This Psalm speaks of worship. It opens by exhorting us that worship is about God, not us. He is the subject not us. We are to praise the Lord with singing by which we freely and openly express our love, joy, and thankfulness. We tell Him how great He is. We enumerate His mighty deeds as well as His glorious and holy attributes. The greatness of our God means that He is superior to all other things and entities that men have worshipped or named as “gods”. Our God is alive and active. Most important, He is a God who loves and cares for us.
Yet the Psalmist notes that worship, music, singing, and expressions of emotion can be nothing more than a useless sham. Israel, though called by God as His chosen, wandered in the wilderness for 40 years because of sin and disobedience at both Meribah and Massah (Exodus 17:1-7). The people said they trusted God. They worshipped Him with great emotion, but they did not really believe in Him. The Psalmist uses their experience as a warning against false worship, praise that is high sounding and grand yet mere hypocritical lip service rooted in a heart that is not right with God.
In today’s churches this is still a danger. Many churches put on a great show but miss the mark of worship. Worship is not limited to music or singing as many evangelical churches seem to think. If we want our singing to really exalt the Lord we must realize that worship begins with obedience. Worship means we walk in righteousness and shun our own way and our own desires in favor of doing God’s work and His will even when it costs us.