Okay. So hear the Word of God from Psalm 96. 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. For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him. Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples. Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 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. 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. Let the earth rejoice. Let the sea roar in all that fills it. Let the field exult in 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. This is the Word of God. Let's pray. Father, we thank You for Your Word read and heard. We thank You that this itself is a means of grace. We listen to every word because it proceeds from Your mouth. It is thus true. It is a sufficient revelation. It's profitable for us. It's authoritative for us in what we're to believe and how we're to live. Lord, bless the reading and hearing of your Word. And give strength, the strength and unction of the Holy Spirit to your servant in the proclamation of the Gospel. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. Well, I'm happy to say, and at the same time sad to say, this is the last time that I will be with you for, we hope, a long season. As our pastor will be coming in January to begin his labors, that means less and less opportunities for me to come and be with you. So what do I preach? What do I leave you with? That's always the question. And like I said before reading the text, many of you will not be surprised that we're turning to the Psalms. I've been trying now for a number of years, I've had opportunities to be with you, to stir up your interest in doing a nosedive into the study of the flow and the arrangement of the Psalms and the Psalter because it will help you tremendously to understand, yes, even the individual Psalms. And so that's part of my motivation. But as we come to Psalm 96 in particular, what I want to demonstrate to you, and this is a two-part sermon. Actually, it's a three-part sermon, or three parts in one sermon. You're going to get the first two parts this morning. We're going to eat lunch together, and all of you are going to return for the Sunday afternoon service because you need to hear part three, which is the exposition of the Psalm itself. And so that's the purpose and plan going forward. A few years back, before Matt Walker came to Yorktown, and I knew that I was sort of lame duck at that point. I don't know how many more Sundays I'm going to have before Matt's going to be here and I'm going to be down the road somewhere else. which is the way it's been for the last 21 years. I work my way out of a job is what I do as regional home missionary over and over again. And I wonder, what do I do? I finished a series. Do I start another series? Well, what if I get in the middle of it and I can't finish it? And so I thought, well, I'll just preach some individual psalms that I haven't preached here to sort of fill in in that time. But it quickly became a series. And I've developed that series in other mission works now and am well into it. For instance, at West Creek in Short Pump, all the way into book five, selected Psalms that I'm walking through to show the progression that we find in the Psalter. And when I came to Psalm 96 in Yorktown, I have a burden. Three things. I told you three things. Let me tell you what they are. One is, why is the psalm where it is in the psalter? And where is it in the psalter, the one we're looking at? Burden number two, what is the redemptive, historic, biblical, theological underpinning of the psalm and of where it is in the psalter? And then the third, what does the psalm itself say? That is the content of the psalm. So you get three sermons for the price of one. And I've often said at the Mission Works, that means if you're charitable, these sermons are going to be meatier sermons. I may have even said this here last time, I can't recall. If you're not feeling charitable, you may say longer sermons. So put on your seat belts, especially this morning. We're going to do the first two this morning. But when I began developing this, the redemptive historic biblical theological underpinnings of Psalm 96 and where it is grew and grew and grew until I realized it's a sermon in and of itself. We're only really going to look at one verse this morning, and that's verse 10 of what we have here in Psalm 96. But I need to back up. because some of you haven't been here on other occasions when I've preached through the Psalms. And I want to remind you, for those who have heard it, and maybe for those for the first time, this may be something new to you, that the arrangement of the Psalms in the Psalter, on the face of it, the main breakdown are the five books that you find in the Psalter. It's divided into five books, and all you have to do is look above Psalm 1, above Psalm 42, above Psalm 73, look above Psalm 90, look above Psalm 106, and what do you find? Book 1, book 2, book 3, book 4, book 5. It's right there in your Bible. But a lot of people don't know why. It's divided into five books. Dr. Robertson's book, The Flow of the Psalms, a watershed study that opened my eyes. But what brought clarity to me, pinpoint clarity, was Dr. Morales. from Greenville Christian Theological Seminary in a lecture or an address that he gave several years ago at the Summer Institute at Greenville Seminary, where he broke down these five books under these five headings, which shows what the Psalter is. It's rooted and grounded in David, the covenant that God made with David, and underneath