The sermon, based on Psalm 98, emphasizes the significance of Christmas as a fulfillment of God's promises and a declaration of salvation to the world. It highlights the victory achieved through Jesus Christ, whose birth is seen as the realization of Psalm 98's prophecy. The sermon connects the Old Testament prophecies, including the Adamic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, and Davidic covenants, to the coming of Christ, affirming that all promises are fulfilled in Him. The speaker draws parallels between Mary's response to the announcement of Jesus' birth and Psalm 98, suggesting that the psalm speaks directly to the joy and salvation brought by Christmas. The sermon encourages believers to respond to this joy by singing and shouting with joy, as creation itself does. It calls for men, in particular, to lead in joyful worship. Ultimately, the message is that Christmas is a time to celebrate the victory and salvation that Jesus Christ has won for the world.

Psalm 98, beginning in verse 1. Oh, sing to the Lord a new psalm, for he has done wonderful things. His right hand and his holy arm have gained the victory for him. The Lord has made known his salvation. He has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.

He has remembered his loving kindness and his faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises. Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody, with trumpets and the sound of the horn.

Shout joyfully before the King, the Lord. Let the sea roar and all it contains, the world and those who dwell in it. Let the rivers clap their hands. Let the mountains sing together for joy before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity.

May God bless the reading of His Word. Amen. Let's pray. Father, thank you so much for this your word. It is a glorious psalm, a joyous psalm.

Lord, what we do not know this morning, I ask that you would teach us. Oh, what we are not, Remind us that we are in Christ. Lord, please, what we think we do not have, remind us that in the Lord Jesus Christ, every promise you've made is yes and amen. We have all that we need for life and godliness in the Lord Jesus. Make us a people that this day leave here shouting for joy into all the world for the Lord has come.

Thank you for Christmas and this time where we get to consider afresh the foundation that Christmas is for everything, good, true, and beautiful. Thank you in Jesus' name. Help us now. Amen. Amen.

You may be seated. Well, we just read the 98th Psalm. Did any of it sound familiar to you? The word sing occurs five times. The word joy occurs four times.

The world or earth, the word world or earth occurs five times joy world earth Sing Does that sound familiar to you? Let the sea roar and all it contains, let the mountains sing together for joy, Shout joyfully to the Lord all the earth. What hymn starts that same way? Joy to the world starts that way. Joy to the world, the Lord has come.

Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns. Let earth receive her King. Let men their songs employ. Heaven and nature sing. Heaven and nature sing.

Repeat the sounding joy. Joy to the world comes from Psalm 98. Isaac Watts in 1719 wrote this blessed hymn, this blessed Christmas carol that we'll sing at the conclusion of our service this Lord's Day. He wrote this carol called Joy to the World from Psalm 98 about the Savior who came on Christmas and fulfilled Psalm 98. That's what we get to study this morning.

The fulfillment of this psalm on Christmas, summed up in one of our church's favorite songs of all time, at least my favorite song of all time, one of them, Joy to the World. Last Lord's Day, and now this Lord's Day, we've been asking the question in this Advent series, why does Christmas matter? Why does Christmas matter? And this morning God tells us in this psalm psalm 98 Christmas matters because it is joy to the world and we should shout and sing all about it you say that again Christmas matters because it is joy to the world and you and I should shout and sing about it. Today, tomorrow, the next day, the next month, all the way for another 12 months until we get right back here and I get to say it again.

That's why Christmas matters. And just so you get the outline of this passage and thus the outline of our sermon, verses one through three, in verses one through three, God tells us why what he has done on Christmas is joy to the world. Verses 1 through 3, why Christmas is joy to the world. And then in verses 4 through 6, how? How you and I should sing and shout about the wonderful things that God has done in verse 1.

How you should sing and shout. That's verses four through six. Verses one through three, why Christmas is joy to the world. Why you should sing to the Lord a new song. Verses four through six, how you and I sing unto the Lord a new song.

And then in verses seven through nine, who. Who should be singing? Who is to sing unto the Lord a new song? Should you? I'll give you a little answer before we get there.

Yes, It should be you. If the mountains are clapping, if the rivers are clapping, if all of creation is singing, you should too. That's the structure of this psalm. Why, how, and who. And it tells you just how much Christmas matters because it is joy to the world.

