Cantate Domino

1:16As we've learned, psalms are songs written to be sung or prayed individually or with the church. And that is very obvious from the first line of Psalm 98. And for those of you who are studying, Who have studied Latin, God bless you. The title of this psalm, it's been known for centuries as the Contate Domino, comes from the first line of this psalm, Catate Domino Conticum Novum. Sing to the Lord a new song. If you were impressed, that is what I was going for.

1:57This psalm was the inspiration for Isaac Watts' famous hymn, Joy to the World. You've sung that many times at Christmas, though it was not originally written as a Christmas hymn. And it was also finding a prominent place in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, which if you ever talked to Joshua or John, you probably already know that too. Singing is the obvious theme of the psalm. References to singing or commands to sing are all over this psalm. In fact, Psalm 98 is one of 50 references in the Bible to a command to sing. Now, if you're familiar with the Bible, if you're familiar with Christian church, you probably know that already. You know that Christians are commanded to sing. You might be more eager to sing. You might be less eager to sing. You might not like singing at all. But you probably know, both from the Bible and experience, that Christians are commanded to sing. We sure spend a lot of time doing it, don't we? Between one-third and one-half of Sunday morning services, depending on your church and your denomination, is spent singing. That's a lot of time. And yet, most Christians have never heard a single sermon, have never heard a single teaching on singing in church. Isn't that fascinating? For all the singing that we do, most of us have never heard a sermon on it. We may have strong opinions and feelings about it. Many Christians certainly do, but we've never been really taught about it, most of us at least. And so, whether you have strong opinions and feelings about singing, or you're not quite sure what to think about singing in church, this sermon is for you. And as with all sermons, my hope today is to address your head, your heart, and your hands. I want you to walk away feeling intellectually informed. I want you to walk away feeling emotionally stirred. And I want you to walk away feeling like you know what to do in response to this sermon, head, heart, and hands.

4:15So, through Psalm 98, we're going to ask and answer three questions this morning. Why do we sing? What do we sing? And how do we sing? And we're going to spend the most time on that first question: why do we sing? Do we sing? Because that is the most important question in life. Why? Why is the most important question that we ever ask? Because if you understand the what and the how of something, but you don't understand the why, your heart is never going to be fully in it.

4:50I believe that's the main problem for most Christians today when it comes to singing in church. We understand the what and the how, we've done it our whole life, but we don't understand the why. Friends, human beings need a why. We can't do anything wholeheartedly without understanding why, the meaning, and the purpose behind what we're doing. The best thing we can do if we don't have a why is go through the motions. We can do the what and the how, but without the why, we're just going through the motions, we're just singing the songs, our lips are moving. And so, every Sunday, that's the case for millions of Christians around the world. We are going through the motions of singing, but because we don't understand the why, our hearts are not fully in it. I hope that through Psalm 98, that will begin to change today, if that's you. And so, let's begin with that first and most important question: Why do we sing? We'll take a look there at verse 1. You encounter this command. O sing to the Lord a new song.

6:05It makes perfect sense that we are commanded to sing because we are created in God's image and likeness. Did you know that the Bible presents God as a singing God? Look on the screen at Zephaniah 3. The prophet says, The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will quiet you by his love. He will exult over you with loud singing. I want to leave that up for just a moment. Isn't that amazing? I mean, there is enough there in that one verse in Zephaniah for an entire sermon in and of itself. God is in our midst, he will save us, he will rejoice over us, he will quiet us in our anxious fears.

7:02But look at that last phrase. Look at that phrase, marvel at it, enjoy it. He will exult over you with loud singing. God, the creator and sustainer of the universe, God, the holy and righteous judge, God, the Savior, will exult over you. Not just with singing, but with loud singing. Friends, that is truly remarkable. If you've ever read The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, in the Magician's Nephew, which is the prequel to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the best-known book, you may know that Aslan the Lion, who represents God, he actually creates Narnia by singing.

