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Commentary on Psalms 96 verses 1–9
These verses will be best expounded by pious and devout affections working in our souls towards God, with a high veneration for his majesty and transcendent excellency. The call here given us to praise God is very lively, the expressions are raised and repeated, to all which the echo of a thankful heart should make agreeable returns.
I. We are here required to honour God,
1.With songs, Psa 96:1, Psa 96:2. Three times we are here called to sing unto the Lord; sing to the Father, to the Son, to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, when the morning stars sang together, is now, in the church militant, and ever shall be, in the church triumphant. We have reason to do it often, and we have need to be often reminded of it, and stirred up to it. Sing unto the Lord, that is, "Bless his name, speak well of him, that you may bring others to think well of him." (1.) Sing a new song, an excellent song, the product of new affections, clothed with new expressions. We speak of nothing more despicable than "an old song," but the newness of a song recommends it; for there we expect something surprising. A new song is a song for new favours, for those compassions which are new every morning. A new song is New Testament song, a song of praise for the new covenant and the precious privileges of that covenant. A new song is a song that shall be ever new, and shall never wax old nor vanish away; it is an everlasting song, that shall never be antiquated or out of date. (2.) Let all the earth sing this song, not the Jews only, to whom hitherto the service of God had been appropriated, who could not sing the Lord's song in (would not sing it to) a strange land; but let all the earth, all that are redeemed from the earth, learn and sing this new song, Rev 14:3. This is a prophecy of the calling of the Gentiles; all the earth shall have this new song put into their mouths, shall have both cause and call to sing it. (3.) Let the subject-matter of this song be his salvation, the great salvation which was to be wrought out by the Lord Jesus; that must be shown forth as the cause of this joy and praise. (4.) Let this song be sung constantly, not only in the times appointed for the solemn feasts, but from day to day; it is a subject that can never be exhausted. Let day unto day utter this speech, that, under the influence of gospel devotions, we may daily exemplify a gospel conversation.
2.With sermons (Psa 96:3): Declare his glory among the heathen, even his wonders among all people. (1.) Salvation by Christ is here spoken of as a work of wonder, and that in which the glory of God shines very brightly; in showing forth that salvation we declare God's glory as it shines in the face of Christ. (2.) This salvation was, in the Old Testament times, as heaven's happiness is now, a glory to be revealed; but in the fulness of time it was declared, and a full discovery made of that, even to babes, which prophets and kings desired and wished to see and might not. (3.) What was then discovered was declared only among the Jews, but it is now declared among the heathen, among all people; the nations which long sat in darkness now see this great light. The apostles' commission to preach the gospel to every creature is copied from this: Declare his glory among the heathen.
3.With religious services, Psa 96:7-9. Hitherto, though in every nation those that feared God and wrought righteousness were accepted of him, yet instituted ordinances were the peculiarities of the Jewish religion; but, in gospel-times, the kindreds of the people shall be invited and admitted into the service of God and be as welcome as ever the Jews were. The court of the Gentiles shall no longer be an outward court, but shall be laid in common with the court of Israel. All the earth is here summoned to fear before the Lord, to worship him according to his appointment. In every place incense shall be offered to his name, Mal 1:11; Zac 14:17; Isa 66:23. This indeed spoke mortification to the Jews, but, withal, it gave a prospect of that which would redound very much to the glory of God and to the happiness of mankind. Now observe how the acts of devotion to God are here described. (1.) We must give unto the Lord; not as if God needed any thing, or could receive any thing, from us or any creature, which was not his own before, much less be benefited by it; but we must in our best affections, adorations, and services, return to him what we have received from him, and do it freely, as what we give; for God loves a cheerful giver. It is debt, it is rent, it is tribute, it is what must be paid, and, if not, will be recovered, and yet, if it come from holy love, God is pleased to accept it as a gift. (2.) We must acknowledge God to be the sovereign Lord and pay homage to him accordingly (Psa 96:7): Give unto the Lord glory and strength, glory and empire, or dominion, so some. As a king, he is clothed with robes of glory and girt with the girdle of power, and we must subscribe to both. Thine is the kingdom, and therefore thine is the power and the glory. "Give the glory to God; do not take it to yourselves, nor give it to any creature." (3.) We must give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name, that is, to the discovery he has been pleased to make of himself to the children of men. In all the acts of religious worship this is that which we must aim at, to honour God, to pay him some of that reverence which we owe him as the best of beings and the fountain of our being. (4.) We must bring an offering into his courts. We must bring ourselves, in the first place, the offering up of the Gentiles, Rom 15:16. We must offer up the sacrifices of praise continually (Heb 13:15), must often appear before God in public worship and never appear before him empty. (5.) We must worship him in the beauty of holiness, in the solemn assembly where divine institutions are religiously observed, the beauty of which is their holiness, that is, their conformity to the rule. We must worship him with holy hearts, sanctified by the grace of God, devoted to the glory of God, and purified from the pollutions of sin. (6.) We must fear before him; all the acts of worship must be performed from a principle of the fear of God and with a holy awe and reverence.
