Latest / Chapel Talks / The Song That Should Fill Our Hearts | Psalm 96 | Luke Foster

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The Song That Should Fill Our Hearts | Psalm 96 | Luke Foster · Chapel Talks

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Let's pray as we come to hear God speak to us.
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Father God, thank you that as we hear your word
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read and preached, as we sing and pray together,
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we are hearing you speak to us. Thank you that
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your words to us are always words that come to
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us in the power of the Holy Spirit and through
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your Son, the Lord Jesus. And so, Father God,
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work in our hearts by your Spirit so we might
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see and know more of your Son. To his glory and
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our blessing. Amen. Now, I wonder when the last
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time was when you got a song really stuck in
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your head. It kind of depends maybe on different
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stages of life. So for a big chunk of my life.
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The theme song for Bob the Builder just went
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round and round and round. It's one of those
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songs that doesn't move from A to B. Every chorus
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brings you to the verse, to the chorus, to the
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verse, never seems to naturally land and come
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to an end. I've now moved into a, I've moved
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through the baby shark phase. I've got a tweenager,
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so I'm firmly in the opalite. and um barbie girl
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face but you have those different songs that
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kind of go round and round in your head and and
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they you kind of can't get them out one of the
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difficult things about having a song in your
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head is when you have one song in your head it's
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almost impossible to listen to another song have
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you ever done that you know like this song on
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the radio and you're trying to think what is
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it what is it what is it then the other song
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comes on and you're like i can't now hold those
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two songs in my head um And I think that experience
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that we have with one song stuck in our head,
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sort of squeezing out any space for any other
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song. Well, that can sometimes be what our experience
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can be like as Christians. It can be what our
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experience is like as we gather here this morning
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as students at Oak Hill. We could ask ourselves,
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what is the song that's got stuck in my head?
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What is the song that's taken hold of my heart?
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What is the song that kind of smothers? and doesn't
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really leave space for any of the others. Sometimes
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it's the song of the gospel. I mean, it could
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be after a lecture, after some reading you've
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done, just some time you've had in God's word,
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or maybe like the prayer time in those prayer
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stations that we had yesterday. You can have
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those moments when the volume of that song of
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the gospel kind of is heard more loudly in your
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heart, but pretty soon... Other songs begin to
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sound louder and louder. I don't know what those
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songs might be for you, those songs that just
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get stuck in your head. It could be you're coming
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to the end of your time here at Oak Hill and
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the song is, will I get a job? Will I get a job?
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Will I get a job? It could be that you do have
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a job lined up and you're thinking, am I up to
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the task? Am I up to the task? Am I up to the
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task? It could be that study is hard, there's
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work to do. Study is hard, there's work to do.
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Home is hard. I feel pressures around. And it
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could be that even as you went from chapel yesterday,
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having heard that song of the gospel, very quickly
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the other songs came in and smothered it. Well,
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this psalm, Psalm 96, is here for us this afternoon
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to sing for us of Jesus, to get this song kind
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of stuck in our hearts. This psalm sings to us
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of Jesus. Jesus, the creator and the king who's
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coming again. And it calls us to give our lives
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to that song, to live our lives, as it were,
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to that tune. And it sort of slowly, steadily
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over each of the sections turns up the volume.
