Psalm 96:2

Psalm 96:2

Sing, praise and proclaim

And yet a further injunction to just keep on singing! Hopefully, what we read is really obvious, but I am going to elaborate on it a little! There are three separate components to this verse:-

Firstly, it is to the Lord that we sing. As we have learned previously, the Hebrew word for Lord is a four-letter word (tetragrammaton) that was not used in normal conversation for it was considered too sacred. The Hebrew language did not include vowels (in fact Hebrew newspapers today still use just consonants) and so YHWH became the name of the LORD. It was probably pronounced Yah’weh. It literally means, “I was, I AM, I always will be.” So, how do you sing to One whose name you dare not speak? It must have been difficult and whilst we applaud the Jewish sentiments, I think that it is fair to assume that the LORD does not mind His children speaking and singing to Him. In fact, He commands it!

Secondly, and this bears out what we have just said, He commands that we praise His Name. I’m sure the Jews thought that by not saying the name “Yahweh”, they were in fact giving Him the reverence and honour that He deserves? Certainly, we are not to take His names lightly upon our lips, and how dare anyone blaspheme His names? However, I believe that He desires nothing more than to hear His children speak those names with sincerity and affection, and He loves to hear our praises when they extol His Name over all others. 

Third and last, we are to proclaim the Lord’s salvation day after day. For Israel in Biblical times, salvation was in the context of deliverance from Egypt and settlement in the Promised Land. For us, of course, it is the salvation that has been granted to us through the sacrifice of Yeshua at Calvary; salvation from sin and death and the world and from our selfish natures and from the power of the enemy. It’s still good to sing the songs that proclaim the salvation of our God, let’s do it today, there are plenty of them. Hallelujah! 

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