II. In the midst of these calls to praise God and give glory to him glorious things are here said of him, both as motives to praise and matter of praise: The Lord is great, and therefore greatly to be praised (Psa 96:4) and to be feared, great and honourable to his attendants, great and terrible to his adversaries. Even the new song proclaims God great as well as good; for his goodness is his glory; and, when the everlasting gospel is preached, it is this, Fear God, and give glory to him, Rev 14:6, Rev 14:7. 1. He is great in his sovereignty over all that pretend to be deities; none dare vie with him: He is to be feared above all gods - all princes, who were often deified after their deaths, and even while they lived were adored as petty gods - or rather all idols, the gods of the nations Psa 96:5. All the earth being called to sing the new song, they must be convinced that the Lord Jehovah, to whose honour they must sing it, is the one only living and true God, infinitely above all rivals and pretenders; he is great, and they are little; he is all, and they are nothing; so the word used for idols signifies, for we know that an idol is nothing in the world, Co1 8:4. 2. He is great in his right, even to the noblest part of the creation; for it is his own work and derives its being from him: The Lord made the heavens and all their hosts; they are the work of his fingers (Psa 8:3), so nicely, so curiously, are they made. The gods of the nations were all made - gods, the creatures of men's fancies; but our God is the Creator of the sun, moon, and stars, those lights of heaven, which they imagined to be gods and worshipped as such. 3. He is great in the manifestation of his glory both in the upper and lower world, among his angels in heaven and his saints on earth (Psa 96:6): Splendour and majesty are before him, in his immediate presence above, where the angels cover their faces, as unable to bear the dazzling lustre of his glory. Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary, both that above and this below. In God there is every thing that is awful and yet every thing that is amiable. If we attend him in his sanctuary, we shall behold his beauty, for God is love, and experience his strength, for he is our rock. Let us therefore go forth in his strength, enamoured with his beauty.
Then Trypho said, "We know that you quoted these because we asked you. But it does not appear to me that this Psalm which you quoted last from the words of David refers to any other than the Father and Maker of the heavens and earth. You, however, asserted that it referred to Him who suffered, whom you also are eagerly endeavouring to prove to be Christ."
And I answered, "Attend to me, I beseech you, while I speak of the statement which the Holy Spirit gave utterance to in this Psalm; and you shall know that I speak not sinfully, and that we are not really bewitched; for so you shall be enabled of yourselves to understand many other statements made by the Holy Spirit. 'Sing unto the Lord a new song; sing unto the Lord, all the earth: sing unto the Lord, and bless His name; show forth His salvation from day to day, His wonderful works among all people.' He bids the inhabitants of all the earth, who have known the mystery of this salvation, i.e., the suffering of Christ, by which He saved them, sing and give praises to God the Father of all things, and recognise that He is to be praised and feared, and that He is the Maker of heaven and earth, who effected this salvation in behalf of the human race, who also was crucified and was dead, and who was deemed worthy by Him (God) to reign over all the earth. As [is clearly seen] also by the land into which [He said] He would bring [your fathers]; [for He thus speaks]: 'This people [shall go a whoring after other gods], and shall forsake Me, and shall break my covenant which I made with them in that day; and I will forsake them, and will turn away My face from them; and they shall be devoured, and many evils and afflictions shall find them out; and they shall say in that day, Because the Lord my God is not amongst us, these misfortunes have found us out. And I shall certainly turn away My face from them in that day, on account of all the evils which they have committed, in that they have turned to other gods.'
In Psalm 95 [LXX] the coming of the Lord to humankind is again foretold, and that a new song, by which is meant the new covenant, will be sung by the whole earth at his coming, not by the Jewish race; and that the good news will no longer be for Israel but for all the nations, since it says that the Lord who is to come will be their King. Who could this be but God the Word, who, intending to judge the world in righteousness and the human race in truth, considers all people in the world equally worthy of his call, and consequently of the salvation of God?
We have said what house it is; now we must say after what captivity. The psalm shows you this too. Carry on a little: "Sing to the Lord a new song, sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, bless his name, proclaim from day to day the gospel of his salvation. Proclaim among the nations his wonders, in all peoples his glory. Since all the gods of the nations are demons." There you are again, that is under whom the house was held in captivity. From the first transgression of the first human being, the whole human race, being born in the shackles of sin, was the property of the devil who had conquered it. After all, if we had not been held in captivity, we would not have needed a redeemer.
“A savior who is Christ the Lord has been born to you today in the city of David.” It is good that [the angel] said “has been born today” and did not say “this night,” for with heavenly light he appeared to those who were conducting the watch by night and brought the good news that day was born, namely, the one concerning whom the psalmist foretold, saying, “Announce well his salvation day from day.” Indeed the salvation of God, that is, the Lord Jesus, is “day from day” because he who appeared temporally in the city of David as a human being from a virgin mother was, in truth, himself born before all time and without spatial limitation, light from light, true God from true God. Because, therefore, the light of life rose for those of us dwelling in the region of the shadow of death, the herald of this rising suitably says, “A savior has been born to you today,” so that being always advised by this word we may recollect that the night of ancient blindness is gone past and the day of eternal salvation has drawn near, and “let us cast off the works of darkness.” And let us walk as children of light, “for the fruit of the light, as the same apostle [Paul] says, is in all justice and holiness.”
