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Psalm 96

Praise to God Who Comes in Judgment

O sing to the L ord a new song;

sing to the L ord, all the earth.

Sing to the L ord, bless his name;

tell of his salvation from day to day.

Declare his glory among the nations,

his marvelous works among all the peoples.

For great is the L ord, and greatly to be praised;

he is to be revered above all gods.

For all the gods of the peoples are idols,

but the L ord made the heavens.

Honor and majesty are before him;

strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

Ascribe to the L ord, O families of the peoples,

ascribe to the L ord glory and strength.

Ascribe to the L ord the glory due his name;

bring an offering, and come into his courts.

Worship the L ord in holy splendor;

tremble before him, all the earth.

Say among the nations, “The L ord is king!

The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved.

He will judge the peoples with equity.”

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;

let the sea roar, and all that fills it;

let the field exult, and everything in it.

Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy

before the L ord; for he is coming,

for he is coming to judge the earth.

He will judge the world with righteousness,

and the peoples with his truth.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

1 Sing unto Jehovah a new song This commencement shows that, as I have already observed, the Psalmist is exhorting the whole world, and not the Israelites merely, to the exercise of devotion. Nor could this be done, unless the gospel were universally diffused as the means of conveying the knowledge of God. The saying of Paul must necessarily hold true,

“How shall they call upon him in whom they have not believed?” (Romans 10:14.)

The same Apostle proves the calling of the Gentiles, by adducing in testimony of it, “Praise the Lord, ye Gentiles, with his people” — from which it follows, that fellowship in the faith stands connected with the joint celebration of praise, (Romans 15:11.) Besides, the Psalmist requires a new song, ⁷⁵⁷⁵ We meet with a psalm very similar to this, in 1 Chronicles 16, delivered by David to Asaph, to be sung on occasion of the removing of the ark from the house of Obed-edom to Zion. But the ode, as it stands in 1 Chronicles 16, is considerably longer, extending from the 8th verse to the 36^th [1Ch 16:8-36]; and this is only the part of it from the 23rd to the 33rd verse [1Ch 16:23-33]. It has been supposed that this part was extracted from the psalm above mentioned, and, with a few inconsiderable alterations, adapted to the solemnity of the dedication of the second temple. This opinion is founded upon the inscription of the psalm in the Septuagint, Vulgate, Æthiopic, and Arabic versions, which is, “A song of David when the house was built after the captivity.” Consequently, strictly speaking, this is not a new song. But it may be called new, from its having been adapted to a new purpose — from its having been intended to celebrate new mercies conferred upon the Jews, and to lead the mind forward to the glorious era of the coming of the Messiah, and the establishment of his kingdom, which probably was the matter of more general expectation among the chosen people, at the period when the temple was rebuilt, than when the ark was brought to Mount Zion from the house of Obed-edom. It may be observed, that the first verse is not in the original poem, as recorded in the book of Chronicles, but appears to have been added for the new occasion to which this shorter psalm was adapted. not one which was common, and had formerly been raised. He must therefore refer to some unusual and extraordinary display of the Divine goodness. Thus, when Isaiah speaks of the restoration of the Church, which was wonderful and incredible, he says, “Sing unto the Lord a new song,” (Isaiah 42:10.) The Psalmist intimates accordingly, that the time was come when God would erect his kingdom in the world in a manner altogether unlooked for. He intimates still more clearly as he proceeds, that all nations would share in the favor of God. He calls upon them everywhere to show forth his salvation, and, in desiring that they should celebrate it from day to day, would denote that it was not of a fading or evanescent nature, but such as should endure for ever.

3 Declare his glory among the heathen Additional terms are adduced to commend the salvation spoken of. It is called his glory and his wonders; which is equivalent to saying that it was glorious and admirable. By such titles the Psalmist would distinguish it from any deliverances which had formerly been granted, as indeed there can be but one opinion, that when God appeared as Redeemer of all the world, he gave a display of his mercy and of his favor, such as he never vouchsafed before. This salvation it was impossible, as I have said, that the Gentile nations could have celebrated, had they been left without it. The words teach us that we can never be said to have rightly apprehended the redemption wrought out by Christ, unless our minds have been raised to the discovery of something incomparably wonderful about it.

