I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (A New Song)

Sing a New Song  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  28:40
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The church is call to teach the world to sing a New Song of God's grace and power.

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One of the most successful and iconic commercials of all time was the Coke commercial from the early 70’s in which a group of young people dressed in their nation’s ethnic clothing harmoniously sang, “I’d like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony.” The spirit of this commercial is a dim reflection of what should characterize the church. As we learned last week from Psalm 33, God provides his people with new opportunities each day to experience his grace and power. These opportunities in turn should inspire God’s people to sing unto the Lord a New Song.
Psalm 96 is another of the “New Song” Psalms and in this psalm we learn that we are not to keep our New Song to ourselves but are to teach the world to sing God’s praises as well! The psalmist gives us three reasons why we are to teach the world to sing. The first of these is because the Lord is Great.

Because the Lord is Great

Psalm 96:1–4 ESV
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! For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods.
Everyone has a “god”, even the atheist, although they will not admit it. Everyone has a worldview that explains reality and the controlling factor of that reality is their “god.” The problem with man-made gods is they are too small. They are not worthy to be compared to the greatness of the Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
This week our nation’s capital will be filled with pomp and circumstance as a new President is inaugurated. The psalmist uses the glory of earthly rulers to teach us about Yahweh’s greatness.
Psalm 96:6 ESV
Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
The glory of God’s splendor and majesty towers over the insignificant glory of the kings and presidents of this world. Throughout scripture we are warned that no one can look upon Yahweh’s glory and live. We are not the only intelligent beings God has created. Scripture tells us that when the glory of angles is fully revealed people fall down before them as if they were dead! But these glorious beings are no match for the glory of God. Even the most powerful of these heavenly beings must shield their eyes from His glory!
The response of both men and angels to the greatness God’s glory is “fear” and “trembling.” Verses 8-9 describe what true worship looks like,
Psalm 96:8–9 ESV
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts! Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth!
True Christian worship is emotional, but the emotion that should characterizes it is reverence and awe.
Hebrews 12:28–29 ESV
Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.
Do not get me wrong, Christian worship should be joyous and zealous, but joy and zeal without reverence and awe reveal a shallow or even a false faith. Paul warns that zeal without knowledge of the true God is a dangerous thing. Paul says this about the unbelieving Jews of his day.
Romans 10:2 ESV
For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.
Without a true knowledge of the true greatness of God, our worship is no better that the pagan worshipers of Baal who Elijah confronted on Mt. Carmel.
1 Kings 18:28 ESV
And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them.
What knowledge was it that the unbelieving Jews Paul writes about lacked? They lacked the knowledge of Christ as found in the Gospel! The greatness of God is most clearly demonstrated to us in the person of Jesus Christ. His virgin birth, his sinless life, his sacrificial death, his resurrection and ascension into heaven all powerful testify to the greatness of God.
False teachers emphasis miracles and emotionalism. They claim these are signs of the Holy Spirits presence and power. They speak of the necessity of “power encounters.”
The “power encounter” the apostles preached was Jesus!
1 Corinthians 1:22–25 ESV
For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
The Holy Spirit was sent to show God’s glory and might through the preaching of Christ and the miracle of new birth in His name!
If we want to teach the world to sing, we must teach the world about Jesus.
As the Holy Spirit opens peoples eyes we begin to see reality as it really is.
2 Corinthians 3:16–18 ESV
But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
This brings us to the second reason we are to teach the world to sing.

Because the Lord is Reality

Look with me at verse 5:
Psalm 96:5 ESV
For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the LORD made the heavens.
What our English bibles translates as “worthless idols” is literally, “worthless things.” False gods are worthless. They are worthless because they fail to explain reality. I spoke earlier of worldviews (everyone has a worldview). All worldviews attempt to explain four questions:
How did the universe get here?
Why is there evil in the world?
How can we eliminate evil?
What the universe’s ultimate purpose and fate?
According to 2 Corinthians 3, sin and Satan are like a veil that blind us to the glory of God. All other worldviews are distortions of reality. The answers to lives fundamental questions coming out of academia, Hollywood, Washington D.C. and the other religions of this world are delusions. In the language of Psalm 96 they are all worthless things. Only the comprehensive story of creation, fall, redemption and new creation that we find in Scripture we provide us with a true view of reality.
This is why is is so important that we teach the world to sing the New Song of Christ. Without Christ, people are disconnected from reality and in the end they will face God’s judgement!
Psalm 96:10–13 ESV
Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.” 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, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his faithfulness.
The reality of the coming judgement brings us to the final reason we need to teach the world to sing. The Lord is in Control!

Because the Lord is in Control

In the Garden of Eden, God gave humanity stewardship over the whole earth. When we look at the environmental devastation humanity has brought to the earth is it any surprise that we find the created order rejoicing at the prospect of God’s coming judgement! The answer to evil that Christianity offers is humanity’s sin. All the other religions and philosophies of this world point their finger at someone or something else. Only Christianity says,
Romans 3:23 ESV
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
If we relied on our reason alone we would come to the conclusion that God must be out of control, because the evil in this world certainly seems that way. But the Bible offers a more complex and glorious answer than our minds can come up with. From the stench and decay of death God brings resurrection through Jesus Christ.
Revelation 21:1–4 ESV
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
The resurrected Christ freely offers to all the opportunity to share in His resurrection glory.
Revelation 21:5–7 ESV
And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
We must teach the world to sing so they can drink from the water of life! If they do not drink they will face sure and certain judgement.
Revelation 21:8 ESV
But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
The New Song we sing is a meaningless ditty.
It is a song of reverence and awe about the greatness of Christ.
It is a song of revelation telling about the reality of the universe found in Christ.
It is a song of hope about the sovereign reign of Christ.
Let us Sing a New Song so that the whole world may hear!
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