The Song That Should Fill Our Hearts | Psalm 96 | Luke Foster

Let's pray as we come to hear God speak to us.

Father God, thank you that as we hear your word

read and preached, as we sing and pray together,

we are hearing you speak to us. Thank you that

your words to us are always words that come to

us in the power of the Holy Spirit and through

your Son, the Lord Jesus. And so, Father God,

work in our hearts by your Spirit so we might

see and know more of your Son. To his glory and

our blessing. Amen. Now, I wonder when the last

time was when you got a song really stuck in

your head. It kind of depends maybe on different

stages of life. So for a big chunk of my life.

The theme song for Bob the Builder just went

round and round and round. It's one of those

songs that doesn't move from A to B. Every chorus

brings you to the verse, to the chorus, to the

verse, never seems to naturally land and come

to an end. I've now moved into a, I've moved

through the baby shark phase. I've got a tweenager,

so I'm firmly in the opalite. and um barbie girl

face but you have those different songs that

kind of go round and round in your head and and

they you kind of can't get them out one of the

difficult things about having a song in your

head is when you have one song in your head it's

almost impossible to listen to another song have

you ever done that you know like this song on

the radio and you're trying to think what is

it what is it what is it then the other song

comes on and you're like i can't now hold those

two songs in my head um And I think that experience

that we have with one song stuck in our head,

sort of squeezing out any space for any other

song. Well, that can sometimes be what our experience

can be like as Christians. It can be what our

experience is like as we gather here this morning

as students at Oak Hill. We could ask ourselves,

what is the song that's got stuck in my head?

What is the song that's taken hold of my heart?

What is the song that kind of smothers? and doesn't

really leave space for any of the others. Sometimes

it's the song of the gospel. I mean, it could

be after a lecture, after some reading you've

done, just some time you've had in God's word,

or maybe like the prayer time in those prayer

stations that we had yesterday. You can have

those moments when the volume of that song of

the gospel kind of is heard more loudly in your

heart, but pretty soon... Other songs begin to

sound louder and louder. I don't know what those

songs might be for you, those songs that just

get stuck in your head. It could be you're coming

to the end of your time here at Oak Hill and

the song is, will I get a job? Will I get a job?

Will I get a job? It could be that you do have

a job lined up and you're thinking, am I up to

the task? Am I up to the task? Am I up to the

task? It could be that study is hard, there's

work to do. Study is hard, there's work to do.

Home is hard. I feel pressures around. And it

could be that even as you went from chapel yesterday,

having heard that song of the gospel, very quickly

the other songs came in and smothered it. Well,

this psalm, Psalm 96, is here for us this afternoon

to sing for us of Jesus, to get this song kind

of stuck in our hearts. This psalm sings to us

of Jesus. Jesus, the creator and the king who's

coming again. And it calls us to give our lives

to that song, to live our lives, as it were,

to that tune. And it sort of slowly, steadily

over each of the sections turns up the volume.

It begins by singing us to the Lord Jesus and

singing and inviting us to join in and sing to

the Lord God who is the creator. And verses one

to three, I wonder if you kind of caught that

as TJ was reading. Sings to us, turns to us as

the people of God. You sing to the Lord a new

song. Sing to the Lord all the earth. Sing to

the Lord, praise his name. Verse three, declare

his glory among the nations. Sing of Jesus, share

about Jesus. Why? Well, we hear the answers in

verses four to six. Sing of Jesus because. Well,

look, verse 4, he is the only true God because,

verse 5, he's the only creator God. And so, verse

6, he's the only one who deserves that celebration

and praise. He's the only true God. Verse 4,

he is to be feared above all gods. Verse 5, because

none of the others are gods at all because he

is the one. who made the heavens and so, verse

6, splendor and majesty are before him. The psalm

calls us to proclaim the Lord Jesus in all the

world because the Lord Jesus is the one who made

the world. The psalm invites us to bring this

song in our hearts and our heads wherever we

are because wherever we are is a place that has

been made by the Lord Jesus. And so if we're

going to sing, The song of verses 1 to 3. If

we're going to have the song of verses 1 to 3

stuck in our head and our hearts, then we need

to know the truth of verses 4 to 6. The truth

that Jesus is the creator God. And that truth

can give us confidence. The kind of confidence

that can melt any of the insecurity and any of

the uncertainty that would keep us from joining

in with this song. I mean, it feels like the

people who first heard this psalm felt that tension

and that sort of clash of tunes. Which one am

I going to listen to? Which one am I going to

live for? And just glance up to Psalm 95. Psalm

95 begins inviting the people to join in singing,

inviting the people to sing to this God. And

then halfway through, the psalm has to stop and

say and moves from this invitation to song to

a warning. to say, well, don't let other songs

drown out this one. Don't harden your hearts.