So shout and sing all about it all the time, all the peoples. So first, why? Why do, verse 1, Why sing to the Lord a new song? Why is Christmas joy to the world? Here's the answer.

Because Christ has gained the victory. Because Christ has gained the victory. Verse 1, Sing to the Lord a new song. Why? Well, he answers there.

For he, For God, He has done wonderful things. Well, what kind of wonderful things? Verse 2. His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him. Jesus Christ, who came on Christmas, has gained the victory.

That's why you sing joy to the world. That's why Christmas matters. But you might be asking, and I hope you are, what victory? What exactly are these wonderful things that God has done? What is the victory that Christ has accomplished that Psalm 98 foretells?

What is the victory? And you might even be asking, Pastor, how do you know this is even talking about Jesus? Is this really talking? Is this prophecy, this psalm, is it really fulfilled at Christmas when God, the Lord, took on flesh and dwelt among us? How do you know it's even talking about Christmas?

Well, Jesus said in Luke 24 that all the Old Testament, the Psalms included, including Psalm 98, that all the Old Testament pointed to him Jesus says so in Luke 24 all the scriptures the law, the prophets, the Psalms. That's what Jesus says and Psalm 98, what does it say there? Psalm 98 is talking about the Lord, the Lord, the Lord, the Lord, the Lord. And Jesus is the Lord. Jesus is God.

And so Psalm 98 is definitely talking about Jesus. But is Psalm 98 really talking about Christmas? Because if it's not, what am I doing preaching it a few days before? Let's ask someone in the Bible what they think. Wouldn't that be a good idea?

Let's ask someone in the Bible What they think who would be a good person to ask if Christmas is the fulfillment of Psalm 98? Who would you ask? Which character in the New Testament? Would you ask if Christmas if the coming of Jesus on Christmas was the fulfillment of Psalm 98? Who would you ask?

I'd ask the mother of Jesus. I'd go right to her. I'd ask the one who bore Jesus in her virgin womb. I'd ask the one who was there when the Savior was born. I'd ask Mary in Luke chapter 1 about the way that she and all her fellow faithful Jews, how she and her fellow Jews would understand Psalm 98.

How do the Jews, Mary? How do you at this time of Christ's birth, how do you understand Psalm 98? If I can get you to answer that, you understand a lot better than I do, that's what I'd ask Mary. You know what? Let's go ask her.

Let's go. Let's go ask Mary that very question. In fact, let's go. Let's turn to Luke chapter 1. Turn with me to Luke chapter 1 beginning in verse 46.

Let's go ask Mary that question. How are we to understand Psalm 98? Luke chapter one, beginning in verse 46. 1, beginning in verse 46. Just prior to these verses, Mary is told by God that she's going to bear the Son of God, the Savior of the world, in her virgin womb.

And so Mary hears this, she's amazed, and then how does she respond? What does Mary say? What does this faithful Jewish girl steeped in Old Testament scriptures, what does she say in response to all these things that the Lord has revealed to her? She sings. Verses 46 through 55 are called what?

What's at the top there? The Magnificat. Mary's song, she sings. Verse 46, And Mary said, my soul exalts the Lord. What does verse one of Psalm 98 say?

Oh, sing to the Lord a new song. Exalt the Lord is what Psalm 98 says exalt the Lord in song and Mary responds in verse 46. That's exactly what I'll do My soul exalts the Lord my spirit rejoices. I sing Psalm 98 says the Lord has done marvelous things. Look in verse 49.

Mary in verse 49, The mighty one has done great things for me. Psalm 98 says his right hand and his holy arm have gained the victory for him. What does Mary say in verse 51? How does she respond? He has done mighty deeds with his arms.

Psalm 98, the Lord has remembered his loving kindness and his faithfulness to the house of Israel. What does Mary say in verse 54 he has given help to Israel his servant in remembrance of his mercy as he spoke to our fathers and to Abraham and his descendants he has remembered his people Psalm 98 says the Lord is coming to judge. He will judge the world with righteousness, the peoples with equity. Mary says in verses 52 and 53, look there, God has brought down rulers from their thrones and exalted the humble. He's judged.

