In my opinion, Book IV of the Psalms (Psalms 90-106) consists mainly of songs that remind us of the life and ministry of Moses, and of what God did for his people through the first and greatest of the prophets. Most of these psalms do not give any indication of their author, and so the lack of any heading in Psalm 96 doesn't surprise us (but see below). However, this Psalm suddenly reappears in 1 Chronicles 16:23-34, almost exactly as it is here, saying that it was written (along with Psalms 105 and 106) by David for Asaph "and his associates" to be used in worship (1 Chron. 16:7), and especially while the ark of the covenant was being brought to Jerusalem for the first time.
1 Chronicles 16:7 "That day David first committed to Asaph and his associates this psalm of thanks to the LORD"
The LXX adds the heading ῞Οτε ὁ οἶκος ᾠκοδομεῖτο μετὰ τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν˙ ᾠδὴ τῷ Δαυιδ. "When the house [temple/tabernacle] was built by the captives; an Ode [song] by David." There is no Hebrew text of this heading; it was probably added later.
PSALM 96:1
שִׁירוּ לַיהוָה שִׁיר חָדָשׁ שִׁירוּ לַיהוָה כָּל־הָאָרֶץ׃
1 Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all the earth.
שִׁירוּ qal imperative, "sing!" Here the parallelism is synthetic, with the B cola modifying the imperative to "all the earth." The pattern of the main accents is in standard form for the Three Books: The A line is dehi + atnach, the B line is rebi mugrash + silluq. Note the presence of munachs in the A semicolon: munach connects words in a phrase like superglue. There is no question about the audience of this Newsong: it is the LORD himself.
PSALM 96:2
שִׁירוּ לַיהוָה בָּרְכוּ שְׁמוֹ בַּשְּׂרוּ מִיּוֹם־לְיוֹם יְשׁוּעָתוֹ׃
2 Sing to the LORD, praise his name;
proclaim his salvation day after day.
בַּשְּׂרוּ is a piel imperative, "bear tidings" or "proclaim." The phrase מִיּוֹם־לְיוֹם "from day to day" would be less definitive if it were translated literally into English, so something "day after day" (NIV) does the thought more justice. The parallelism here is again synthetic, where the B line completes and adds to the thought of the A line.
PSALM 96:3
סַפְּרוּ בַגּוֹיִם כְּבוֹדוֹ בְּכָל־הָעַמִּים נִפְלְאוֹתָיו׃
3 Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous deeds among all peoples.
The גּוֹיִם here are the Gentiles, although the term can stand for Israel in certain contexts (Isaiah 49:7). נִפְלְאוֹתָיו "extraordinary things" is a nifal substantive participle, fem plural, from פלא "to be wonderful."
The LORD, the LORD, the LORD -- the God of faithful love, the God whose grace is new and bigger and brighter every day, the God who keeps all his promises -- this is the God who made the universe, the world, and even me. This is the God whom we praise. We praise him with our lives. We praise him with our hearts.
PSALM 96:4-5
כִּי גָדוֹל יְהוָה וּמְהֻלָּל מְאֹד נוֹרָא הוּא עַל־כָּל־אֱלֹהִים׃
כִּי כָּל־אֱלֹהֵי הָעַמִּים אֱלִילִים וַיהוָה שָׁמַיִם עָשָׂה׃
4 For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
he is to be feared above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the nations are idols,
but the LORD made the heavens.
These two verses form a single chiastic unit. The A line of 4 and the B line of 5 describe the Lord, and the inner lines describe the idols of other nations. As we see so often in Isaiah, the Lord takes the time in these words to remind us why he is to praised above all other things. He wouldn't have to, but he does take this time because he is merciful and compassionate on us.
PSALM 96:6
הוֹד־וְהָדָר לְפָנָיו עֹז וְתִפְאֶרֶת בְּמִקְדָּשׁוֹ׃
6 Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and glory are in his sanctuary.
