"1 Sing to the LORD a new song;
Sing to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Sing to the LORD, bless His name;
Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.
3 Tell of His glory among the nations,
His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.
4 For great is the LORD and greatly to be praised;
He is to be feared above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
But the LORD made the heavens.
6 Splendor and majesty are before Him,
Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.
7 Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples,
Ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
8 Ascribe to the LORD the glory of His name;
Bring an offering and come into His courts.
9 Worship the LORD in holy attire;
Tremble before Him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns;
Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved;
He will judge the peoples with equity."
11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
Let the sea roar, and all it contains;
12 Let the field exult, and all that is in it.
Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy
13 Before the LORD, for He is coming,
For He is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
And the peoples in His faithfulness" (Psa 96).
Now, if your first thought was "TL/DR" -- too long/didn't read -- you might want to rethink that ...
4 comments:
Now that is a song of worship. Not like the me-centered fluff of today.
I have gotten into a debate on the subject of appropriate clothes for worship. Verse 9, as well as the tone of the entire Psalm, supports my position on the subject, and I wish I was aware of it at the time of the discussion.
Basically, I was noting the apparent lack of reverence expressed in the way-too-casual dress of many in the pews. It didn't reflect anything akin to "trembling before Him" to wear something pulled out of the hamper. Of course, I got the snarky, "Then, do you wear a tux?" I just thought that God deserved a bit more effort than a come-as-you-are sartorial choice implies.
Just sayin'.
Marshall Art, I've made the same argument with the same results. We obviously recognize that mode of dress is determined by the venue. It is rude to wear shorts and sandals to a wedding. It is unacceptable to wear shorts and sandals to a State dinner with dignitaries. But we'll wear shorts and sandals to the worship of the Most High? There is a disconnect here that, more importantly, reflects a heart attitude that says "Me and God are buds" rather than recognizing His holiness and majesty.
Exactly. God is not my bud and I'm not nearly good enough to be His. He's my Lord and I'm His creation. Though I'm not even close to being as reverent towards Him as that statement suggests, it is true nonetheless. But here's a funny: Someone with whom we've both engaged claims he dresses down so as to prevent the poor in his congregation from feeling uncomfortable or out of place. Seems there's something missing in his church's teachings that would result in such, either on his part or on the part of the poor. If the best they have is rags by comparison to those better off, they are still showing the reverence to which we referred.
I can but shake my head.
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