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It begins by singing us to the Lord Jesus and
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singing and inviting us to join in and sing to
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the Lord God who is the creator. And verses one
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to three, I wonder if you kind of caught that
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as TJ was reading. Sings to us, turns to us as
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the people of God. You sing to the Lord a new
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song. Sing to the Lord all the earth. Sing to
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the Lord, praise his name. Verse three, declare
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his glory among the nations. Sing of Jesus, share
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about Jesus. Why? Well, we hear the answers in
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verses four to six. Sing of Jesus because. Well,
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look, verse 4, he is the only true God because,
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verse 5, he's the only creator God. And so, verse
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6, he's the only one who deserves that celebration
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and praise. He's the only true God. Verse 4,
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he is to be feared above all gods. Verse 5, because
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none of the others are gods at all because he
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is the one. who made the heavens and so, verse
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6, splendor and majesty are before him. The psalm
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calls us to proclaim the Lord Jesus in all the
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world because the Lord Jesus is the one who made
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the world. The psalm invites us to bring this
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song in our hearts and our heads wherever we
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are because wherever we are is a place that has
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been made by the Lord Jesus. And so if we're
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going to sing, The song of verses 1 to 3. If
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we're going to have the song of verses 1 to 3
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stuck in our head and our hearts, then we need
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to know the truth of verses 4 to 6. The truth
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that Jesus is the creator God. And that truth
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can give us confidence. The kind of confidence
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that can melt any of the insecurity and any of
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the uncertainty that would keep us from joining
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in with this song. I mean, it feels like the
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people who first heard this psalm felt that tension
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and that sort of clash of tunes. Which one am
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I going to listen to? Which one am I going to
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live for? And just glance up to Psalm 95. Psalm
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95 begins inviting the people to join in singing,
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inviting the people to sing to this God. And
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then halfway through, the psalm has to stop and
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say and moves from this invitation to song to
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a warning. to say, well, don't let other songs
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drown out this one. Don't harden your hearts.
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Don't disobey. Don't ignore. Don't let your doubts,
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don't let your disobedience, don't let your discouragement
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drown out this song. And so Psalm 96 picks up
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where Psalm 95 left off. To hear this song. To
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join in with this song, we are going to need
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to know that the God of whom we sing is the creator
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God. I remember, forgive me if I've told this
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story before. I only have a set number of anecdotes
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from our time at Chile. But when I first moved
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to Chile, it was amazing. I lived in a block
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of flats. And actually, unusually for Chile,
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there was like an old building in front of us.
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So we didn't have another building kind of blocking
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our view. And so we could see out from floor
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15. and look out over the city and the mountains
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that surrounded it. And initially it was beautiful,
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but pretty soon it became really unsettling because
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there I was in this place and just looking out
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the window made me feel really far from home,
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made me feel really, really small, made the ministry
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seem so fragile and slightly ridiculous to think
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what we're doing, I can literally see over a
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million people as I look out my window. How can
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anything that we could do make any kind of difference
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there? And you feel that uncertainty, you feel
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that fragility, and you begin to feel that doubt.
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Well, a couple of months after that, we had the
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full chilling experience because there was a
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earthquake, a good solid seven point something
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earthquake. And up on the 15th floor, you really
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feel it. And it's this extraordinary moment that
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as you're kind of looking around, you feel that
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earth around you move. But the precious truth
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was that those mountains that looked so imposing,
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it was this extraordinary reality that actually
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those mountains themselves aren't stable. Those
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mountains themselves will shake. That the mountains
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shake, but the Lord cannot be moved. That the
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creator who made those mountains is Lord over
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those millions that I can see. That the creator
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who made those mountains, who shakes the earth,
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is a stronger refuge than any home that I might
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have to leave or look for. And that's what this
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psalm speaks to us. And that's what this psalm
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offers to us. In some ways, it's as if the psalm
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offers to us a loving shake, a loving earthquake.
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The Lord Jesus is the one who made the whole
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world. And so we can entrust ourselves to him
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as he leads us to serve him in the whole world.
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I mean, it might be this morning that you are
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feeling that same kind of fragility, that same
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sort of doubt and insecurity that I felt looking
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out over Santiago. It could be that you look
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ahead to ministry in the future. It could be
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that you look around to the study and the challenges
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that you face here and now. You might feel weak
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and tired. You might struggle with temptation
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and doubt. But this psalm is to be that kind
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of loving earthquake. We can trust the truth
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of the creator. We can trust the care of the
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creator as we give our lives. and the lives of
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our families into the hands of this Lord, we
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are giving our lives and the lives of our families
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into the hands of the one who created and cares
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for the world. The Lord Jesus is the creator.