it, if you look at it carefully, and I could demonstrate this, we don't have time to do it. You can see the history and God's providence of the Davidic kingdom as you move from book 1, book 2, book 3, book 4, book 5. Now, the science camp guys that used to be kids but aren't anymore, I'd drum this into your heads at science camp. So they know all this stuff, but for the rest of you, Book one, the rise of the Davidic kingdom. That corresponds with David coming to the throne, securing the throne, and the earlier parts of his reign. Book two, the glory of the Davidic kingdom. The latter part of David's reign through the reign of Solomon, where you see the kingdom at its greatest extent in peace and prosperity under the old covenant. Book three, The Collapse of the Davidic Kingdom. which begins in some ways in 722 BC, when the northern kingdom was taken away by the Assyrians. It comes to its consummation 587-586 BC, when Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem, the walls came down, he destroyed the temple, he took the people away into captivity, including David's son, including the king, into captivity. Book three focuses on that collapse. In fact, as you come to the end of book three, Psalm 89, where do you find David's throne? Where do you find David's crown? It's in the dust. That's how book three ends the latter half of Psalm 89. Book 4. This is important. Why? Psalm 96 is in Book 4. The absence of the Davidic kingdom, which corresponds with the Babylonian captivity. There's not a single messianic psalm in Book 4. Not a single one. Not a messianic psalm. Why? Because during the Babylonian captivity, there's no earthly son of David on the throne in Jerusalem because there's not a throne in Jerusalem. It's in the dust. But what you see in book four are nine consecutive Psalms that exalt the kingship of Yahweh. Nine consecutive Psalms that speak of the kingship of Yahweh. I'm gonna come back very quickly to that because book five is the return of the king. First Cyrus decreed to go rebuild the temple, reinstitute the worship of God, and then of course later on you have Ezra who comes to bring spiritual reforms, remember your Bible, and then some 13 years later you have Nehemiah who comes to fortify the city, all in preparation for the return of David's son. And yet he would not return for hundreds of years until Jesus Christ. God's Son and David's Son came and he's enthroned on high. Now, book five anticipates that return. The Psalter can be seen in these ways. Now back to 96, and I told you about those nine Psalms. One fundamental structure that you find in the Psalter, it's one of the favorites of whoever put the Psalter together in the post-exilic community. is the use of chiastic structures. Or Dr. Robertson likes to call them poetic pyramids. He's identified seven of them. Psalm 96 is in the fourth of those seven chiastic structures. Science can't – people know all this stuff. What do you have to have to have a chiastic structure? You have to have an odd number of Psalms that are thematically related. If you have an odd number of Psalms that are thematically related, you might have a chiastic structure. And if you're reading with a Semitic mind, your eye goes to the center psalm, what Dr. Robertson calls the pinnacle psalm. Psalm 96 is the pinnacle psalm of a nine-psalm poetic pyramid. All of these psalms have the same theme, and that theme is suggested in verse 10 of Psalm 96. 10a, look at 10a. Say among the nations. Yahweh reigns. You hear that? Say among the nations, Yahweh reigns. There may not be a king on the throne in Jerusalem, but nothing can unseat Yahweh from his throne in the invisible heavens. He reigns no matter what His providence, how His providence is being worked out in His judgments upon the earth at any particular time, He is enthroned. And we know now in light of the new covenant that seated at His right hand is the exalted Lamb who was slain, who is raised, who is ascended to the right hand of the Father. and who's been given the name which is above every name, that's the Lord Jesus Christ. And never forget it, church, no matter what happens here on the earth within our culture or any other, no matter what happens within the life of this church and congregation, no matter what happens in your life, Jesus remains upon the throne. He rules and He reigns. He's sovereign. God is sovereign over providence to the end of consummation and glorification at the end of this age when Jesus comes again in the clouds of glory. Psalm 96 is the pinnacle psalm. It's the center psalm. Now, are you ready to have your minds blown? Get ready. You're going to have to pay attention. Get ready to have your minds blown. Here's an important question. Where does Psalm 96 come from? Where does it come from? Have you ever heard these words somewhere else in the Bible? I see a lot of blank looks on people's faces. What in the world are you talking about? Who wrote Psalm 96? I'm going to just tell you emphatically David wrote it. How do you know that? There's no title that says of David. How do you know David wrote it? Because of where it comes from. You see, the canonical Psalter is not the only place where there are Psalms in the Scriptures. Turn with me to 1 Chronicles chapter 16. 1 Chronicles chapter 16. Get ready to have your minds blown. Okay? Here's the way I'm going to do it. First Chronicles chapter 16, put your finger there, put your finger or open up to Psalm 96. Now don't look, just listen. I'm going to read the opening verses of Psalm 96. I want you to hear them. I want them echoing in your head. Listen just to the opening of our psalm, Psalm 96. 