Psalms 96:1 - Meaning and Application

These verses are best explained by holy feelings at work in our hearts toward God, with deep reverence for his majesty and far greater excellence. The call to praise God here is full of life. The words rise and repeat themselves, and a thankful heart should answer them with the same spirit.

We are first called to honor God with songs, in Psalms 96:1-2. Three times we are told to sing to the Lord. We sing to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. That praise began when the morning stars sang together, continues now in the church on earth, and will go on forever in the church in heaven. We have good reason to do it often, and we need to be often reminded and stirred up to it.

Sing to the Lord means, "Bless his name, speak well of him, and help others think well of him." We are told to sing a new song, an excellent song that comes from fresh feelings and fresh words. People often dismiss an old song, but a new song is welcome because it brings something fresh and surprising. This new song is for new blessings, for mercies that are new every morning. It is also a New Testament song, a song of praise for the new covenant and its precious gifts. And it is a song that stays ever new, never old or out of date.

Let all the earth sing this song, not only the Jews, to whom God's worship had belonged in a special way. They had once been unable to sing the Lord's song in a foreign land, or at least unwilling to do so there. Now all the earth, all who are redeemed from the earth, are called to learn and sing this new song (Revelation 14:3). This points to the calling of the Gentiles. All nations will be given this song, along with both the reason and the call to sing it.

The subject of this song is his salvation, the great salvation worked out by the Lord Jesus. That is what must be shown as the cause of this joy and praise. This song should also be sung continually, not only at the times set for the solemn feasts, but day by day. The subject can never be exhausted. Day after day should speak this message, so that under the influence of gospel worship we may live out a gospel life.

We are also called to honor God with sermons, in Psalms 96:3. We are to declare his glory among the nations, his wonders among all peoples. Salvation through Christ is here spoken of as a work of wonder, where God's glory shines very brightly. As we tell of that salvation, we declare God's glory as it shines in the face of Christ.

In Old Testament times, this salvation was like heaven's happiness is now, a glory still to be revealed. But when the right time came, it was made known fully, even to little children, while prophets and kings had long wished to see it and could not. What had first been shown among the Jews is now to be declared among the nations, among all peoples. The nations that once sat in darkness now see this great light. The apostles' command to preach the gospel to every creature follows this same pattern: Declare his glory among the nations.

We are also called to honor God with religious service, in Psalms 96:7-9. In earlier times, although people in every nation who feared God and did what was right were accepted by him, set forms of worship belonged especially to the Jewish religion. In gospel times, the peoples of the world are invited into God's service and are just as welcome as the Jews once were. The court of the Gentiles will no longer be a separate outer court, but will stand on common ground with the court of Israel. All the earth is summoned to fear before the Lord and worship him according to his command.

Incense will be offered to his name in every place (Malachi 1:11; Zechariah 14:17; Isaiah 66:23). This no doubt humbled the Jews, but it also opened a view of what would greatly increase God's glory and human happiness. Notice how these acts of devotion are described.

We must give to the Lord. This does not mean God needs anything from us, or can receive anything he did not already own. Still, in our best affections, worship, and service, we return to him what we have received from him, and we do it freely, as something we give. God loves a cheerful giver. It is a debt, rent, and tribute. It must be paid, and if it is not, it will be recovered. Yet when it comes from holy love, God is pleased to accept it as a gift.

We must also acknowledge God as the sovereign Lord and pay him honor as such. In Psalms 96:7, we are told, "Give to the Lord glory and strength," meaning glory and rule, as some explain it. As a king, he is clothed with glory and girded with power, and we must own both. The kingdom is his, and so are the power and the glory. Give the glory to God, and do not take it for yourselves or give it to any creature.

We must give to the Lord the glory due his name, that is, the honor that belongs to the way he has revealed himself to humanity. In all worship, this is what we should aim at, to honor God and give him some of the reverence we owe him as the best of beings and the source of our being.

We must bring an offering into his courts. First, we must bring ourselves, like the offering of the Gentiles (Romans 15:16). We must keep offering the sacrifice of praise continually (Hebrews 13:15), coming often before God in public worship and never coming empty-handed. We must worship him in the beauty of holiness, in the solemn gathering where God's commands are carefully kept. Their beauty is their holiness, meaning their fit with God's rule. We must worship with holy hearts, made clean by God's grace, devoted to his glory, and freed from sin's stain.

We must fear before him. Every act of worship must come from the fear of God and be done with holy awe and reverence.

In the middle of these calls to praise and honor God, glorious things are said about him, both as reasons for praise and as material for praise. The Lord is great, so he is greatly to be praised and feared (Psalms 96:4). He is great and honorable to those who serve him, great and terrible to his enemies. Even the new song declares that God is great as well as good, because his goodness is part of his glory. When the everlasting gospel is preached, it says, "Fear God, and give him glory" (Revelation 14:6-7).

He is great in his rule over all who claim to be gods. No one dares compare with him. He is to be feared above all gods, above all princes who were often made into gods after death, and even while living were treated as little gods, or rather above all idols, the gods of the nations (Psalms 96:5).

All the earth is called to sing a new song, but people must first be persuaded that the Lord Jehovah, the one they honor in song, is the only living and true God. He is infinitely above all rivals and false gods. He is great, and they are small. He is everything, and they are nothing, as the word used for idols shows, since an idol is nothing in the world (1 Corinthians 8:4).

He is also great by right, because even the highest part of creation belongs to him. It is his own work, and all of it comes from him. “The Lord made the heavens and all their armies.” They are the work of his fingers (Psalm 8:3), made with such care and skill. The gods of the nations were only made-up gods, inventions of human imagination. But our God is the Creator of the sun, moon, and stars, the lights of heaven that people wrongly imagined to be gods and worshiped.

He is also great in the way he shows his glory in both the upper and lower world, among his angels in heaven and his saints on earth (Psalm 96:6). Splendor and majesty are before him in his immediate presence above, where the angels cover their faces because they cannot bear the brightness of his glory. Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary, both in heaven and here below. In God, there is everything that inspires awe, and everything that is lovely. If we come into his sanctuary, we will see his beauty, because God is love, and we will feel his strength, because he is our rock. So let us go forward in his strength, while we are drawn to his beauty.