Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth, sing praise to the Lord, Selah - Psalm 68:32
Greetings from Soquel Camp Meeting. It has been a blessing to be here with thousands of other campers and worshippers. It is also much cooler than the valley. MUCH cooler. Nonetheless, you are loved and you are missed Clovis. Whether you have or haven’t been to Soquel before, I encourage you to think about coming up for the day on Sabbath. There is nothing like it.
I have reading the Psalms for my devotional every morning. Yesterday I came across the above verses in one of David’s ancient songs. It struck me because the psalmist is singing out an invitation to all of the kingdoms of the earth to praise and worship the Lord God. It makes for a great song lyric and an even better word picture. Can you imagine the whole world, every nation, every culture, and every language group on planet earth singing to God?
But then reality sets in…at least for me. What would it take for all of the kings and kingdoms to sing praise to the Lord? In David’s time the nations were at war with one another. Israel itself had frequent wars with their neighbors. Israel was the only people group who even acknowledged the Creator. How could David think that the whole world would even care to sing to God when they had their own gods and idols? Fast forward to 2024 and the kingdoms are not any closer to accepting David’s invitation. Christianity is a public enemy in some sectors of society. There is as many religions and gods today as there were in the past. The whole earth is not now singing to the Lord. Christians themselves hardly sing in church, much less the sinful and secular lot of humanity. So is this poetic phrase just a pie in the sky phase, a false hope?
The Bible prophetically predicts that the world is going to be locked into a battle over worship. There will be a war between Jesus and Satan, the Lamb and the Beast, the follower of Christ and the follower of the Anti-Christ. There is a marked split, a great divide. And the engagement will be serious and probably bloody. Lives will be lost purely over who one chooses to sing to. But, there will be a necessary end to sin and sinners. All that are left in the world are lovers and worshippers of God. There will be only one kingdom made up of people from all kingdoms. And then, David’s song will be realized. All of the people on earth will sing praise to the Lord. Every person from every nation who found salvation in Jesus Christ will lift of their voice to honor God. And if you plan to be a part of that moment, maybe start practicing now.
This Sabbath Pastor Dale Leamon will speak the words of life. I hope that you all have a wonderful experience in worship and fellowship. See you all soon!
Pastor Dean