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The psalm goes on in the next couple of verses
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to turn up the volume that Jesus isn't just the
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creator. Jesus is, well, because he's the creator,
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he's the king. And in verses 1 to 6, it was like
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we were being invited to join in the song. And
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now, verses 7 to 10, address the whole nations
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of the world. In verses 7 to 9, Jesus is to be
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worshipped in the whole world because, verse
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10, he is the king over the whole world. Ascribe
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to the Lord, verse 7, all you families and nations.
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Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Verse
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10, say among the nations or let it be said among
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the nations that the Lord reigns. The world is
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firmly established. It cannot be moved. He will
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judge the peoples with equity. Jesus is the king.
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Our horizons for mission and our horizons for
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ministry will be set by the borders. that we
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place around Jesus' kingdom. And these verses
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show us the borders of that kingdom, that there
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are no borders of that kingdom, that that kingdom
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is a kingdom over all nations, all places, over
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the whole earth. So let it be said in the whole
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earth that the Lord reigns. And I think sometimes
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our struggle to join in with that, as we look
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ahead to ministry, as we think about our situations
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now, I wonder if one of our issues is... that
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we think that living the Christian life, or we
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think that living in Christian ministry is like
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playing an instrument when it's actually like
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singing a song. Okay, so I think when we think
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about ministry like playing an instrument, I
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look at the people who do this, and it's like
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a superpower to me. It's like, it's baffling.
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I do not understand it. They move their hands,
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they do different things with different parts
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of their body at the same time and make it sound
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nice. And you look at that and I think we can
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have that view of Christian ministry. That we're
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here learning techniques that we need to practice
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to do this thing that maybe only certain people
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can do. I don't know if you have that sense of
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kind of distance from what the people here do.
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And you could have that sense of discouragement.
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I'll never learn that. I could never do that.
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Or it would take me so long and it would almost
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be a little bit pointless if I tried. You could
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feel discouragement. You could feel pride. Like,
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I'm one of those people he's describing. I have
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the techniques. I can master it. I can make it
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play my tune. I think we sometimes think the
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Christian life and Christian ministry is like
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playing a musical instrument. It's just for some
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people. Or if it is for me, I'll do it in a pretty
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clumsy way. Whereas actually it's not like playing
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a musical instrument. Instead, what we're seeking
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to do is to sing a song. All of us sing. We just
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need the right occasion. We just need the right
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motivation. And that's what these verses give
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to us. They hold up Jesus before us. They hold
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up in verse 10. They show us. Jesus who reigns
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and they invite us to look around us to see this
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whole world over which Jesus reigns. Everywhere
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we stand, everywhere we are is a place over which
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and in which Jesus reigns. And sing, look at
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who he is, look at where you are, join in and
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call others to join in that song. It's a bit
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like if you're at a birthday party, you see the
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person in front of you. you look at the party
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around you, you don't really worry about whether
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you're hitting the right pitch. Or at a sports
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event, you know, as your team is winning or needing
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encouragement when it's struggling, you look
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at the team, you see yourself around in that
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stadium, and you don't think twice about joining
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in and calling others to join you as well. Or
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if you're at a concert, when the music starts,
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the lights go up, the music starts. You think
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nothing of kind of rushing forward and joining
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in. They don't like you doing that at classical
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concerts. Okay? Apparently. But, you know, when
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you're at a concert, you think nothing. No one's
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turning to anybody else and asking them about
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their perfect pitch. You see them there. You
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look around you. It's the right occasion. It's
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the right motivation. You join in and you call
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others to get involved as well. So we are here.
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At Oak Hill, we are studying and giving ourselves
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to this process of study, not in order to learn
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how to master an instrument, techniques for mastering
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an instrument. Instead, we are seeking to see
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Jesus more clearly so that we can join in with
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this song. To know that motivation so that we
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can see every occasion. as an occasion to sing
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of Jesus as the king. We see Jesus before us.