4. For Jehovah is great, and greatly to be praised. He particularly describes that God, whom he would have men to celebrate, and this because the Gentile nations were prone to merge into error upon this subject. That the whole world might abjure its superstitions, and unite in the true religion, he points out the one only God who is worthy of universal praise. This is a point of the greatest importance. Unless men are restrained by a due respect to it, they can only dishonor him the more that they attempt to worship him. We must observe this order if we would not profane the name of God, and rank ourselves amongst unbelieving men, who set forth gods of their own invention. By gods in the verse may be meant, as I observed already, (Psalm 95:3,) either angels or idols. I would still be of opinion that the term comprehends whatever is, or is accounted deity. As God, so to speak, sends rays of himself through all the world by his angels, these reflect some sparks of his Divinity. ⁷⁸⁷⁸ “Quia Deus per angelos irradiat totum mundum, in illis refulgent Deitatis scintillae.” — Lat. “Pource que Dieu jette comme ses rayons sur tout le monde par les anges, des estincelles de Divinite reluisent en iceux.” — Fr. Men, again, in framing idols, fashion gods to themselves which have no existence. The Psalmist would convince them of its being a gross error to ascribe undue honor either to the angels or to idols, thus detracting from the glory of the one true God. He convicts the heathen nations of manifest infatuation, upon the ground that their gods are vanity and nought, for such is the meaning of the Hebrew word אלילים, elilim, ⁷⁹⁷⁹ אליל, elil, signifies a thing of nought; as if from אל, not, the ל being doubled to denote extreme nothingness. Thus a false vision or prophecy, on which no dependence can be placed, is called אליל, elil, “a thing of nought,” Jeremiah 14:14, and a shepherd that leaves the flock, and instead of visiting, healing and feeding them, devours and tears them in pieces, is called in Zechariah 11:15, 16, “a pastor, האליל, haelil, of no value.” In this sense the word is used of the false gods of the heathen. Instead of being אלהים, elohim, gods, they are אלילים, elilim, mere nothings Accordingly, Paul, in 1 Corinthians 8:4, speaks of an idol as being “nothing in the world.” which is here applied to idols in contempt. The Psalmist’s great point is to show, that as the Godhead is really and truly to be found in none but the one Maker of the world, those religions are vain and contemptible which corrupt the pure worship of him. Some may ask, Are angels then to be accounted nothing and vanity, merely because many have been deceived in thinking them gods? I would reply, that we do injury to the angels when we give them that honor which is due to God only; and, while we are not on this account to hold that they are nothing in themselves, yet whatever imaginary glory has been attached to them must go for nothing. ⁸⁰⁸⁰ “Sed quicquid imaginarium illis affingitur, nihilum esse.” — Lat. But the Psalmist has in his eye the gross delusions of the heathen, who impiously fashioned gods to themselves.

Before refuting their absurd notions, he very properly remarks of God that he is great, and greatly to be praised — insinuating that his glory as the infinite One far excels any which they dreamt of as attaching to their idols. We cannot but notice the confidence with which the Psalmist asserts the glory of the true God, in opposition to the universal opinion which men might entertain. The people of God were at that time called to maintain a conflict of no inconsiderable or common description with the hosts and prodigious mass of superstitions which then filled the whole world. The true God might be said to be confined within the obscure corner of Judea. Jupiter was the god every where received — and adored throughout the whole of Asia, Europe, and Africa. Every country had its own gods peculiar to itself, but these were not unknown in other parts, and it was the true God only who was robbed of that glory which belonged to him. All the world had conspired to believe a lie. Yet the Psalmist, sensible that the vain delusions of men could derogate nothing from the glory of the one God, ⁸¹⁸¹     “Quia eorum vanitas nihil derogat unis Dei gloriae.” — Ib. looks down with indifference upon the opinion and universal suffrage of mankind. The inference is plain, that we must not conclude that to be necessarily the true religion which meets with the approbation of the multitude; for the judgment formed by the Psalmist must have fallen to the ground at once, if religion were a thing to be determined by the suffrages of men, and his worship depended upon their caprice. Be it then that ever so many agree in error, we shall insist after the Holy Ghost that they cannot take from God’s glory; for man is vanity himself, and all that comes of him is to be mistrusted. ⁸²⁸²     “Car tout ainsi qu’ils sont vanite aussi tout ce qui procede d’eux est vain et plein de deception.” — Fr. Having asserted the greatness of God, he proves it by reference to the formation of the world, which reflects his perfections. ⁸³⁸³     “The argument of God’s superiority over all other beings, drawn from his creation of the world, is sublimely expressed in the following lines ascribed by Justin Martyr (de Monarchid. page 159, ed. Oxon. 1703) to Pythagoras, —
   Εἴ τις ἐρεῖ, Θεός εἰμι πάρεξ ἑνὸς, οὗτος ὀφείλει
Κόσμον ἴσον τούτῳ στήσας εἰπεῖν ἐμὸς οὗτος.
   “One God our hearts confess: whoe’er beside
Aspires with Him our homage to divide,
A world as beauteous let him first design,
And say, its fabric finished, ‘This is mine.’”
— Merrick’s Annotations. God must necessarily exist of himself, and be self-sufficient, which shows the vanity of all gods who made not the world. The heavens are mentioned — a part for the whole — as the power of God is principally apparent in them, when we consider their beauty and adornment.

