Psalm 96
August 9, 2026
preached by Pastor Ryan Bouton
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Time of Reflection Quotations

“The miserable idea that God should in any sense need, or crave for, our worship like a vain woman wanting compliments, or a vain author presenting his new books to people who never met or heard of him, is implicitly answered by the words, ‘If I be hungry I will not tell thee’ (Psalm 50:12). Even if such an absurd Deity could be conceived, He would hardly come to us, the lowest of rational creatures, to gratify His appetite. I don’t want my dog to bark approval of my books. Now that I come to think of it, there are some humans whose enthusiastically favorable criticism would not much gratify me.

But the most obvious fact about praise — whether of God or anything — strangely escaped me. I thought of it in terms of compliment, approval, or the giving of honor. I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise unless (sometimes even if) shyness or the fear of boring others is deliberately brought in to check it.”

~ Reflections on the Psalms by C.S. Lewis (1898-1963), British writer and Christian apologist

“The mass of men have been forced to be gay about the little things, but sad about the big ones. Nevertheless (I offer my last dogma defiantly) it is not native to man to be so. Man is more himself, man is more manlike, when joy is the fundamental thing in him, and grief the superficial. Melancholy should be an innocent interlude, a tender and fugitive frame of mind; praise should be the permanent pulsation of the soul. Pessimism is at best an emotional half-holiday; joy is the uproarious labor by which all things live.”

~ Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936), English writer

Sermon Passage

Psalm 96 (ESV)

¹ Oh sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all the earth!
² Sing to the LORD, bless his name;
tell of his salvation from day to day.
³ Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works 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 worthless 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 due his name;
bring an offering, and come into his courts!
⁹ Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness;
tremble before him, all the earth!

¹⁰ Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns!
Yes, the world is established; it shall never 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 that fills it;
¹² let the field exult, and everything in it!
Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
¹³ 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.