He's filled the hungry with good things and sent away the rich empty handed with the birth of His Son. That's fast. I'm going to do it again in just a second. But Mary is saying this baby on Christmas will come to rule over the world and all the people with equity with justice and righteousness. This is a Psalm 98 baby.

What's Mary's answer to the question that we pose to her? Is Psalm 98 about Christmas, Mary? What does Mary sing? What scripture is in Mary's heart as she is singing this song in response to the news of Christmas is coming? She sings Psalm 98.

Psalm 98 says sing, and Mary sings. Psalm 98 says the Lord does marvelous things, and Mary says yes, he does, in verse 49. Psalm 98 says that the Lord has done mighty deeds with his arm and Mary echoes that in verse 51. Yes, he does Psalm 98 says the Lord hasn't forgotten his promises to his people And Mary echoes that in verse 54. He hasn't forgotten his promises The question we asked Mary was how do you understand psalm 98 as a faithful Jew and what is her answer?

Psalm 98 is about Jesus being born on Christmas. Christmas is coming and Mary responds with Psalm 98 in mind. That's Mary's song, a response to Psalm 98. Psalm 98, I'm just going to keep saying it, is all about Jesus. Psalm 98 is all about God taking on flesh, eternity, entering into time on Christmas and bringing joy to the world.

Why? Because the King of the world has come, and His name is Jesus the Christ. So that should be very settled in your mind, and in your heart, and it should really fill you with joy and peace. Psalm 98 is about Christmas. Joy to the world is about the triumph of Christmas.

You take Christmas away, you take Psalm 98 away. The Lord hasn't gained the victory for His people in verse 1 of Psalm 98 if Christmas isn't true. You've got no reason to sing a new song unto the Lord if Christmas isn't The friends, hallelujah, Christmas is true. And Christmas matters because the victory was achieved by Jesus the babe, the son of Mary, because He came. So Psalm 98 is about Christmas.

Let's turn back to Psalm 98. Why then is Christmas joy to the world? What is this victory that verse 1 of Psalm 98 declares that the Lord has gained at Christmas? What is this victory that Christ has gained because He came on Christmas? What's the answer?

Salvation. Salvation is the answer. Look back at Psalm 98 verse 2. The Lord has made known His salvation. Look at the end of verse 3.

All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. That's the victory. Salvation. That's the wonderful thing that the Lord has done. Salvation for you and the world.

The Lord has made known his salvation. He's made it known. He's made it known. How so? Genesis chapter 3, the Adamic covenant.

Adam plunged the world into sin and decay and destruction. And in the midst of that, God promised a salvation through a second Adam, the final Adam, that was to come from the woman, a seed who would come and save his people from the curse as far as the curse is found, God promised in Genesis 3 Christmas would come. He promised. And in Genesis chapters 12 through 22, the Abrahamic covenant, God promised a Savior from Abraham, a seed from Abraham who would come and be a blessing to the entire world. He would be a blessing to all the nations.

A seed that would come and offer Himself as a sacrifice in the place of sinners for the world. What does the end of Psalm 98 verse 2 say? He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations. What was promised to Abraham? A seed that was coming to bless the nations, to save the world.

In Exodus chapter 19-24, the Mosaic Covenant, the giving of the law, a seed would come from God, a Savior would come, and that Savior would keep the law when you, a sinner, could not. So that in this Savior, in this coming Messiah, in him you might become the very righteousness of God because he kept the law when you could not The priesthood all of the world needed a great high priest who would forever Mediate between the thrice holy God and an evil world the promised seed would be that priest The tabernacle you and I the nations the world needed God to come and dwell among us The Passover We needed God to come and seal us in His blood that His wrath due to our sins would be propitiated. We needed God to pour out His righteous wrath due to our sins on a substitute in our place. That we might in exchange for our sin be given righteousness. That we might go away forgiven and made holy.

The whole world needed that. And the promised seed to come from a woman would do that for the world. Second Samuel chapter 7, the Davidic covenant, there will come a seed, the same seed promised in the Adamic covenant, the same seed from the Abrahamic covenant, the same seed promised in the Mosaic covenant, there will come a seed in the Davidic covenant that will come through the line of David and his rule and reign and his kingdom will never end and He will rule the nations in righteousness. Isaiah the prophet declared to the people of the Old Testament, the seed promised is still coming. He hasn't come yet, but He's coming.