7:59And we learn in the Word of God that he brings the world into existence with words. But because he is a singing God, and because Genesis tells us that he created all things and then pronounced it all very good, it is not hard for us to imagine that the Lord did not merely speak the world into existence, but that he sung the world into existence. Just remarkable to think about. And so we sing because God is a singing God and we have been created in his image and likeness. God designed you and me to be singing creatures.

8:41But beyond that, we sing for three reasons. And all of those reasons are either explicit or implicit here in Psalm 98. We sing to glorify God. We sing to edify each other. And we sing to proclaim God. Good news to the lost. So, first, we sing to glorify God. That is what so much of Psalm 98 is all about. The psalmist is glorifying God for who he is and for what he has done. Look again at verse 1.

9:18O sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things. His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. The Lord has made known his salvation. He has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations. He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Why are we commanded to sing? Friends, because the Lord has done marvelous things.

9:59Marvelous things. He has saved us. The psalmist celebrates God's salvation three times in the first three verses of this psalm. God has been true to his word. He has kept every promise. He is a God of steadfast love and faithfulness. He came to save us, and he is coming again to judge the world in righteousness, to rule in righteousness once and for all. And so it's no surprise that the psalmist sings to glorify God. For who he is and for what he has done. Because God's people have been doing that all through human history. Moses and the Israelites sang when God delivered them from 400 years of slavery in Egypt. Deborah and Barak sang when God delivered the Israelites from 20 years of oppression in the Promised Land. David and the Israelites sang when they recovered the Ark of the Covenant from the Philistines. Ezra and the Israelites sang when they rebuilt the foundation of the temple after they returned from the exile. Nehemiah and the Israelites sang when they rebuilt the wall around Jerusalem after that.

11:17And of course, Mary, when she learned that she was to be the mother of the Lord Jesus and visited her cousin Elizabeth, what did she do to celebrate? She sang. She sang. And friends, these stories are included in the Word of God, not just so that you and I can rejoice in stuff God did in the past a long time ago. These stories are included to encourage us to rejoice in what God has done and is doing in each one of our lives. If it has been a minute since you have meditated, On how God saved you, how He brought you from death to life, from darkness to light, from wandering lost to found, then, friend, this would be a great day. This would be a great week for you to meditate on the marvelous works of God in your own life. So that the psalmist words are not just something that we read historically about some other people at some other time, but they inspire you to create your own song to God and to say, Lord, thank you. Thank you for saving me, for rescuing me from my sin and its consequences.

12:40And so, friends, we sing to glorify God. We glorify Him for who He is and for what He has done. Second, we sing to edify each other. Now, that word edify appears often in Scripture, which is why I use it today, and that word means to build up morally or intellectually. And one of the best ways that we can build each other up as Christians is by singing to each other. I want you to look on the screen at Colossians 3:16. This is such a great verse, often overlooked in the New Testament. Paul says, Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns. Hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

13:37Now, we're going to talk more about that first part in Colossians 3.16 later, but for now, I want you to focus on what Paul commands us to do. He commands us to teach and admonish one another. In other words, to edify each other. And the way that we are supposed to do that is by singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to each other. We edify each other by singing to each other. Because in singing to each other, we are reminding one another of the great truths of the Christian faith. We are reminding each other of the character and works of God. We are reminding each other of our identity in Christ. We are reminding each other of what we have been saved from and to. We are reminding each other of our calling in the world to be salt and light, to be ministers of the grace of God in our community and around the world. And so we are called to sing to each other.

14:44Now, I've been out for the last couple of weeks, and every time that we are not at New Life, I am reminded that so many American churches, this is just hard to do. Many worship services today reflect the rugged Individualism of our culture. You are in a room that is so dark you can't see each other. You are listening to a concert that is so loud you can't hear each other. And the sermon and the applications and everything is surrounded or centered rather on you and your individual vertical relationship with God.

15:26But friends, rugged individualism, solo Christianity is not what we find in Scripture. Yes, God loves you individually. Yes, God has saved you individually. But friends, you have been saved into the family of God, the church. All of the Christian life is described in terms of familial relationships. We have spiritual mothers and fathers. We have spiritual brothers and sisters. We are not Lone Rangers, and we should not live like that or worship like that. And so when we gather to worship God, one of the most important things you can do after showing up is sing loudly and joyfully to your brothers and sisters in Christ.

