Introduction
Psalm 96 is another enthronement psalm, where the psalmist praises the Lord who is the great king over all. And in this psalm, the psalmist calls on the whole world to praise the Lord in song. Why should we praise him? Because he’s greater than the gods of the nations; and because he’s the one who establishes the world; and because he’s coming to judge the world in righteousness and truth.
Much of the psalm appears in 1 Chronicles 16 where we read of the time when David brought the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem. That tells us that David wrote this psalm and that he wrote it originally for that occasion. However, while it may have been written for that occasion originally, it’s a psalm we can use at any time to praise the Lord, who is our great king and who reigns over all.
Verses 1 to 6
The first part of the psalm is verses 1 to 6. And it begins with six imperatives or commands: sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth; sing to the Lord; praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day; declare his glory among the nations. Six times David instructs us to praise the Lord.
He says we’re to sing a new song. A new song was needed to celebrate a new victory. God had done something new to save his people and to rescue them; and therefore a new song was required to mark and to celebrate that occasion. And he tells all the earth to sing to God and to praise his name and to proclaim his salvation day after day. They are to proclaim the good news of what God has done to save his people. And God’s glory should be declared among the nations and his marvellous deeds should be declared among all the peoples. When he refers to God’s glory, he’s referring to God’s glorious deeds. God reveals his glory and greatness by the things he does. And all his deeds are marvellous.
And why should all the earth praise the Lord like this? The psalmist tells us in verses 4 to 6. It’s because the Lord is great and it’s because he’s most worthy of praise and he’s to be feared more than the gods. The pagan nations all had their own gods whom they worshipped and feared. But the Lord is greater than they are. And since that is true, then all the nations should praise him, instead of praising their own gods. After all, the gods of the nations are only idols. They are blocks of wood or stone, which someone took and carved into the shape of an idol. They are man-made. But the Lord is not man-made. In fact, the Lord is the creator, the one who made the heavens above.
And splendour and majesty and strength and glory surround him. So, if you were to go into his sanctuary in heaven, you would be struck and overwhelmed by his majestic splendour and his glorious strength and you’d realise that he’s far greater than the gods of the nations. They are nothing, whereas he is very great. And since they are nothing, and he is very great, then everyone should praise him.
Verses 7 to 10
In the second part of the psalm, which is verses 7 to 10, the psalmist tells the families of the earth — that is, all the people — to ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. So, acknowledge it to be true that the Lord, and not their idols, possesses glory and strength. And give him the glory that the Lord deserves and which is due to him. On the Lord’s day, instead of going shopping, or instead of going to play golf, instead of going for brunch, come into his courts with an offering to worship him. The psalmist means come into the temple courts and bring a sacrifice to offer to the Lord. But for us, it means coming to church and offering up a sacrifice of praise. Worship the Lord, the psalmist says, in the splendour of holiness. The word for worship here means ‘bow down’: bow down before the Lord in humble adoration. The phrase ‘splendour of holiness’ perhaps refers to holy garments. Think of the priests in Old Testament times who were given special clothes to wear in the temple. And those special clothes signified how Christ’s righteousness covers us like a holy garment. His perfect goodness — which he shares with us — covers over the stain of our sin and guilt so that we’re able to approach a holy God without being ashamed.
And why should we worship the Lord? Because the Lord reigns. Baal does not reign. Dagon does not reign. Zeus does not reign. None of the pagan gods reign. But our God reigns. And the world, which he created, is firmly established and cannot be moved.
It’s possible that the psalmist means that the Lord is the one who upholds the universe. He holds it all together and keeps it from falling apart. Or think of an amateur builder who puts up a fence in the garden. But, because he’s only an amateur, the fence wobbles. But when God made the world, he made it so that it does not wobble. It’s firm, because he did a good job when he made it.
It’s possible the psalmist is referring to that. However, one of the commentators (Kidner) says that the first and last lines of verse 10 make clear that this is a prophecy about perfect government. So, in the first line, the psalmist declares that God reigns. And in the last line, he says that God will judge the earth with equity or uprightness. For now, the nations may rage against one another; and the wicked may rise up against the righteous; and the kingdom of satan may fight against the kingdom of God. But we need to remember and believe that the Lord our God reigns over all and that the nations and all people are in his hands. And in the end, he will judge the world, punishing the wicked and rescuing his people and putting right all that has gone wrong in the world. And since this is true, we should praise the Lord.
Verses 11 to 13
The last part of the psalm is verses 11 to 13. In this part, the psalmist calls on the whole creation to rejoice. So, let the heavens above rejoice and the earth below. Let the sea resound with praise and everything in it. Let the fields be jubilant and everything that is in them including the trees of the forest. He’s calling on the whole of creation to praise the Lord and to rejoice before him.
And why should they rejoice like this? It’s because the Lord is coming. He’s coming to judge the earth. And he’ll judge the world and its people in righteousness and truth. In other words, his judgment is just. It’s true. It’s right. No one can complain after the judgment that he was unfair or unjust. Since the Lord is infinitely, eternally and unchangeably just, then his judgment will be infinitely, eternally and unchangeably just.
And he is coming to put right all that has gone wrong in the world. He will punish the wicked for their wickedness and he will rescue his people who trusted in him for salvation. He will send the wicked away from his presence and he will bring his people into the new heavens and earth — or into the renewed heavens and earth — where all the effects of the fall and of God’s curse on the earth will be removed and where God’s people will live with him in perfect peace and rest for ever and for ever. Since the wicked will be removed, and God’s people will be perfected, then there will be nothing to disturb our peace and rest.
For now we’re living under God’s curse. And because of God’s curse, the world is not the way it was meant to be. As the Apostle Paul says in Romans 8, the whole creation has been subject to frustration because of the fall. And it’s in bondage to decay. Everywhere we look, we see signs of decay. And Paul says the whole of creation groans. We groan when our bodies get old and stiff and getting up because difficult for us. We groan when we’re in pain. And we think back to those days long ago when we were young and when getting up and moving around were easy for us. And the creation groans too, because everything is a struggle and everywhere there’s decay. In the beginning, God made all things to flourish and blossom and prosper, but since the fall, the whole creation is being held back and frustrated because of God’s curse on it. However, here’s the psalmist saying that the whole of creation can nevertheless rejoice. The whole of creation can rejoice, because its groaning will not be for ever, its frustation will cease, its bondage to decay will be overcome when Christ the Lord comes again to judge the living and the dead and to renew his creation so that his people can live with him for ever and for ever in a creation set free from decay and made perfect for ever.
And we’re able to look forward to that day with hope and not fear, because Christ the Lord is our Saviour, who gave up his life on the cross as the ransom to pay for all that we have done wrong and to make a lasting peace between God and us for ever. And since he has paid for our sins with his life, then we can look forward to his coming, because we know that he will declare us not guilty on the day of judgment and he’ll renew us in his image completely and he’ll bring us into the renewed and restored creation where we will join with people from every nation to sing a new song to our Lord Jesus Christ who loved us and who died to bring us to God.
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