And though your sins may be a scarlet, the seed that's coming will make you white as snow. The Savior to come on Christmas will wash you and make you white as snow, that though you are rightfully undone by the holiness of God and you deserve eternal condemnation and damnation, God Himself will come and take away your sin. This is what the coming Savior will do. That's just Isaiah chapter 1. And this Savior, this Savior will be Emmanuel, God with us, and he will come from a virgin and he will come and deliver his people that was promised in Isaiah chapter 7 and Then in Isaiah chapter 9 For a child will be born to us a son will be given to us the government will rest on his shoulders and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

There will be no end to the increase of his government or of peace on the throne of David and over His kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. Well how will this be accomplished? The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this. God will do it. And then what do you see in Psalm 98?

How many times in the first three verses do you see He has, He has, He has, you see it a lot. He has done wonderful things. He has revealed His righteousness. He has remembered His loving-kindness. He's done it.

Has he shown his loving kindness? Has he shown his salvation? Has he made known his salvation? Yes, he has. In the coming of the Son of God on Christmas.

God has done it. That's the victory and salvation promised in Isaiah chapter 9. All the covenants and the gospels tell us all of this that was promised from Genesis 3 to today happened at Christmas. The Lord has made known his salvation, his righteousness to all the nations. Has God remembered his loving kindness to the house of Israel?

Has he remained faithful to His people? Has God forgotten His promises? No. I mean, what of Isaiah chapter 11? A shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse.

The seed promised will indeed come. He will judge the earth as a result of His coming on Christmas. And as a result of that coming on Christmas, in fact, Isaiah 11 says, the knowledge of the Lord will fill the earth as the waters cover the sea. His coming will result in one day the wolf lying down with the lamb, and calves and lions playing together, children and serpents having fun. Such is the power of this Prince of Peace to come on Christmas.

That's the promise. And the promise in Isaiah 11 is that the nations will stream to Him, for the world belongs to this coming Savior. That's all Isaiah 11. Has God forgotten? Not a chance.

All of God's promises, the promises of the seed to come in covenant after covenant after covenant, they are all yes and amen in Jesus Christ who came on Christmas. All of God's promises have come true on Christmas. God has done wonderful things. He has gained the victory, Psalm 98 says. He has won salvation for all the earth.

How? Still haven't answered how. How has He done that? If you keep going in Isaiah, I'm just pulling up all Old Testament prophecy for you. If you keep going on Isaiah, Isaiah 53, the prophecy of Isaiah 53, you and I in Isaiah 53 are shown what it was going to take for that promised seed, that Immanuel, what it was going to take for that Immanuel to come and secure peace with God.

What it was going to take for that Emmanuel to come and secure peace with God? What it was going to take to secure peace with God for you, sinner, when you were at enmity with God? What it was going to take to achieve this victory over the whole world? What was it going to take? You know the answer if you're a Christian, you have to.

It was gonna take this coming Savior's atoning death on a cross. It was gonna take God tabernacling among his people. It was gonna take God taking on flesh and becoming the Passover lamb, the final sacrifice for the remission of sins. And he was going to have to hang on a cross. And the Father was going to have to pour out the wrath of God that you deserve, Christian.

He was going to pour that. He was going to have to hang on a cross. And the Father was going to have to pour out the wrath of God that you deserve, Christian. He was going to pour out His wrath due to the elect, not on you, but on His Son. He was to pour out his wrath on the promised seed from Adam to Abraham to Moses to David, so that he would be pierced for your transgressions and crushed for your sins.

So that the punishment that brought you peace would be upon Him. So that by His wounds, you would be healed. By the wounds of the promised seed, you would be healed. And indeed the whole world would be one to Christ. That's the promise of Isaiah 53.

That's what it's going to take. And that's exactly what this Savior came and accomplished beginning of Christmas. The Savior, the Son of God, Jesus Christ came on Christmas. He lived a perfect life of obedience. He then went to a cross like a lamb led to the slaughter.