16:22If you're older, you might remember the praise song, Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord. Well, Bob Coughlin. Who is the director of music at Sovereign Grace? He says we should change that to open the eyes of my face, Lord. Bob Coughlin is not against closing your eyes and singing directly to God. That's a good practice. We should do that. He's simply saying that we should also open the eyes of our faces and sing to our brothers and sisters in Christ who are gathered to worship God with us. They need our encouragement. They need to be reminded of the great truth that we're singing about. And so we sing to glorify God and we sing to edify each other. And then third, we sing to proclaim good news to the lost.

17:20We see that truth here in Psalm 98 and verses 2 and 3. The Lord has made known his salvation. He's revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations. Have you ever considered that one of your greatest tools for evangelism is simply inviting others to church? You probably know that. You've probably done that yourself. You've invited non-Christian friends and co-workers to church. But my guess is that you invited them to church primarily because you thought it would be good for them to hear the sermon.

18:00And you're not wrong. Look at Romans 10, 17. Paul says, faith comes through hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. So it's very good for non-Christians to listen to God's Word read and preach. That's a good thing. But listening to the sermon is not the only way that they can hear God's word in church, is it? Have you ever thought about the fact that one of the best things you can do for a non-Christian is invite them to church so that they can listen to us sing?

18:40That can be just as powerful as them hearing a sermon. I want to remind you of what happened to Paul and Silas in Acts 16. Take a look on the screen. They get arrested for preaching the gospel, and it says about midnight, Paul and Silas, they're in jail. They're praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bonds were unfastened. When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, Do not harm yourself, for we are all here. And the jailer called for lights and rushed in. And trembling with fear, he found. Fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household.

19:45Friends, Paul and Silas were simply praying and singing in prison. And after this miraculous event, this earthquake, the jailer runs up to them because he's been listening to the word of God all night long through these songs. And he says, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? Each week when we gather together, there are non-Christians among us, men and women, boys and girls, and they are wondering what we believe and whether it makes any difference in our lives.

20:29Friends, they assume I believe this stuff. They assume that Pastor John and the worship team believe this stuff. I don't think they're wondering that. They're wondering whether you believe this stuff. And from the minute that you walk in the doors, how you interact with other Christians and visitors, how you listen to and respond. To God's word, how you sing, that is sending a message about what we believe. They are drawing conclusions about whether you believe this stuff, whether it's actually worth their time to explore the Bible, to explore Jesus, to explore Christianity.

21:21Look at what Keith and Kristen Getty say in their book, Sing. These are some of the greatest hymn writers of our day. They say, biblically rich content in songs, sung by people who look like they mean what they are saying, helps teach the gospel as something that is credible and powerful rather than cultural and optional. I want to read that once more. Biblically rich content in songs, sung by people who look like they mean what they are saying, helps teach the gospel as something that is credible and powerful rather than cultural and optional, friends. People can be saved listening to Christians sing great songs weekly, anemically.

22:23They can be saved listening to Christians robustly sing poor. Songs. But the strongest witness to the lost is when we sing biblically rich songs with our whole hearts and our whole voices. That is the strongest witness to the lost. And so we sing to glorify God, we sing to edify each other, and we sing to proclaim good news to the lost. Now I want to briefly handle those other questions. What do we sing and how do we sing? So let's tackle what do we sing first.

23:09When you look at Psalm 98 and nearly every other psalm, you discover that the psalmist is singing about the nature of God and the works of God. So just consider Psalm 98. He's singing of God's character. Look at verse 1. He's singing about the fact that God is holy. In verse 3, that God is a God of steadfast love and faithfulness. Verse 6, that he is the king, the Lord of all the earth. Verse 9, that he is a righteous judge.

