In Psalm 96, this psalm about perspective, the psalmist started with a repetitive phrase, “Sing to the Lord,” which we talked about here and here. And now later in his song, he returns to a repetition. Look at verses 7-8. “Ascribe…Ascribe…Ascribe to the Lord.” What does it mean to “ascribe”? “Ascribe is not a common word in English.” Ascribing is to give, but with urgency. Literally, this repetition could be translated “Come on! Come on! Give it to him!”
Who is to “Come on, come on, give it to the Lord”? The psalmist tells us: “O families of nations.” There’s that global perspective again, which the psalmist has drawn our eyes to throughout the psalm!
What are we all to “Come on, come on give to him”? Again, the psalmist tells us: “Glory and strength.” What? Wait just a moment there. How can we give God strength? Even if every single person across the whole globe could somehow give their strength to God, he already has way more than that.
The psalmist is suggesting not that God needs our strength, but that we declare that God is the one who has omnipotent, all-powerful strength.
Finally, we ascribe, or say “Come on, come on! Give him the glory due his name.” Don’t hold back! Remember who he is. Think about him. Praise him.
Can you feel the energy coursing through this psalm? We are to praise God vigorously. I remember the first time I was blown away by singing. It was during my freshman year of college on a spring break mission trip to Guyana, South America. At the time, it was an extremely poor area of the world there on the Guyanese coast. The people there mostly lived in small shacks built above dirt plots. It’s super hot, crazy buggy, lots of malaria, and very little opportunity except to work at harvesting sugar cane, back-breaking work with a machete. It’s the kind of life that those of use living in wealthy nations and cultures would call very depressing and hopeless.
Because of that, in their tiny church building with bare wooden benches, the Guyanese Christians’ exuberant singing of praise to God shook me. I rarely would sing like that in my church in the USA. Maybe I never did. I would say that hardly anyone in the church I grew up in would sing like that. But those Guyanese Christians were right. God is worthy to be praised with the energy of “Come on, Come on, Give it to him!!!”
Come on, come on! When you sing, give him the glory due his name.
But this energy is not reserved for singing alone. God doesn’t really need our four songs once a week on Sundays (at least my congregation sings four songs each week…maybe yours sings a few more or less). Those four songs are great, and we need them! We should belt them out with all our hearts just like those amazing Guyanese Christians. But the psalmist in Psalm 96, verses 8 and 9, reminds us that worship of the Lord must go beyond singing.
“Bring an offering,” the psalmist writes. Sacrifice. Give generously. What sacrifice? What giving?
Most obviously, an offering can be financial. When we give an offering, we need to view the money what it truly is, God’s money, not ours. Like John Wesley said, “Earn all you can, save all you can, so you can give all you can.” Here’s what Wesley meant: Earn money. Money is not bad. Earn all you can, remembering that it is all God’s money. Then save it. Not in bank accounts or retirement accounts so that you can retire wealthy and enjoy the easy life. When Wesley said, “Save all you can,” he meant “Don’t spend it.”
This is the hard part for most of us, no matter how much money we have. Whether we have a little or a lot. Whether earn a little or a lot, our culture is a spending culture. I urge you to avoid a mindset where you think you deserve or desire luxury. If you have a lot of money, you might feel you deserve a big purchase that you always wanted, but do not need. Or if you have a little money, you might feel you deserve a purchase at the convenience store, but you do not need it. Save all you can, so you can give all you can. Be radical, sacrificial, crazy good givers.
But offering is not just financial. What else can we give as an offering? Our time! Are we giving our time to the mission of God’s Kingdom? Or are we believing that we already gave our time over the years, and now it is our time, MY time, time to retire and relax? Offering means we are sacrificing something, which goes beyond giving. We sacrifice for the mission of God’s Kingdom. No matter how young or old, no matter what our station in live, we offer ourselves.
Photo by GESPHOTOSS on Unsplash
Engaging Scripture 