The God-man, the Lamb of God, crucified in the place of sinners to take away the sins of the world. Remember what John the Baptist say, behold the Lamb of God who takes away what? The sins of the world. You want to know why we sing joy to the world? Because Jesus came.

And on that cross is promised seed from Adam to Abraham, Moses and David. On that cross this Immanuel said those words at the moment of his substitutionary death. He said, it is finished. And it was. You know in part what that meant?

Psalm 98, accomplished. Psalm 98, accomplished for the world. He didn't stay in the grave though, did he? It's finished. He breathes his last.

Three days later, he rose up from the grave in victory over sin. The world had been bought, blood bought. The nations belong to the Savior. The nations were this Savior's inheritance. Salvation was accomplished.

But He didn't just rise up, He then ascended as King. As King who rules and reigns over all of heaven and all of earth. And He now sits at the right hand of God the Father. All of the Old Testament promises fulfilled. Fulfilled.

Yes and amen. In Christ Jesus. Because he came on Christmas. I'm telling you people, I hear it all the time, they just act like Christmas don't matter. If Christmas gets taken away, you got nothing but condemnation.

That's all you got. Oh, praise God. He has made known His salvation. He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations. He's shown you.

Just in my words, He's shown you, hasn't He? Are you trusting Him? Are you flying to this Jesus friend? I encourage you fly to Jesus the Savior who was the promised one over and over and over again in the Old Testament. He finally came in the fullness of time on Christmas, and with His mighty arm, He accomplished the victory for ruined sinners, for you, for a ruined world.

Newness, forgiveness, redemption, righteousness. He accomplished joy to the world. So why should we sing a new song? Why does Christmas matter? Because Psalm 98 is fulfilled on that first Christmas, because Christmas is joy to the world because God has accomplished salvation.

And you get to celebrate that year after year after year that you totally revamp the way you view sitting around the Christmas tree in three days. That's why we sing a new song. Because God has done it. God has done what you and I could not do. God has done what the first Adam failed to do.

The first Adam ate of the tree. Ruin happened. Destruction in the earth. The second Adam, the final Adam, hung on a tree. And As far as that curse is found, as far as that ruin is found, He is redeeming.

He's bought the world with His blood. He has done it. He has done it. He has done it. What the first Adam failed to do, the second Adam triumphed.

God conquered Satan. God conquered sin. And He is right now, right now putting every enemy under His feet as His gospel goes forth into the world. And one day even that last enemy, death, will be forever done away with. He has done it.

God has done it. That's why you sing a new song, that's the why. That's the why, because on Christmas, God in taking human flesh declared to the world Himself joy. The Lord has come. Let earth receive her King.

And so we should shout. We should sing. We should shout and sing about this thing that God Himself has accomplished. Shouldn't we? That's our second consideration this morning.

First the why. Why Because God has accomplished the victory and salvation over your sin and not just yours only but also the sins of the whole world. That's the why and now. The how. How are we to respond?

And the answer is very simple in our text. Shout joyfully. Why? Why should we celebrate Christmas? Because God in sending Jesus Christ has kept every single promise at Christmas.

But how? How then should we respond? And the answer is, well, we should respond like Mary. You should sing. And that singing should be characterized by joyful shouting.

God wants you to sing loudly. He wants you to sing joyfully in the fear of the Lord. If you look at verses 4 through 6, what do you see there? You see one of my favorite things. We see it a lot in Mark.

Beginning of verse 4, beginning of verse 6, what do you see? Shout joyfully. You see a chiasm. You see a sandwich. Shout joyfully, verse 4 tells you, and verse 6 tells you, shout joyfully.

Those are bookends. Those are the how. That's the how. How should you respond to the truth that Christmas is joy to the world? You should shout joyfully and sing a new song about it because God has made you new.

Why would you sing a new song? Because God has made you new. Augustine said that to sing is to pray twice You hear that to sing is to pray twice singing is very powerful You got a whole book of the Bible dedicated to it Christians are a singing people because Christians are a new people. And so they sing new songs. But it's not simply saying sing.

It's joyful singing. It's a loud joyful singing. God is commanding you, sing praises to the Lord with the liar. That phrase there in verse 5, sing praises to the Lord with the liar. It could be translated harp.