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. Let that resonate in your head. And now listen to these words. Sing unto the Lord, all the earth. 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. Sound familiar? It's the same song. Where do we get Psalm 96? Where did whoever put the Psalter to get 96? He lifted it almost verbatim from the second half of a Psalm that David wrote that's recorded in 1 Chronicles chapter 16. He lifted it from there and he put it in the Psalter. Now, there is a question to be asked, and that is this, which came first, the Psalter or Chronicles? A lot of people don't know this. They're both post-exilic books. The Chronicles and the Psalter are post-exilic books. No, they're not. The Chronicles record a history long before the exile. And so do the Psalms. Almost all of them were written in David's day. The Psalter was put together in the post-exilic community for that post-exilic community in the form that we have it now. 1 and 2 Chronicles is the summation of the same redemptive history we have in 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings. It's condensed. It's summarized. It's written for the post-exilic community, probably right about the same time the Psalter was put together. Which comes first? Who did the work? There's a Jewish tradition that Ezra was the chronicler, as well as the writer of Ezra and most of Nehemiah. There's even a Jewish tradition that Ezra was Malachi. I'm not quite ready to go there. And I'm not quite ready to say I know Ezra was the chronicler. There's also those like Dr. Robertson and Dr. Morales who believe that Ezra very likely may have been the scribe who put the Psalter together as we have it. Can't prove it. But which comes first? And it's important to see. And what's clear is the Chronicles were written first. And that will become evident after we get past Psalm 96 that we see what happens to the rest of the psalm that's in 1 Chronicles chapter 16. It's lifted from 1 Chronicles 16 and it's placed here. Now, I want you to recognize something very important. What is the context of the writing of the psalm in 1 Chronicles chapter 16? I don't have time to go through and demonstrate it, so I'm just going to tell you and you can check me later. There's a particular event that gave rise to David writing that psalm, commissioning it to the musicians and telling Asaph, you play the cymbals. Asaph must have been some percussionist. He said, Asaph, you play the cymbals. And it was when the Ark of the Covenant was to be brought into the tent that David pitched for it. That was the occasion. Now, just prior to that occasion was when David went to retrieve the Ark. Remember that. Remember that story. The Ark had been in the region of Jair for what seems like forever. Saul didn't want to have anything to do with it. Saul only went into the presence of God when he needed him in battle. He was a reprobate man. But David, once he establishes Jerusalem as his city, this fortress upon Mount Zion, and he makes the capital city, and after he has settled that city, built his palace, David says, I want the Ark of the Covenant right here in the heart of the city. And he goes out to get it. You remember. He goes out with all this pomp and ceremony to get the Ark of the Covenant and to bring it into the city. And he did everything right but one thing. Remember, children, do you remember what he, the mistake that he made? The law says that the tabernacle and all of the holy artifacts are to be transported where? Upon the shoulders of the Kohathites, a particular clan of the Levites. But how did David do it? He was on an ox cart. And what happened when the ox stumbled? What happened when the cart was tipped? What happened when the Ark of the Covenant was about to fall upon the ground and be desecrated? Remember, Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the Ark to keep it from falling to the ground and being desecrated. And what happened? He desecrated it with his own hand, and God's wrath was kindled against Uzzah, and he killed him like that. Remember? What did David do? He parked the Ark. He went back to Jerusalem. I'm reading between the lines here, but he pouted. Saul didn't want the Ark of the Covenant. He left it out there. I wanted the Ark of the Covenant. I went out to get it. I want to bring the Ark of the Covenant to my city. I make one mistake and God does this. I'm paraphrasing a lot, but it's the sentiment. But David came to repentance, and he goes a second time. This time, what does he do? He offers trespass offerings, whole burnt offerings. It's transported on the shoulders of the Kohathites. David takes off his robes, and he dances mightily before the Ark of the Covenant all the way into Jerusalem. Remember? And the question is, why did he take off his robes to the consternation of his wife when she saw him? Why? You can see it's clear. David was saying in that act, I am not the king of Israel. Yahweh is king of Israel. I am his lowly servant. And he was filled with joy and could not but dance. Is any good Presbyterian? Just saying if you're listening. And then, later, he pitched the tent. He writes this psalm that's to be sung on the occasion of bringing the Ark of the Covenant into this place that he, this tent he pitched for it. It's still not the final resting place. No, that would await his son, Solomon, when he built the temple of God, and I believe wrote Psalm 132 on the occasion. This is my belief. on the occasion of