eschatology, He is Coming (Ps.96)

In the psalms leading up to this one, an anguished king David is being very open and honest with God about how he is feeling, asking God WHY "He has forgotten about His people"?  And - WHEN - when will God "hear" the Israelite's cry?  And WHEN will God fulfill His covenants to them?  Etc.  Then we find that God has given David some answers - in this psalm (as well as Psalms 97-99, etc.) which very clearly lets us know that the Lord WILL BE COMING TO EARTH to judge the nations and all its people.  There is hope!  And there is and there will be justice!...

(Psalm 96:1-13)  Sing to the Lord a new song;
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord, bless His name;
Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.
3 Tell of His glory among the nations,
His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.
4 For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised;
He is to be feared above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
But the Lord made the heavens.
6 Splendor and majesty are before Him,
Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.

7 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
8 Ascribe to the Lord the glory of His name;
Bring an offering and come into His courts.
9 Worship the Lord in holy attire;
Tremble before Him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns;
Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved;
He will judge the peoples with equity.”

11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
Let the sea roar, and all it contains;
12 Let the field exult, and all that is in it.
Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy
13 Before the Lord, for He is coming,
For He is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
And the peoples in His faithfulness.

We know that the above is speaking about Jesus' second coming at the end of the Tribulation for several reasons.  First of all, the Israelites did not recognize their Messiah when He came the first time.  They rejected Him and crucified Him.  As well, when Jesus came to earth (fully man and fully God) the first time, as the verses below says, Jesus came, NOT to judge, but to save...

(John 3:16-21)  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

Today's takeaway:  God will judge unbelievers for every evil deed they commit.  For all believers, we do not have to fear, for God will judge and reward all good deeds done with pure motives, because when God forgives our sin, He chooses to remember our sins no more.  The following scripture explains it quite nicely, also reminding us of the Mosaic covenant - the laws and commandments given to us - which only shows us that we cannot earn our way into heaven, because there is no way we can be perfectly obedient.  This is why Jesus gave us the "new covenant."  This does not negate the "old (Mosaic) covenant" - it fulfills it.  This is why Jesus is the only way!  We need God's forgiveness and grace, and Jesus makes that possible...

(Hebrews 8:7-13)  For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. 8 For finding fault with them, He says,

“Behold, days are coming, says the Lord,
When I will effect a new covenant
With the house of Israel and with the house of Judah;
9 Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers
On the day when I took them by the hand
To lead them out of the land of Egypt;
For they did not continue in My covenant,
And I did not care for them, says the Lord.
10 “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
After those days, says the Lord:
I will put My laws into their minds,
And I will write them on their hearts.
And I will be their God,
And they shall be My people.
11 “And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen,
And everyone his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
For all will know Me,
From the least to the greatest of them.
12 “For I will be merciful to their iniquities,
And I will remember their sins no more.”

13 When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.