Don't disobey. Don't ignore. Don't let your doubts,

don't let your disobedience, don't let your discouragement

drown out this song. And so Psalm 96 picks up

where Psalm 95 left off. To hear this song. To

join in with this song, we are going to need

to know that the God of whom we sing is the creator

God. I remember, forgive me if I've told this

story before. I only have a set number of anecdotes

from our time at Chile. But when I first moved

to Chile, it was amazing. I lived in a block

of flats. And actually, unusually for Chile,

there was like an old building in front of us.

So we didn't have another building kind of blocking

our view. And so we could see out from floor

15. and look out over the city and the mountains

that surrounded it. And initially it was beautiful,

but pretty soon it became really unsettling because

there I was in this place and just looking out

the window made me feel really far from home,

made me feel really, really small, made the ministry

seem so fragile and slightly ridiculous to think

what we're doing, I can literally see over a

million people as I look out my window. How can

anything that we could do make any kind of difference

there? And you feel that uncertainty, you feel

that fragility, and you begin to feel that doubt.

Well, a couple of months after that, we had the

full chilling experience because there was a

earthquake, a good solid seven point something

earthquake. And up on the 15th floor, you really

feel it. And it's this extraordinary moment that

as you're kind of looking around, you feel that

earth around you move. But the precious truth

was that those mountains that looked so imposing,

it was this extraordinary reality that actually

those mountains themselves aren't stable. Those

mountains themselves will shake. That the mountains

shake, but the Lord cannot be moved. That the

creator who made those mountains is Lord over

those millions that I can see. That the creator

who made those mountains, who shakes the earth,

is a stronger refuge than any home that I might

have to leave or look for. And that's what this

psalm speaks to us. And that's what this psalm

offers to us. In some ways, it's as if the psalm

offers to us a loving shake, a loving earthquake.

The Lord Jesus is the one who made the whole

world. And so we can entrust ourselves to him

as he leads us to serve him in the whole world.

I mean, it might be this morning that you are

feeling that same kind of fragility, that same

sort of doubt and insecurity that I felt looking

out over Santiago. It could be that you look

ahead to ministry in the future. It could be

that you look around to the study and the challenges

that you face here and now. You might feel weak

and tired. You might struggle with temptation

and doubt. But this psalm is to be that kind

of loving earthquake. We can trust the truth

of the creator. We can trust the care of the

creator as we give our lives. and the lives of

our families into the hands of this Lord, we

are giving our lives and the lives of our families

into the hands of the one who created and cares

for the world. The Lord Jesus is the creator.

The psalm goes on in the next couple of verses

to turn up the volume that Jesus isn't just the

creator. Jesus is, well, because he's the creator,

he's the king. And in verses 1 to 6, it was like

we were being invited to join in the song. And

now, verses 7 to 10, address the whole nations

of the world. In verses 7 to 9, Jesus is to be

worshipped in the whole world because, verse

10, he is the king over the whole world. Ascribe

to the Lord, verse 7, all you families and nations.

Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Verse

10, say among the nations or let it be said among

the nations that the Lord reigns. The world is

firmly established. It cannot be moved. He will

judge the peoples with equity. Jesus is the king.

Our horizons for mission and our horizons for

ministry will be set by the borders. that we

place around Jesus' kingdom. And these verses

show us the borders of that kingdom, that there

are no borders of that kingdom, that that kingdom

is a kingdom over all nations, all places, over

the whole earth. So let it be said in the whole

earth that the Lord reigns. And I think sometimes

our struggle to join in with that, as we look

ahead to ministry, as we think about our situations

now, I wonder if one of our issues is... that

we think that living the Christian life, or we

think that living in Christian ministry is like

playing an instrument when it's actually like

singing a song. Okay, so I think when we think

about ministry like playing an instrument, I

look at the people who do this, and it's like

a superpower to me. It's like, it's baffling.

I do not understand it. They move their hands,

they do different things with different parts

of their body at the same time and make it sound

nice. And you look at that and I think we can

have that view of Christian ministry. That we're

here learning techniques that we need to practice

to do this thing that maybe only certain people

can do. I don't know if you have that sense of

kind of distance from what the people here do.

And you could have that sense of discouragement.

I'll never learn that. I could never do that.