23:48And then go back to verse 1. Look at the works. He refers to the marvelous things that God has done and his salvation. In verse 2, he's revealed his righteousness to all the nations. Verse 3, he remembers his promises. Verse 9, he's coming to judge the world with righteousness. And so, psalmists wrote songs about God's character and about his work. And the reason that they wrote songs rather than simply stating these things as facts in the form of prose is because, as we know, songs get stuck in our heads.

24:31I can do terrible things to you this morning simply by saying the words, call me maybe or baby shark. I can ruin your day, maybe you're weak, by just saying those words aloud. Songs get stuck in our heads. They're memorable. And why is that important? Let's look again at Colossians 3:16. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

25:12So, friends, the command here is: let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. That's what we want. We want the word of Christ dwelling in us. We want it deep down inside of us. We want it to dwell in us richly, and that's because. We don't live on bread alone. We live on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. So we want God's word to dwell in us richly. And the most effective way to do that is by singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to one another when we gather for worship. That's because words set to melody are memorable. They get stuck in our heads. You know, as a preacher, it's tough to admit, but I doubt you go throughout the week repeating your favorite lines from my sermon.

26:05But you probably repeat many times over parts of the favorite song that we sung together on Sunday morning. And because that's true, we are very careful about the songs that we sing here at New Life. Here at New Life, we don't choose old songs because they're old, and we don't choose new songs because they're new. We choose songs based on their faithfulness to God's word that are written to ensure that they are as helpful as possible so that we can glorify God, edify each other, and proclaim good news to the lost. That is how we choose songs here. We want every service to be aligned like a rifle shot so that it is as edifying as possible to everyone who comes on Sunday. Friends, we are so blessed to have Pastor John and our entire worship team. They work very hard to bless us. Very hard. They put in hours of practice together and individually to help us sing well.

27:17And I think that most people assume I am the most criticized person in the church because I do most of the preaching. After 20 years in pastoral ministry, I do not think that's true. I think music leaders are the most criticized people in the church. Everybody's got big opinions about what we sing, how fast we sang it, whether we should have done it this way or that way. Big opinions. And those are often expressed. What is not often expressed is thanksgiving, encouragement. And so if it's been a minute since you've encouraged Pastor John or McKenzie or Jed or Leslie or Mike or any of the other team members who serve us so well, let me encourage you to encourage them. Build them up this week. We are so blessed. So what do we sing? We sing the Word of God. We sing about His works and His character because we want the Word to dwell in us richly.

28:23And that takes us to the final question. How do we sing? Let's pick up in verse 1. Verse 4. Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Break forth into joyous song and sing praises. Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody, with trumpets and the sound of the horn. Make a joyful noise before the king, the Lord. Let the sea roar and all that fills it, the world and those who dwell in it. Let the rivers clap their hands. Let the hills sing for joy together before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth.

29:12Friends, when it comes to the question of how we should be singing, two truths seem to leap off the page in Psalm 98 here. We should be singing joyfully, and we should be singing loudly. Joyfully and loudly. I think it almost goes without saying that joylessly mumbling Psalm 98 would simply not do it justice. How do we think verse 1 is supposed to be read? Oh, sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things.

29:58Obviously not. We have said the right words, but the heart has not been captured at all. And in that sense, we are reflecting Isaiah's words that Jesus quotes: These people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. The words of Psalm 98 and so many other psalms are meant to be sung joyfully and loudly. Look at what he says in verses 4 through 6, particularly. We are commanded to make a joyful noise to the Lord. There is nothing there about singing on key. Make a joyful noise to the Lord. Break forth into joyous song and a joyful noise. Make a joyful noise before the king.

30:47To help us with that, the psalmist encourages the use of musical instruments to stir up more joy and more volume. He says, Let's use the lyre, let's use melodies, let's use trumpets and the sound of the horn. And then he points to nature. He says, Think about the sea, which roars every time those waves crash into the sand. Think about the rivers, who metaphorically clap their hands every time those waters hit the rocks. Think about the hills, which I have been told are alive with the sound of music.

