer of any effect, yet we read from above text, that one day in the future, God will receive these offerings again. For those in Christ, the only acceptable worship is to offer themselves completely to the Lord. Under God’s control, the believer’s yet unredeemed body can and must be yielded to Him as an instrument of righteousness. Praise and thanksgiving must and should be given to the Lord everyday! We can see God’s plan of salvation unfolding before us, we see the nation of Israel today, and it’s turmoil with her volatile surroundings, and yet, Thanksgiving and praise should be given to the One who is our Redeemer, Savior, and Lord. Have a Happy Thanksgiving! May you lead the way for your families to know why God is so worthy of giving thanks for all your blessings!
May the Lord bless your walk with Him!
Very important info. Hope to work out more articles or blog posts soon!