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We see the world around us. And so with the psalm,
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we know that Jesus is to be worshipped in the
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whole world because he is the reigning king over
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the whole world. So the psalm has been turning
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up the volume on that gospel song. Looking amongst
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God's people can hear it in verses 1 to 6. The
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nations hear it there in 7 and 10. And then as
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the psalm comes to an end, this song breaks out
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and is heard in verses 11 to 13 in the whole
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of creation. Jesus is the creator. Jesus is the
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king. And he is coming again. As we look at verses
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11 to 13, we listen from heaven to earth, from
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sea and fields and forests and everything that
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might be in between. The whole earth, the whole
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of creation is called to join in to this joyful
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song. Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be
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glad. Let the sea resound and all that's in it,
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the fields and everything in them. Let all the
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trees of the forest sing for joy. let all creation
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rejoice. The whole of creation is invited to
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sing for joy in verses 11 and 12 because the
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Lord is coming to judge in verse 13. Let all
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creation rejoice for he comes. He comes to judge
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the earth. He will judge the earth in righteousness
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and the peoples in faithfulness. Jesus is coming
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to fix. the brokenness of the world. Jesus is
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coming to heal every hurt. Jesus is coming to
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bring comfort to every pain. All who belong to
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King Jesus will be brought home by King Jesus.
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What a beautiful message to share. What a glorious
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hope to be able to offer. What a precious perspective
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in which to place our lives. See, this is the
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glorious. truth that we can glimpse in these
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verses because we're sat here this morning and
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we might be wondering about the decisions that
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led us to come and be sat here. We might be wondering
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about the decisions ahead that will lead us into
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the future. Might be thinking about the choices
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that face us as we count the cost of serving
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Jesus. But this psalm calls us to follow Jesus,
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not By telling us to leave home. But by encouraging
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us that we are heading home. As Christians, home
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is never somewhere we leave. Because our home
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always lies ahead. And this psalm calls us to
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look ahead and live for that glorious heavenly
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home. The home for which all creation. strains
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and longs to see. I don't know about you, call
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me superficial, but last Wednesday's sunshine
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completely lifted my mood, like changed everything.
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It was like, oh, being out on the front, sunshine,
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it was like, oh, spring is coming. Now today
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is a bit more cloudy, but I can face that cloudiness
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with a little less grumpiness because I had that
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taste of spring. on Wednesday and into the weekend.
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I'm sure you guys aren't affected nearly that
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much. But you feel that. In Chile, one of the
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great things was that you were never more than
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about two weeks away from a sunny day and 20
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degrees. So you see, you always had that taste.
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You always knew that that sunshine, even in the
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depths of winter when it would get quite cold,
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you knew that that sunshine was coming. Well,
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in some ways, these last verses, verses 11 to
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13 of this psalm, Well, they long for the light,
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the sunlight of that future day to flood into
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our lives today. They want to give us the taste
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of that sunshine. They want that sunshine to
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begin to burn away the fog that can confuse and
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disorientate and discourage us. This psalm shows
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us the certainty of spring. When all of creation
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will blossom in the beauty of the glory of the
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Lord Jesus. That future home when Jesus returns.
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We will only be willing to let go and leave home
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if we are looking ahead and heading home. The
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home to which all of creation is straining and
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longing to see. Jesus, the creator, is king and
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will one day come again. So let's live our lives
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looking for that day. longing for that loving
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home. So the question we started with, when was
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the last time you had a song stuck in your head?
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Let's pray that this psalm would help us to hear
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the gospel in all its clarity and beauty so that
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we might live our lives to that tune. Let me
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pray. Father God, we pray that our hearts now
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might begin to join with this song of Jesus'
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glory and Jesus' goodness. Would our hearts be
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a place where we begin to get a taste of that
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day when all of creation will rejoice before
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the Lord. In Jesus' name. Amen.