This is a beautiful sound. This is a spectacular sound This is a tender and peaceful sound and yet it's not just tender and peaceful Because God goes on to say Not just with the liar not just with the harp But sing and shout with what in verse 6? Trumpets and the sound of the horn. Shout joyfully. Men, fathers, husbands, single men, men, you need to be singing Because Christmas is true.

Of all the souls in this room, I'm not leaving out the women, but let me talk to the men for just a second. Of all the souls in this room, men, You must not be out-sung if you believe that Christ is the conquering Son of God and that He came on Christmas to fulfill Psalm 98. Do you believe, man, that Psalm 98 was fulfilled and that Christ has come and won the victory? You believe that? Then sing.

Sing. Far too often, I'm not thinking of any particular person in my brain. Don't do that to me. Far too often though, there are men in the pews who just stand there and they mumble during worship. Sometimes we don't even see them move their mouths.

You don't believe Psalm 98. You sit there and mumble. They barely move their mouths as God commands them to shout joyfully because of the victory that He has won for them and their families. And then those same men who mumble when God is said to shout will go to a sporting arena and boy they know how to let loose there. They'll go home and sit in front of a screen and yell at Patrick Mahomes.

Man, you need to man up. We need to man up. And women, you need to encourage your husbands to do so Encourage them to sing Act like men From here on out brothers You need to sing out you need to lead your family Truly lead them in worship of the almighty God who conquered. You need to lead them in the almighty worship of God who declares that joy has come upon the world, it's come on Christmas, joy has come because Jesus obtained the victory and so you men are to lead the way in this congregation by singing out, shouting joyfully. You got me?

Brothers, may it never be said by anyone in your family. My father, my husband, sure gets excited about everything else but Jesus. Shout joyfully. Sing. As Spurgeon says, As Spurgeon says, on coronation days, and when beloved monarchs ride abroad, the people shout and the trumpet sound to the walls ring.

Shall men be more enthusiastic for their earthly princes than for the divine king? Is there no loyalty left among the subjects of the blessed and only potentate? King Jehovah is his name, And there is none like it. Have we no joyful noise left for Him? Let but the reigning power of Jesus be felt in the soul and sing Spurgeon exhorts you Beloved Saints this past month for your pastors has been extremely difficult and it's been hard for you.

We just got news of Pastor Dave potentially having cancer. This has been an extremely difficult time and you just need to know that there has been no better thing for my soul and the souls of my family than to sing good songs about the conquering Son of God who is the Prince of Peace and who rules the world in truth and grace. Many times this past month, an open Bible and an open hymnal have kept me, your pastor, from overwhelming despair. I mean that more than we could possibly communicate. Read your Bibles.

Pray and sing. Sing and shout joyfully and reverently in the fear of the Lord because He is King. Christ is King. He's come on Christmas. That's how you sing in light of Christmas.

Okay? That's how. Lastly then, who? Who should sing a new song? Who should shout joyfully?

What's the answer? Answers everybody. Everybody and everything. Everyone and everything. Verses 7 through 9, let's read those together once more in Psalm 98.

Let the sea roar and all it contains, let the world and those who dwell in it. Let the rivers clap their hands. Let the mountains sing together for joy before the Lord, before He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity. Who should sing to the Lord a new song?

Who should shout joyfully? The beginning of the psalm says you should be doing those things and the end of the psalm says who that applies to. Who should sing a new song? Who should shout joyfully? All the earth.

Let the sea ring with her mighty roar. Let the fish, the mighty whales, the graceful penguins, the schools of tuna, Let them break forth and sing for joy. Let the rivers clap their hands. Let the mountains sing together for joy. You want to know how you should sing, men, if you need more encouragement?

You want to know how you should rejoice and feel, brothers and sisters, when you respond, how you should respond, how you should feel when you think about the life, death, burial, and resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ. You need to look at the sea and watch waves crash into one another. Look at a humpback whale flying out of the sea, launching its entire body, clearing the water and with a mighty crash thundering down just Because it wants to. It wants to declare its maker's praise. Wants to declare joy has come to the world.

Look at the whale in wonder. Look at the whale and say it's declaring joy to the world because Jesus has come and He will make all things new. Seas included. The whale declares joy to the world. Do you want to know how to celebrate Christmas?