31:28I wouldn't know. I refuse to watch them. I'm not going to do that. But I think that that's true. The hills are alive with the sound of music because they're filled with animals and insects and everything else making noise, doing what God created them to do, and by doing that, worship Him. Friends, the psalmist is stirring us up. He's imploring us to sing a new song, to make a joyful noise with all of our hearts, to be like the sea and the rivers and the hills. We can do that. We must do that because of who God is and what He has done.

32:07Friends, how could we fail to make a joyful noise to the Lord who has extended His holy arm to save us? How could we fail to loudly sing praises to the King who has made known His salvation to the ends of the earth? Now, listen, I do not believe that every single song, every single Sunday, you're going to be able to sing joyfully and loudly. You may not know the song very well or at all. You might be going through a hard time, or the song might remind you of a hard time that you went through before. I understand that.

32:50But, friends, if you are a Christian, I do not understand how you could stand there. With your hands in your pockets or your arms crossed and a blank look on your face, song after song, Sunday after Sunday. We sing to glorify God because he has done everything necessary to save us. We sing to edify each other because our brothers and sisters need our encouragement each week. And we sing to proclaim good news to the lost because there are people in this room every Sunday who are wondering if Christianity is even worth their Sunday morning, much less their entire life.

33:57And so, brothers and sisters, let's repent of any joyless mumbling when we sing. When we gather together, let's sing joyfully and loudly to the Lord, to each other, and to the lost among us. And friends, if you are here this morning and you know that you are not a Christian, this is a great day to be here because Psalm 98 points you to Jesus. The Savior. You see, in verses 1 through 3, the psalmist is speaking of God's salvation, how God extended his holy arm and his right hand to save us.

34:43And friend, the way that he did that was by sending his only son, Jesus, to take on flesh, to be born, to live a life just like you and me, except without sin. And then at the end of his life, after Jesus had done everything perfectly, obeyed all of God's commands, he extended those holy arms. He extended those hands, and he was nailed to the cross for you, for your sins, for your failure to worship God with all of your heart, all of your soul, all of your mind, and all of your strength.

35:22He did that for you. And he promises that if you turn to him with repentant faith, if you turn from your sin and you receive Jesus by faith, believing in his life, death, and resurrection alone for forgiveness and reconciliation with God, you can actually look forward to Jesus' return. Because here at the end of Psalm 98, it talks about the Lord coming back to judge the earth with righteousness. If you are a Christian, if you've put your faith in Jesus, this is the best news ever.

36:00Because finally, finally, we are going to be ruled by one who is going to rule in righteousness. He's not going to rule with an iron fist. He's not going to make laws that are unjust. He's not going to persecute those who should not be persecuted. He's going to rule with righteousness. That is a great thing if you have received Christ. Oh, but friends, if you have not received Jesus, that is a terrifying thing. Because if he judges you with righteousness, Revelation 20 says that you are going to stand before him and you are going to give an account for every thought, every word, everything you've ever done, and it will not be good because we are all sinners. Every one of us has sinned against God in thought, word, and deed throughout our lives. And so, friend, if you have not, receive Jesus, the one by whom we can be saved.

37:06Because then and only then can you sing a new song to the king who is not just the Lord, but is your Lord. May it be so. Let's pray. Oh Father, you have given us something to sing about. Truly, you have given us an infinite number of things to sing about because you are infinite. Your character, your works. If even Jesus, as the Apostle John said, if even the books in all the world couldn't contain what he did in his life here on this earth, how could we possibly hope to sing about you, an infinite God?

38:16And that's what we get to look forward to. Oh, Lord, we look forward to the day when we will worship you with our songs and our words. We look forward, we will worship you with our laughter and our play, with our work, with our relationships in the new heavens and the new earth. What a joyous day that's going to be. What a joyous eternity that's going to be. And so we look forward to that. God, I pray that you would fill our hearts with fresh faith this morning so that we would no longer mumble along here or anywhere else in our lives, but that we would loudly and joyfully declare your praises.

39:01And God, for those who are not yet Christians, we pray that they would receive Jesus today. We pray that you would give them something to sing about as they pass from death to life, as they go from lost to found. Would you do that this morning? We love you. We trust you. We're so glad that we have the privilege of worshiping you, our King and Savior. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.