⁷⁵ We meet with a psalm very similar to this, in 1 Chronicles 16, delivered by David to Asaph, to be sung on occasion of the removing of the ark from the house of Obed-edom to Zion. But the ode, as it stands in 1 Chronicles 16, is considerably longer, extending from the 8th verse to the 36th [1Ch 16:8-36]; and this is only the part of it from the 23rd to the 33rd verse [1Ch 16:23-33]. It has been supposed that this part was extracted from the psalm above mentioned, and, with a few inconsiderable alterations, adapted to the solemnity of the dedication of the second temple. This opinion is founded upon the inscription of the psalm in the Septuagint, Vulgate, Æthiopic, and Arabic versions, which is, “A song of David when the house was built after the captivity.” Consequently, strictly speaking, this is not a new song. But it may be called new, from its having been adapted to a new purpose — from its having been intended to celebrate new mercies conferred upon the Jews, and to lead the mind forward to the glorious era of the coming of the Messiah, and the establishment of his kingdom, which probably was the matter of more general expectation among the chosen people, at the period when the temple was rebuilt, than when the ark was brought to Mount Zion from the house of Obed-edom. It may be observed, that the first verse is not in the original poem, as recorded in the book of Chronicles, but appears to have been added for the new occasion to which this shorter psalm was adapted.

⁷⁸ “Quia Deus per angelos irradiat totum mundum, in illis refulgent Deitatis scintillae.” — Lat. “Pource que Dieu jette comme ses rayons sur tout le monde par les anges, des estincelles de Divinite reluisent en iceux.” — Fr.

⁷⁹ אליל, elil, signifies a thing of nought; as if from אל, not, the ל being doubled to denote extreme nothingness. Thus a false vision or prophecy, on which no dependence can be placed, is called אליל, elil, “a thing of nought,” Jeremiah 14:14, and a shepherd that leaves the flock, and instead of visiting, healing and feeding them, devours and tears them in pieces, is called in Zechariah 11:15, 16, “a pastor, האליל, haelil, of no value.” In this sense the word is used of the false gods of the heathen. Instead of being אלהים, elohim, gods, they are אלילים, elilim, mere nothings Accordingly, Paul, in 1 Corinthians 8:4, speaks of an idol as being “nothing in the world.”

⁸⁰ “Sed quicquid imaginarium illis affingitur, nihilum esse.” — Lat.

⁸¹ “Quia eorum vanitas nihil derogat unis Dei gloriae.” — Ib.

⁸² “Car tout ainsi qu’ils sont vanite aussi tout ce qui procede d’eux est vain et plein de deception.” — Fr.

⁸³ “The argument of God’s superiority over all other beings, drawn from his creation of the world, is sublimely expressed in the following lines ascribed by Justin Martyr (de Monarchid. page 159, ed. Oxon. 1703) to Pythagoras, — Εἴ τις ἐρεῖ, Θεός εἰμι πάρεξ ἑνὸς, οὗτος ὀφείλει Κόσμον ἴσον τούτῳ στήσας εἰπεῖν ἐμὸς οὗτος. “One God our hearts confess: whoe’er beside Aspires with Him our homage to divide, A world as beauteous let him first design, And say, its fabric finished, ‘This is mine.’” — Merrick’s Annotations.