"Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, praise His name; proclaim His salvation day after day.  Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples.  For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;He is to be feared above all gods.  For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.  Splendor and majesty are before Him; strength and glory are in His sanctuary.  Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.  Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name; bring an offering and come into His courts.  Worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness; tremble before Him, all the earth." - Psalm 96:1-9

In his book titled “The Songs of Jesus,”  Timothy Keller states that Psalm 96 shows us that worship is to be done “among the nations.” (verse 3)   Verse 2 says that as we worship we are “proclaiming His salvation” – literally bearing tidings of Good News.  There is no better way to show skeptics the greatness of God and the beauty of His truth than through worship. (verses 4-9)   Our worship is to be compelling to nonbelievers; that is “a corrective to static worship and shallow preaching alike” and dynamic worship is not just a means to winning the world but it also provides our motivation to do so.  Only a heart filled with overflowing joy will want to share the source of that joy with everyone they meet.  If you had the cure for cancer, would you keep it a secret?  Worship propels us into the world to serve and love. 

With a new year upon us, start now with a deliberate desire to approach and grow closer to the Lord.  May your understanding of the Lord’s grace grow until it rids you of the self-consciousness, lethargy, and pessimism that keep you from publicly proclaiming Jesus as our Lord and Savior.