Psalm 96:4

The psalm opens with a summons that reaches every people: “O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth,” and “Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people” (Psalm 96:1–3). Isaiah gives the same call to sing a new song (Isaiah 42:10). A new song may celebrate a fresh act of God’s salvation or a renewed sight of his reign over the world, and it may belong to a time such as the return from exile or the dedication of a new sanctuary.

Verse 4 begins with “For”, and so does verse 5. Here the psalm gives its reasons. The nations are to praise the LORD because of who he is: great, worthy of praise, above all gods, the Maker of the heavens, surrounded by honour and majesty. Everything after this builds on these verses. The families of the people are told to “give unto the LORD glory and strength” (Psalm 96:7), and the psalm ends with the LORD coming to judge the world in righteousness (Psalm 96:10–13). Psalm 96 stands among the nearby psalms that celebrate the LORD’s reign as King over all the earth.

The word for great, gâdôwl, means great in size, status or intensity. Said of the LORD, it speaks of his power, majesty and glory, which set him above every being he has made. His greatness is his own, and it is the first reason given for praising him.

“Greatly” is a different Hebrew word, mᵉʼôd, which strengthens what it goes with. In English “great” and “greatly” echo each other, and the effect is that the praise matches the one being praised. The verb for praise, hâlal, means to shine, to make a show, to boast or to celebrate, and “Hallelujah” comes from it. So the praise this verse asks for is abundant, joyful and spoken aloud, the kind of praise that declares his glory among the nations, as verse 3 commands.

The same words of praise appear when David brings the ark to Jerusalem: “For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised: he also is to be feared above all gods” (1 Chronicles 16:25).

The verb yârêʼ covers both terror and reverence. Before God it is chiefly deep awe, the right response of finite creatures to the infinite and holy God. It acknowledges his holiness, his power and his authority, and it leads to humble obedience and worship. To fear the LORD above all gods is to give him alone our final loyalty, our worship and our obedience.

Israel lived among nations that served many gods, such as Baal, Dagon and Molech, each tied to some force of nature, some city or some part of daily life. Against all of them this line sets the LORD, the God who had bound himself to Israel by covenant. Scripture says the same thing in many places. Israel’s daily confession was “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD” (Deuteronomy 6:4). Through Isaiah the LORD says, “I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God” (Isaiah 44:6), and “I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me” (Isaiah 45:5–6). Jeremiah answers the idols of the nations with “But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king” (Jeremiah 10:10).

The word for gods here is ʼĕlôhîym, the same word that names the true God throughout Scripture. It is plural in form, and when it names the LORD it is a plural of majesty that usually takes a singular verb. Here it is a true plural: the many gods worshipped by other peoples.

The psalm gives them their real name. The word for idols, ʼĕlîyl, comes from a root meaning “good for nothing”, and it calls them worthless, empty, nothings. They are non-gods, with no power to act, to save or to sustain anyone. The peoples around Israel, the Canaanites, the Egyptians and others, made images of their gods and served them with sacrifices and rituals. Those images were the work of human hands and the fruit of human imagination. Isaiah shows at length how foolish it is to worship something a man has made (Isaiah 44:9–20), and Paul writes that “we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one” (1 Corinthians 8:4).

The second half of verse 5 turns on the word “but”, the Hebrew vav used here to set two things against each other. On one side stand gods that people made. On the other stands the God who made the heavens.

“The LORD” in capitals stands for Yᵉhôvâh, the covenant name of God, often written Jehovah. It is tied to the name he gave Moses, “I AM THAT I AM” (Exodus 3:14), and it speaks of a God who exists in himself, who is eternal, and who has bound himself to his people. The verb ʻâsâh means to do or make in the broadest sense, and here it is used of creation. The heavens, shâmayim, are the sky and all that is in it, and with them the whole of what God has made is in view.

This is the decisive proof of his supremacy. Idols are made by hands, and the LORD made the heavens, which no man and no false god could do. Scripture opens with that truth: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). Isaiah calls him “the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 40:28). In heaven the elders worship him for the same reason: “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things” (Revelation 4:11).

Verse 6 describes the glory of the God who made the heavens. Its two lines echo each other, each naming a pair of qualities and a place where they are found.

Honour is hôwd, grandeur or splendour, an imposing form and appearance that commands respect. Majesty is hâdâr, which means ornament, splendour or majesty. The two together describe the splendour of a king. They are “before him” (pânîym), present wherever he is and met by everyone who comes before him, in heaven or on earth.

Strength is ʻôz, his power, and beauty is tiphʼârâh, his glory and radiant perfection. These are “in his sanctuary”, the place where he shows himself to his people. So the first line tells of the splendour that belongs to him as King, and the second tells of the power and beauty his people see where he dwells. God is mighty, and he is also beautiful, and his presence is both awesome and drawing.

The psalm David gave to Israel has a line very close to this one: “Glory and honour are in his presence; strength and gladness are in his place” (1 Chronicles 16:27). Other psalms speak of his majesty in the same way: “the voice of the LORD is full of majesty” (Psalm 29:4), and his name is excellent in all the earth (Psalm 8:1). Verse 7 then calls the nations to give the LORD “glory and strength”, answering the strength that is in his sanctuary with their worship.

The God these verses praise has made himself known in Jesus Christ. Paul calls Christ “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15), and he says that “by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth” (Colossians 1:16). John says the same: “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3). The LORD who made the heavens in verse 5 is the God who made them through his Son.

Christ is also the brightness of God’s glory. Hebrews calls him “the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person” (Hebrews 1:3), and John writes that “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). The honour and majesty of verse 6 are seen in his face.

He is the true sanctuary as well. Jesus said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up,” and John explains that “he spake of the temple of his body” (John 2:19–21). The temple was a shadow of the reality found in him. In the holy city at the end, “the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it” (Revelation 21:22).

The fear due to the LORD above all gods is fulfilled in Christ’s victory over every rival power. At the cross, “having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it” (Colossians 2:15). Raised from the dead, he has conquered death, which has no more dominion over him (Romans 6:9–10). He said, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18), and he is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). So God has highly exalted him, “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9–11). The great praise of verse 4 is the song of heaven: “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing” (Revelation 5:12).

These verses give us a God worth all our praise. He is great, he made the heavens, and honour, majesty, strength and beauty surround him. Everything else people have worshipped, whether carved images in Israel’s day or money, power, fame and self in ours, is shown up by him as empty, an ʼĕlîyl, a nothing.

The psalm also gives us the reason we can join its call to the nations. Our praise rests on who God is, and his greatness is reason enough to declare his glory among all people. The awe he deserves is a reverence that draws near, because his strength and beauty are found where he dwells with his people, and in Christ he has come to dwell with us. Trust placed in the Creator rests on what cannot be shaken.