Have you ever lost your voice? A friend of mine once lost hers for a number of weeks and I remember her telling me how surprised her GP was when she explained that what she missed most of all was singing in church. We are made to worship, and we are made to be part of worshipping communities.

So why do we worship? The greatness of God moves us to worship. Sometimes this can be irresistible: we just can’t help but brim over with wonder. In other, more painful seasons of life, a psalm such as this reminds us of why God is still worthy of worship, despite our circumstances. It helps us understand that God is worthy of worship for so many reasons: for his revelation of salvation; for his marvellous deeds; as Creator; as holy; as righteous judge.

The psalmist also uses joyful examples of personification to show that even the natural world cannot help but respond with worship (vs 11–13). Our worship joins in with that of creation, but also draws others to worship with us. The verbs ‘proclaim’ (v 2), ‘declare’ (v 3) and ‘say’ (v 10) are all used to reinforce worship as witness: ‘all nations’ are made to worship God in his glory.

‘Only a heart filled with overflowing joy will want to share that joy with everyone they meet. If you had the cure for cancer would you keep it a secret?’¹

Three times we are commanded to sing in the first two verses of this psalm. Not just sing about the Lord but sing to the Lord. The whole earth is included in this invocation, not just the people of Israel. The psalmist looks on the nations of the world and wants us to join in God’s mission to them with heart and soul. John Piper, US author and pastor, writes about this psalm, ‘Our goal is not mere belief or mere behaviour changes. Our goal is whole-hearted, whole-minded, whole-souled joy in God that overflows in song.’² This kind of worship will attract people and offer them a description of God’s greatness (vs 4–6), an invitation to join in worship and surrender to him (vs 7–9) and a warning of coming judgement (v 13).

What the psalmist calls nations we might describe as people groups. Approximately seven thousand people groups around the world are considered unreached. That means over forty per cent of the world’s people groups – that’s more than forty-two per cent of the world’s population – have no indigenous community of believing Christians able to evangelise the rest of their kin.³ They need to hear our song to the Lord and to know about his great work of salvation.

The final verses ring out like a coronation anthem, extending to all nations and embracing a renewed earth. This missionary melody ends with a final glimpse at the end of creation’s story. The supremacy of Israel’s God, the futility of idols and the wonders of creation all come together here. In a glimpse into the glorious future, all creation is renewed and rejoices in hope of the coming king. May this glorious hope fill your heart today and help you to worship, work and witness.

Ask God to give you opportunities to ‘proclaim his salvation day after day’ (v 2). Ask for the boldness, grace and power to use these opportunities for his glory.

¹ Keller and Keller, 2015, p238  ² John Piper, Shaped by God, Desiring God, Kindle Edition, 2017, p75  ³ https://joshuaproject.net/people_groups