Recently my family and I took a trip to a lake. It was a gorgeous day! As I sat there soaking in the lake and sky, with the fresh breeze moving softly through the trees, I looked around and noticed all the other lake visitors were glued to their phones.
We’ve all seen it and done it ourselves. There’s a marvelous scene right before us, but our heads are buried in our screens.
It made me think about how we do the same thing with God. Instead of declaring the glory of our Creator, we’re enthralled by gods made by human hands — refreshing our phones for the latest news, checking for likes, or distracting ourselves with endless scrolling. There’s splendor before us, but we’re more captivated by our little screens.
And by choosing these lesser things, we’re not only settling for what is empty and fleeting; we’re rejecting God’s kingdom and rule, preferring instead the small, self-made worlds that we control.
Imagine if I went around the lake tossing everyone’s phones into the water. Would anyone thank me? Of course not! In a similar way, we cling to the worlds we construct. Even when we know we should be savoring the lake, we hold tightly to our phones, almost unable to resist their pull.
Sing to Our Creator
This downward pull of our hearts is nothing new. There’s an ancient song that confronts this very inclination. Psalm 96 interrupts our scrolling with an invitation to something far greater: to sing to the Creator above all gods.
The psalm begins with a crash and crescendo of praise: “Oh sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth! Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day” (vs. 1-2).
Just as the beauty of a lake awakens awe within, so, Psalm says 96, every new experience of the Lord’s salvation, glory, and majesty, should stir within us a new song of praise.
Where is your heart right now? Is your attention trapped in a man-made screen, or has creation stirred you to marvel at the Maker of the lake and sky? Psalm 96 invites you to look up from your phone, remember the Lord’s salvation and splendor, and shout a new song to the Lord.
The Lord Made the Heavens
And why should we praise him? “For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the LORD made the heavens” (Psalm 96:5).
What a striking divide! The idols of the peoples are nothing more than the work of human hands, but the heavens are beyond any human’s creative power. The people fashion idols, but the Lord made the heavens.
This is sharpened by a bit of wordplay. In Hebrew, “gods” is elohim; “worthless idols” is elilim. They sound alike but couldn’t be more different. They think they’re gods, but they’re nothing more than worthless idols—cheap elilim imitating the true elohim.
Isaiah 44 builds on this contrast, mocking these so-called gods. It says a man cuts down a tree. Half of it he throws into the fire to keep warm. With the other half, he fashions a god, falls down before it, and prays to it, saying “Deliver me, for you are a god!”
Similarly, Jeremiah says the idols of the nations must be nailed down so they don’t topple over (Jeremiah 10:4).
We might think we are more enlightened than these ancient people, but are we any better? We may not shape statues, but we do bow down to worthless things. Who hasn’t lived like man-made wealth and power will satisfy? Who hasn’t chased worldly comfort or trends, giving time, energy, and money to man-made idols that always leave us empty?
Psalm 96 says do not settle for the works of our hands. Worship the Creator of heaven and earth.
From Scrolling to Singing
When we look up from the world of our phones to the beauty of the lake in front of us, we see a reason to praise — not only for the glory of our Creator but also for the righteousness of our judge (Psalm 96:13). He will one day come to toss our phones into the water once and for all, freeing us forever from the distractions and resistance of our self-made worlds. When he does, we will lift our gaze to him and bask in the light of his presence in a world finally made good, true, and beautiful.
But his coming again in righteousness is only a reason to sing if we are covered by the blood of Christ. The Lord is a holy God, before whom all the earth must tremble (Psalm 96:9). Yet we turn from him and bury our heads in worthless idols, rejecting the maker of heaven for the makings of our hands. At times, our hearts even feel unable to resist the lure of our screens. And for that, we deserve not the rejoicing of this psalm but the wrath of divine justice.
But for all who tremble and boldly draw near, not bearing anything made by our hands but holding out the offering of Christ (Psalm 96:8)—there is good news. By his perfect sacrifice, Christ invites you into the splendor and majesty of his holy sanctuary (Psalm 96:6), into a beauty that far outshines even the brightest lake and sky.
He pours out his Spirit upon you, that as you await his return, each day he might lift your gaze a littler higher and push your phone a little farther out of reach. As a result, even in this life you can catch glimpses of his glory and rejoice for the day when he will come again and make all things whole.
Let us not waste another moment buried in our phones but lift our gaze to the one who is infinitely higher. Let us turn from scrolling to singing, joining all creation in a new song of praise to our holy, glorious, and merciful God.
David Schuman serves as senior pastor of Lakeview Presbyterian Church in Vernon Hills, Illinois.