Psalm 96

 ¹Oh, sing to the Lord a new song!

Sing to the Lord, all the earth.

²Sing to the Lord, bless His name;

Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.

³Declare His glory among the nations,

His wonders among all peoples.

⁴For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised;

He is to be feared above all gods.

⁵For all the gods of the peoples are idols,

But the Lord made the heavens.

⁶Honor and majesty are before Him;

Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.

⁷Give to the Lord, O families of the peoples,

Give to the Lord glory and strength.

⁸Give to the Lord the glory due His name;

Bring an offering, and come into His courts.

⁹Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!

Tremble before Him, all the earth.

¹⁰Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns;

The world also is firmly established,

It shall not be moved;

He shall judge the peoples righteously.”

¹¹Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;

Let the sea roar, and all its fullness;

¹²Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it.

Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before the Lord.

¹³For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth.

He shall judge the world with righteousness,

And the peoples with His truth.

Commentary

Vs. 1-3 ¹Oh, sing to the Lord a new song!

Sing to the Lord, all the earth.

²Sing to the Lord, bless His name;

Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.

The opening of this Psalm begins by celebrating the Lord Jesus Christ’s Coming to Judge and Rule the world. On that Day there will be a new song of praise to the Lord that the whole world shall sing. People everywhere who have been redeemed by Him will bless His Name, both now and then. Therefore we are to proclaim the good news of His salvation, (by faith in His Name), from day to day (until that Day), so that people everywhere can believe in Him and be saved!

Vs. 3 “Declare His glory among the nations,

His wonders among all peoples.”

The Psalm continues with an exhortation for us all to declare His glory among the nations and His wonders among the peoples. For our Lord Jesus Chris having suffered Crucifixion death for us all, and thus having conquered death by His resurrection from the dead, and having ascended back to God the Father in heaven, Jesus' glory is to be declared by us who believe in Him among the nations. We then are to give testimony to all His wonders among all peoples, especially His wonders in how He saved us, sinners so lost and alienated and so far from God, yet now HE HAS RECONCILED US ALL TO GOD HIMSELF BY HIMSELF, having bought us back from death itself and given us life through Himself, through His Holy Spirit, He has done for us what no one could or would do (Rom. 5:6-11). 

Vs. 4-6 ⁴For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised;

He is to be feared above all gods.

⁵For all the gods of the peoples are idols,

But the Lord made the heavens.

⁶Honor and majesty are before Him;

Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.

Truly the Lord is Great! He has no equal, only He is to be greatly praised and greatly feared, for He is above all “gods,” all the ancient “god’s,” all the idols that mankind has made for itself, and all the “gods” that modern man has made for themselves. For the Lord made the heavens, not science, and the Lord sustains everything, not governments and politicians, and certainly not their money. Therefore, honor and majesty are before Him, for it all belongs to Him, for it all has its origins in Him, and He will dispense honor and majesty on those who believe in Him! For strength and beauty are in His sanctuary, they reside with Him forever in His Holy Place. You want these for yourselves, then come to the Lord Jesus Christ and you will have them for all eternity!

Vs. 7-10 ⁷Give to the Lord, O families of the peoples,

Give to the Lord glory and strength.

⁸Give to the Lord the glory due His name;

Bring an offering, and come into His courts.

⁹Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!

Tremble before Him, all the earth.

¹⁰Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns;

The world also is firmly established,

It shall not be moved;

He shall judge the peoples righteously.”

The call of the new creation now goes out to all peoples, all families of all peoples to “Give to the Lord glory and strength.”  For He alone has Everlasting Glory and He alone has Everlasting Strength. His Strength never fails, and His Glory never ceases, all of creations though is like the grass of the field, green and lush one day and then withered away the next. “Give to the Lord the glory due His name” For His Name is above all names! And the Lord Jesus Christ’s Name is the Name of God that is above every name, for it is His Name God has exalted, for it is by His name that we are saved (Acts 4:12). Therefore, peoples give to the Lord all honor and majesty and strength. Bring Him an offering in thanksgiving and praise and worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! Therefore purify yourselves, sanctify yourselves, and come out and be separate from this evil worlds godless values (2 Cor. 6:14-7:1). “Tremble before Him all the earth.” Say among the nations “The Lord reigns.” For that will be the call of all the earth On His Day, to come to the New Jerusalem where His Throne is, where it is established forever! For In the Lord Jesus Christ’s reign the world will be firmly established, He will be the Head of all things. Therefore it shall not be moved. For He shall judge the peoples righteously, therefore all people will seek Him! Will seek Truth and Justice from Him! (Isaiah 2:3; 51:4-8, 11)

Vs. 12-13 ¹²Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it.

Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before the Lord.

¹³For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth.

He shall judge the world with righteousness,

And the peoples with His truth.

When the Lord of all creation Reigns, all the groans of all creation will cease forever! Even the field will be joyful as He will cause it to be abundantly lush and fruitful. And the trees of the woods will rejoice before the Lord of all the earth as he will cause them all to grow strong and tall and straight again! Their leaves then will not wither and branches will not fail. And as the Lord of all the earth He will judge the world in righteousness and all peoples with His truth. All the perverse and crooked and biased judgments of man will be done away with forever! Therefore the world will be most just when Jesus Christ reigns! For then it will be just as God always intended it to be.

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.