bringing the Ark of the Covenant into the Holy of Holies in the temple that Solomon built. Now here's something that's important to see. What occasion the writing and the singing of the Psalm is an entirely different circumstance in God's providence to Psalm 96 which is here commemorating the Babylonian captivity. When David wrote the psalm, it was a time of God's smiling providence upon his people. His blessing, his extraordinary blessing, as the kingdom is coming into its glory in David's reign, with the bringing in of the Ark of the Covenant into its resting place in the midst of David's city. It's a time for rejoicing than to declare what Yahweh reigns, and to declare it to the nations, which David did. But if you place it within the context of Psalm 96, this is an occasion, the exile of God's frowning providence upon His people, of His people under His just judgment, because they had broken covenant with Him. God sent the prophets to prosecute them in a covenant lawsuit for breaking covenant with God. They would not heed the prophets. And God's judgment, a chastising judgment, because this is still His people, not a final judgment, came upon them. And they saw the sign of that judgment. They were among people who spoke with unknown tongues. They're among people who babbled in Babylon. Where's the land promised to Abraham? Where's the promise God made to David that his seed would sit upon this throne in Mount Zion forever if they keep covenant? Well, therein is the problem. They broke covenant. But remember this, God never breaks covenant. We do. He doesn't. In other words, the message Yahweh reigns is the message for every circumstance and situation. whether it be the time of God's extraordinary blessing, like bringing the Ark of the Covenant itself into the tent that David pitched for it, or whether it be a time when God's just judgments are coming upon his people because of her lack of faithfulness. Yahweh remains enthroned. You see the message? I could end the sermon there, but I'm not. Remember, you can't fire me. I'm not coming back next week. Because there's a nagging question. OK, he took the last half of the Psalm in 1 Chronicles 16, and that became Psalm 96. What about the first half of 1 Chronicles chapter 16? You ready to have your minds blown? Let's look at 1 Chronicles chapter 16 again. Listen to how this psalm begins. O give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name, make known His deeds among the peoples. Sing to Him, sing praises to Him, tell of all of His wondrous works, glory in His holy name. But the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Seek the Lord in his strength. Seek his presence continually. Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles and the judgments he uttered. O offspring of Israel, his servants, children of Jacob, his chosen wives. Now listen to these words. Oh, give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples. Sing to him, sing praises to him. Tell of all his wondrous works. Glory in his holy name. Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Seek the Lord and his strength. Seek his presence continually. Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered. Oh, offspring of Abraham, his servant, children of Jacob, his chosen ones. Sound familiar? It's the same Psalm. So here's the mystery. Where is it the second time I read it? You can turn to Psalm 105. And what you find is, whoever put the Psalter together took the first half of David's Psalm in 1 Chronicles chapter 15 and lifted it there, almost verbatim, not exactly, there are little differences that we're not going to take time to point out, and he placed it in the Psalter at Psalm 105. Psalm 105. Now where is Psalm 105? Well, it's still in Book 4. But something changes. Book four is about what? The absence of the divinic kingdom. God's present judgment upon his people because he's broken covenant with him. A chastising judgment. And yet as you're coming to the end of book four, there are three Psalms. Science camp people should remember this. 104, 105, 106, the last three Psalms of book four, where something is introduced, something that's new, not only to the Psalter, but new to the Bible. A particular compound word, and that compound word is hallelujah. Hallelujah. Trivia question, where do you first find the word hallelujah in the Bible? There's a compound word. Psalm 104. Guess what? It's in 105. Guess what? It's in 106. Because the Psalter is anticipating the return of the King, it's time to start shouting hallelujah. And then as you move into book five, 111, 112, 113, three more Psalms. What are they? Hallelujah Psalms. 115, 116, 117, three more Psalms. What are they? Hallelujah Psalms. 135, a Hallelujah Psalm. The last five Psalms of the Psalter are all Hallelujah Psalms. 