Think of rivers clapping hands, mountains singing, whales flying up out of the ocean. That's how. The psalmist brings us to consider that all of creation is declaring the glory of God. It's just as Romans 1 says, isn't it? God has won the world to Himself.

All of creation testifies to this reality. Everyone and everything from rivers to mountains, I want you to think about that. From rivers to mountains, the psalm says. As far as... Down here, rivers and mountains.

From rivers to mountains and everything in between should be singing a new song. That's everything. Because God has won the world to Himself. Because God has redeemed the world. Because God has promised to make all things new starting at Christmas.

That's why we should let heaven and nature sing. Everyone and everything should be declaring joy to the earth. The Savior reigns because of Christmas. Brothers and sisters, Psalm 98 applies right now. So let men their songs employ.

Fields, floods, rocks, hills, and plains, they're all repeating the sounding joy. How much more you made in the image of God should be repeating the sounding joy. Sing a new song, world, because Christ has redeemed you. Sing a new song, Christian. Join the chorus for Christ, promised from of old, promised from Psalm 98 has come.

And He has done wonderful things. This Psalm does end with verse 9. Verses 7 and 8. Everyone and everything should shout for joy if all of creation is doing so for the birth of Christ how much more we made in the image of our creator burst forth with joyful adoration before the Lord. Why?

Why? If the salvation accomplished in the earlier verses wasn't enough for you, he reminds you. The psalmist reminds you in verse 9, why? For He's coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity." What's that saying?

Here's what it's saying, bottom line. Jesus Christ, the one promised, has come on Christmas to be king. He is the judge of the earth. He is the king of the world. Your world.

This world. He's king of it. Right now. That's why we are to say with Psalm 2 to our neighbors, kiss the son lest ye perish. Repent and turn to Christ or you will perish and be damned to hell for all eternity.

Why? Why do you say that to your neighbor? Why do you say Psalm 2 to your neighbor? Because the babe, the son of Mary, the son of God, came. And he did not come into this world to pet sinners on the back.

No, He came to set prisoners free. No, He came to sever the power of sin. He came to make sinners new. He's the judge right now. He sees you right now.

Christian, He sees you being mocked. He sees His church being mocked all around the world. And He will not be mocked for long. His patience will run out. And to you sinner, He sees you.

He sees you sinner. And He will not forever tolerate your sin. He is the Almighty and perfect judge. He will not forever tolerate your rebellion. He will not be mocked.

He's coming again to judge the living and the dead. The Savior who Psalm 98 says is the judge of the earth right now, He will come again. And if you are not in Christ, if you do not belong to Him by faith, imagine all this imagery. The mountains singing, The rivers clapping, the oceans roaring. Imagine all of that falling on top of you.

Imagine the mountains burying you. Imagine the rivers swallowing you up. Imagine the ocean crushing you in its depths. None of that will compare to the judgment that this King who judges the earth none of that will compare to the damnation in store. If you do not turn this day from your sins to the Prince of Peace There's only condemnation.

But here's the good news this morning. The Savior came. The Savior came. And you this day can turn. You can repent of your sins and trust in the Savior.

And He will not just forgive you, He will make you righteous. He will declare you a child of God. And you will have the joy that's been extended to the whole world. Christian, this joy is yours. Old Testament Christians, they were hoping and the promised Savior to come.

As Spurgeon says, the Old Testament saints had a song to sing. They had a song to sing because the Lord was coming. They got a whole salter full of psalms to sing. It's the Lord it was coming. But now you Christian today, you have a new song to sing because that Lord has come and that Lord has conquered.

That's good news for you and your neighbor and all the world. Does Christmas matter? Oh yes, it's joy to the world. Let's pray. Our Father, thank you for this, your word.

Cause it, cause it please to renew people's minds, To make men and women employ their songs to the praise and adoration of Jesus Christ the Savior. May this invigorate us this Christmas season in the days that we have left to reach out to neighbors, to plead with our own children, to plead with family members. Hear the good news. Jesus Christ is King. He rules and reigns over everyone and everything.

Repent and believe. Oh, that Lord, you would grant a revival here in this community among our families around the world for the world is yours please for Jesus sake do this we know you promised to do so That is the power of your gospel. We Thank you.