Picture David leading the long caravan from Kiriath-Jearim to Jerusalem. On a cart leading the way is the ark of the covenant (no trouble has happened yet) and there is David as well. The ark was the symbol of God's presence. It was the place where God appeared to his High Priest. It was the thing that pointed ahead to Christ when God had forbidden his people from worshiping things. Here was no idol. Here was a throne.
PSALM 96:7-9
הָבוּ לַיהוָה מִשְׁפְּחוֹת עַמִּים הָבוּ לַיהוָה כָּבוֹד וָעֹז׃
הָבוּ לַיהוָה כְּבוֹד שְׁמוֹ שְׂאוּ־מִנְחָה וּבֹאוּ לְחַצְרוֹתָיו׃
הִשְׁתַּחֲווּ לַיהוָה בְּהַדְרַת־קֹדֶשׁ חִילוּ מִפָּנָיו כָּל־הָאָרֶץ׃
7 Ascribe to the LORD, O families of nations,
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
8 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
bring an offering and come into his courts.
9 Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness;
tremble before him, all the earth.
In these three verses we have a triplet or hexacolon. In the first three lines there is the command to "ascribe to the Lord," the B and C lines building synthetically on the initial imperative of the A line. In the last three line, three other commands describe the way the God's people "ascribe...glory" to the Lord. In the D line, they bring an offering and enter the courts. In the E line, the worship him, and in the F line, the whole earth trembles before him.
The beginning of verse 8, "Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name," is also the center of the Psalm.
PSALM 96:10
אִמְרוּ בַגּוֹיִם יְהוָה מָלָךְ אַף־תִּכּוֹן תֵּבֵל בַּל־תִּמּוֹט
יָדִין עַמִּים בְּמֵישָׁרִים׃
10 Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns.”
The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved;
he will judge the peoples with equity.
The first line of verse 10 ends with the additional words a lingo "(the LORD reigns) from a tree" in the Old Latin version. Since they also appear in some copies of the Greek Septuagint, some early Christians like Justin Martyr (writing around 150 AD) assumed they had been removed from the Hebrew text of the Psalm by Jews who did not want a reference to Christ which also used the Lord's name, "LORD." But such mischief seems unlikely. Without these words, there are references enough and proofs enough that Jesus Christ is himself God (Titus 1:3, Jude 4, etc.).
The Lord Jesus reigns. He is our judge. And he will never change.
PSALM 96:11-13
יִשְׂמְחוּ הַשָּׁמַיִם וְתָגֵל הָאָרֶץ יִרְעַם הַיָּם וּמְלֹאוֹ׃
יַעֲלֹז שָׂדַי וְכָל־אֲשֶׁר־בּוֹ אָז יְרַנְּנוּ כָּל־עֲצֵי־יָעַר׃
לִפְנֵי יְהוָה כִּי בָא כִּי בָא לִשְׁפֹּט הָאָרֶץ
יִשְׁפֹּט־תֵּבֵל בְּצֶדֶק וְעַמִּים בֶּאֱמוּנָתוֹ׃
11 Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
let the sea resound, and all that is in it;
12 let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them.
Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy;
13 they will sing before the LORD, for he comes,
he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples in his truth. (NIV)
These verses form a more complex series, but the meaning is clear: He came down from the heavens -- let them rejoice and sing his praise! He deigned to touch his created earth with his own feet -- let it be glad and praise him! He commanded the sea's silence and he preached upon the least of the seas -- let all that is in the sea echo his praise! He stepped through the fields, fulfilling and freeing us from the Old Testament laws -- let them laugh out loud for their Lord! He reigned and bled on a tree -- let the forests sing with joy! David's cavalcade before the ark continued to bump along the road up to Jerusalem. Some of the bumps would be bigger than David expected. His heart was in the right place -- this Psalm is proof -- but there was a failure in the past that would affect the future. But there once again, Jesus Christ (only dimly foreshadowed by the ark) has covered all of our sins, and he has made us right with God.
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