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SUMMARY
Psalms 96:3 issues a profound and universal command for God's people to proclaim His inherent majesty and miraculous deeds to every nation and individual on earth. This verse serves as a foundational call to global evangelism, emphasizing that the knowledge of God's splendor and His awe-inspiring works is not to be confined to one people but is intended for all humanity, thereby fostering universal worship and recognition of His sovereign reign over all creation.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
The primary literary device employed in Psalms 96:3 is Synonymous Parallelism. The two clauses of the verse ("Declare his glory among the heathen" and "his wonders among all people") express the same fundamental idea using different but equivalent terms. "His glory" is paralleled by "his wonders," and "among the heathen" is paralleled by "among all people." This repetition with variation serves to intensify the message, emphasizing the comprehensive and universal nature of the divine command. The use of the Imperative Mood ("Declare") underscores the urgency and non-negotiable nature of this divine mandate. Furthermore, the psalm employs Hyperbole in its expansive call for "all people" and "all the earth" to worship God, creating a grand vision of universal praise that transcends immediate realities and anticipates a future eschatological fulfillment.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Psalms 96:3 is a profound theological statement that undergirds the entire biblical narrative of God's redemptive plan for humanity. It reveals God's intrinsic desire to be known and worshipped by all peoples, not just a select few. This verse serves as a foundational Old Testament precursor to the New Testament's Great Commission, demonstrating that the heart of God has always been for the nations. The declaration of God's "glory" speaks to His inherent majesty and perfect character, while His "wonders" point to His active, miraculous involvement in history, particularly His acts of creation, deliverance, and salvation. Together, these form the compelling message that God's people are commissioned to share globally, inviting all humanity to acknowledge His universal sovereignty and respond in worship.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Psalms 96:3 remains an enduring and powerful call to action for believers today, reminding us that the mission of God's people extends far beyond our immediate communities. It challenges us to move beyond a self-centered faith and embrace a global perspective, recognizing that God desires all people to encounter His glory and witness His wonders. This verse compels us to consider how we, individually and corporately as the Church, are actively participating in this divine mandate. It's not merely about intellectual assent to God's greatness, but a passionate, intentional proclamation of His character and deeds. Whether through direct evangelism, supporting global missions, living a life that visibly reflects God's transformative power, or advocating for justice and truth, our lives are meant to be a continuous declaration of His majesty to a world in need of His light. This mandate should ignite a fervent desire within us to ensure that the knowledge of God's salvation reaches every corner of the earth, fostering a universal chorus of praise.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
What is the significance of the phrase "new song" in the context of Psalm 96?
Answer: The "new song" (mentioned in Psalm 96:1) signifies a fresh, spontaneous, and heartfelt expression of praise that arises from a new experience of God's saving power and universal reign. It's not merely a repetition of old praises, but a response to God's ongoing acts of salvation and His revelation as the sovereign King over all the earth. This "new song" is often associated with eschatological hope, anticipating a future time when all creation will acknowledge God's righteous rule and join in universal worship, as hinted at in Revelation 5:9. It implies a dynamic, living faith that continually finds new reasons to extol God's greatness.
How does Psalms 96:3 relate to the concept of God's universal sovereignty?
Answer: Psalms 96:3 is intrinsically linked to God's universal sovereignty by commanding the declaration of His glory and wonders "among the heathen" and "among all people." This mandate presupposes that God's authority and dominion extend over all nations, not just Israel. If God's glory and wonders are to be proclaimed globally, it is because He is the rightful King of all the earth, as explicitly stated in Psalm 96:5 where it says, "For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens." The psalm asserts His unique status as Creator and Judge of all, making His claim to universal worship legitimate and necessary. It is a call for all creation to recognize and submit to His rightful rule.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Psalms 96:3 finds its ultimate and most profound fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ. He is the preeminent "glory" of God made manifest, the visible image of the invisible God, through whom all things were created and by whom all things are sustained (Colossians 1:15-17). Jesus perfectly declared God's glory not only through His teachings but supremely through His sinless life, sacrificial death, and victorious resurrection, which are the greatest "wonders" of God's redemptive power. His coming shattered the barriers between Jew and Gentile, making salvation accessible to "all people" (Ephesians 2:14-18). The Great Commission, given by the resurrected Christ, directly echoes and expands upon the ancient mandate of Psalms 96:3, commanding His followers to "go and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19). Through the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit, believers are enabled to be Christ's witnesses "to the ends of the earth," continuing to declare His glory and wonders, ensuring that every tribe, tongue, people, and nation will one day bow before the true King (Acts 1:8 and Revelation 7:9-10).