Or it would take me so long and it would almost

be a little bit pointless if I tried. You could

feel discouragement. You could feel pride. Like,

I'm one of those people he's describing. I have

the techniques. I can master it. I can make it

play my tune. I think we sometimes think the

Christian life and Christian ministry is like

playing a musical instrument. It's just for some

people. Or if it is for me, I'll do it in a pretty

clumsy way. Whereas actually it's not like playing

a musical instrument. Instead, what we're seeking

to do is to sing a song. All of us sing. We just

need the right occasion. We just need the right

motivation. And that's what these verses give

to us. They hold up Jesus before us. They hold

up in verse 10. They show us. Jesus who reigns

and they invite us to look around us to see this

whole world over which Jesus reigns. Everywhere

we stand, everywhere we are is a place over which

and in which Jesus reigns. And sing, look at

who he is, look at where you are, join in and

call others to join in that song. It's a bit

like if you're at a birthday party, you see the

person in front of you. you look at the party

around you, you don't really worry about whether

you're hitting the right pitch. Or at a sports

event, you know, as your team is winning or needing

encouragement when it's struggling, you look

at the team, you see yourself around in that

stadium, and you don't think twice about joining

in and calling others to join you as well. Or

if you're at a concert, when the music starts,

the lights go up, the music starts. You think

nothing of kind of rushing forward and joining

in. They don't like you doing that at classical

concerts. Okay? Apparently. But, you know, when

you're at a concert, you think nothing. No one's

turning to anybody else and asking them about

their perfect pitch. You see them there. You

look around you. It's the right occasion. It's

the right motivation. You join in and you call

others to get involved as well. So we are here.

At Oak Hill, we are studying and giving ourselves

to this process of study, not in order to learn

how to master an instrument, techniques for mastering

an instrument. Instead, we are seeking to see

Jesus more clearly so that we can join in with

this song. To know that motivation so that we

can see every occasion. as an occasion to sing

of Jesus as the king. We see Jesus before us.

We see the world around us. And so with the psalm,

we know that Jesus is to be worshipped in the

whole world because he is the reigning king over

the whole world. So the psalm has been turning

up the volume on that gospel song. Looking amongst

God's people can hear it in verses 1 to 6. The

nations hear it there in 7 and 10. And then as

the psalm comes to an end, this song breaks out

and is heard in verses 11 to 13 in the whole

of creation. Jesus is the creator. Jesus is the

king. And he is coming again. As we look at verses

11 to 13, we listen from heaven to earth, from

sea and fields and forests and everything that

might be in between. The whole earth, the whole

of creation is called to join in to this joyful

song. Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be

glad. Let the sea resound and all that's in it,

the fields and everything in them. Let all the

trees of the forest sing for joy. let all creation

rejoice. The whole of creation is invited to

sing for joy in verses 11 and 12 because the

Lord is coming to judge in verse 13. Let all

creation rejoice for he comes. He comes to judge

the earth. He will judge the earth in righteousness

and the peoples in faithfulness. Jesus is coming

to fix. the brokenness of the world. Jesus is

coming to heal every hurt. Jesus is coming to

bring comfort to every pain. All who belong to

King Jesus will be brought home by King Jesus.

What a beautiful message to share. What a glorious

hope to be able to offer. What a precious perspective

in which to place our lives. See, this is the

glorious. truth that we can glimpse in these

verses because we're sat here this morning and

we might be wondering about the decisions that

led us to come and be sat here. We might be wondering

about the decisions ahead that will lead us into

the future. Might be thinking about the choices

that face us as we count the cost of serving

Jesus. But this psalm calls us to follow Jesus,

not By telling us to leave home. But by encouraging

us that we are heading home. As Christians, home

is never somewhere we leave. Because our home

always lies ahead. And this psalm calls us to

look ahead and live for that glorious heavenly

home. The home for which all creation. strains

and longs to see. I don't know about you, call

me superficial, but last Wednesday's sunshine

completely lifted my mood, like changed everything.

It was like, oh, being out on the front, sunshine,

it was like, oh, spring is coming. Now today

is a bit more cloudy, but I can face that cloudiness

with a little less grumpiness because I had that

taste of spring. on Wednesday and into the weekend.

I'm sure you guys aren't affected nearly that

much. But you feel that. In Chile, one of the

great things was that you were never more than

about two weeks away from a sunny day and 20

degrees. So you see, you always had that taste.

You always knew that that sunshine, even in the

depths of winter when it would get quite cold,

you knew that that sunshine was coming. Well,

in some ways, these last verses, verses 11 to

13 of this psalm, Well, they long for the light,

the sunlight of that future day to flood into

our lives today. They want to give us the taste

of that sunshine. They want that sunshine to

begin to burn away the fog that can confuse and

disorientate and discourage us. This psalm shows

us the certainty of spring. When all of creation

will blossom in the beauty of the glory of the

Lord Jesus. That future home when Jesus returns.

We will only be willing to let go and leave home

if we are looking ahead and heading home. The

home to which all of creation is straining and

longing to see. Jesus, the creator, is king and

will one day come again. So let's live our lives

looking for that day. longing for that loving

home. So the question we started with, when was

the last time you had a song stuck in your head?

Let's pray that this psalm would help us to hear

the gospel in all its clarity and beauty so that

we might live our lives to that tune. Let me

pray. Father God, we pray that our hearts now

might begin to join with this song of Jesus'

glory and Jesus' goodness. Would our hearts be

a place where we begin to get a taste of that

day when all of creation will rejoice before

the Lord. In Jesus' name. Amen.