Diciembre 6: ¡Alégrate! Salmos 96 y 97
December 6: Rejoice!
Psalm 96:1-11:
Oh, sing to the Lord a new song! Sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, bless His name; proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples. For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Honor and majesty are before Him; strength and beauty are in His sanctuary. Give to the Lord, O families of the peoples, give to the Lord glory and strength. Give to the Lord the glory due His name; bring an offering, and come into His courts. Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth. Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns; the world also is firmly established, it shall not be moved; He shall judge the peoples righteously.” Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and all its fullness;
Psalm 97:6-12:
The heavens declare His righteousness, and all the peoples see His glory. Let all be put to shame who serve carved images, who boast of idols. Worship Him, all you gods. Zion hears and is glad, and the daughters of Judah rejoice because of Your judgments, O Lord. For You, Lord, are most high above all the earth; You are exalted far above all gods. You who love the Lord, hate evil! He preserves the souls of His saints; He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked. Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart. Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.
In this next group of psalms we are going to read a lot about exclamations of praise and worship to the Lord. The psalmists wrote with voices of joy and happiness, possibly with rhythms of celebration in the presence of God.
Psalm 96 makes a comparison between the Almighty and the gods of the nations. He declared that the gods of the nations are simply idols, effigies of materials such as metals or minerals that do nothing to bless; instead, the God of Israel was known as the God of heaven and earth, inclusive, by those same nations. Many of these gods "ruled" over some earthly thing or situation, such as the sea, thunder, disease, love, etc. But the God of Israel, Adonay, was the One who surpassed them all. That was precisely the great advantage that the Israelites had over the nations around them, even though they were a younger and smaller nation than the others.
That is why the psalmist proclaims in verse 11 with this statement, denoting that God rules and judges over all: “Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and all its fullness;”.
Psalm 97 continues with a similar line in its theme, where it also mentions the superiority of the God of Israel, who was not venerated before an image or figure, but was different from the other gods. God manifested His Spirit many times in a visible way like the pillar of cloud or fire, or with supernatural actions such as divine punishments such as leprosy, fires, or as supernatural blessings such as multiplying the oil of a widow, making manna fall from heaven, making enemy armies destroy each other, or light the altar of sacrifice with His own fire that falls from heaven!
So let's follow this invitation from these two psalms to rejoice! May we rejoice for our just God, who has kept light and joy for the one who lives in integrity and has kept his heart from any kind of idolatry.
I am your brother and friend Eduardo Rodríguez. May the Lord hear your prayer, receive your praise and bless you with joy and peace.
Listen to this happy song based on these psalms by the group called Salvador, titled "Alegría".
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Diciembre 6: ¡Alégrate!
Salmo 96:1-11...