15 of them in all. The first three, 104, 105, and 106. And whoever put the Psalter together lifted from David's psalm the first half of that psalm and placed it as the first half of Psalm 105. But there are three verses that are still yet addressed, that I haven't addressed. There are three verses thus far omitted. What are they? Look at the last three verses. of the psalm in 1 Chronicles 16. Actually, let's look at the last two and then we're going to come back to verse 34. Listen to the last two verses. Say also, save us, O God, of our salvation, and gather and deliver us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting, that all the people said, amen, and praise the Lord. Now, keep those words in your ears. Now listen to these words. Save us, O Lord, our God, and gather us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. And let all the people say, amen. Praise the Lord. Sound familiar? Same verses. Where did I read them from the second time? You don't know. I'm going to tell you. They're the last verses of Psalm 106. Which ends Book 4. Now, you ready to have your minds really blown? First Chronicles 16, the psalm there, is where we see the organizational principle that whoever put the psalter together uses to lay out the whole of the psalter, not just 96, not just 105, not just 106, but the whole of the psalter. And here's where, and I don't have time to show you, but this is your homework. You can look yourself this afternoon after the second service when you go home. This is your homework. Look at how book one ends, that is, read the ending of Psalm 41. Look at how book two ends, that is, read the ending of Psalm 72. Look at how book three ends. Read the ending of book three. I just read to you the ending of book four. These books all end with a benediction to God. Where does it come from? First Chronicles chapter 16, the psalm that David wrote. Now, it comes with different wording, some are shorter than others, but it's essentially the same benediction that ends each of the first four books. There's not one at the end of book five. Why? Because it's shouting hallelujah. This is another device that whoever put this altar together used to show there's something to these five books. He brings each of them to the end with the benediction that he lifts from 1 Chronicles chapter 16. So that psalm really in some ways is controlling the whole arrangement of the psalms. 1 Chronicles 16. I know this is a lot. I understand that. I'm trying to Get you excited about studying this to see what it can do and help you in understanding of the Psalms and in your singing of the Psalms. But there's still one verse from 1 Chronicles 16 that's unaccounted for in the Psalter. Let's look at that verse. 1 Chronicles chapter 16. This is verse 34. This is one of the most important lessons of the entirety of the Psalter. Oh, give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. You hear that? Oh, give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Look at how Psalm 106 begins. Begins with hallelujah, praise the Lord, but then it says, I'll give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. You people love to sing the Psalms, you're familiar with that refrain, are you not? You find it in Psalm 118, you find it here, you find it in First Chronicles chapter 16, as we've seen. You find it in Psalm 136, which is called the Great Hallel, which takes the content of 135, God's blessing upon his people, and after every verse, that's the refrain. And what is the refrain? It's hesed. That's a Hebrew word you need to know. Hesed, God's covenantal faithfulness. The King James Version translates it, his mercy, which is at the heart of his covenantal faithfulness. He is faithful to his covenant because he's faithful to his word, but he has mercy upon us. This is the message of the Psalter. It's the message of the Bible. We break covenant. Jesus does not. Do you see that? God does not break covenant. And he brought them back. And he fulfilled the promises he made to Abraham. The promises he made at Mount Sinai. The promises he made to David. that your seed will sit upon this throne forever if they keep covenant." They did not. His judgments justly come upon them, but He keeps covenant and He sends God the Son who became flesh for us. The Son of David and the Son of God who rode into Jerusalem. on the coat of the fall of a donkey, did not go up Mount Zion, but instead went to his father's house, cleansed his father's temple, and sealed what would happen at the end of that week, which would be his crucifixion. Have all the promises of God come to naught in the death of Messiah, his only Son? No, they've come to fruition. Because if Christ had not gone to the cross, what kind of king is it who has no subjects in his kingdom? And you're not worthy to be a subject in his kingdom. You're worthy of being subjects in the kingdom of darkness, in the kingdom of Satan, not in the kingdom of God. But you have been made worthy by the worth of the Lord Jesus Christ, by his righteousness that's imputed to you through his death on the cross. And here you are now reconciled to God, and you're gathered together in the assembly to worship, and to praise, and to glorify His name. And when He finished His work on the cross, God vindicated it in resurrection, and God vindicated it in ascension, and God vindicated it in the invisible heavens when He gave Him the name which is above every name. And he sits at the right hand of God on the throne and he reigns. And we come into his presence and his worship and the assembly. King of kings and Lord of lords. Are your minds blown? an extraordinary, beautiful tapestry of redemptive history as recorded in the scriptures of this glorious, glorious, glorious Good News. Thanks be to God for Jesus. So what's the application? Tremble. Worship Him. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your Word and how extraordinary it is, how we see the fingerprint of your Spirit, even in the arrangement of the Psalms, but also your fingerprint in redemptive history of the glorious good news of the Gospel coming to fulfillment in Christ Jesus. Lord, thank you for taking the scales off of our eyes to see your beauty and to rejoice at those who are subjects in your kingdom. O Lord, use us, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen.