Psalm 96

Psalm 96: Christ the King— Here is the ancient coronation anthem, “extending to all nations, and as reaching beyond men, for the joy and blessing of a renovated earth. It falls into four strophes, of which the first three contain three verses each, while the last extends to four. These strophes are like concentric circles, drawn round that eternal throne.” (Expositor's Bible) 1 Oh, sing to Yahweh a new song! Sing to Yahweh all the earth. 2 Sing to Yahweh, bless His name; proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. 3 Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples. “The first summons Israel to its high vocation of Jehovah’s evangelist, the herald who proclaims the enthronement of the King.” (Expositor's Bible) “‘Oh,”— you have who, like Joshua and Caleb, have entered into Jesus’ rest— “sing to Him a new song!” “Nothing, listless, boring, or stale befits God's worship; not merely a song is required, but ‘a new song!’” (Kidner) “Our old songs were those of pride, of gluttony, of luxury, in hope of gain, prosperity, or harm to others; our ‘new song’ is of praise, reverence, and obedience, and love to God, in newness of life, in the Spirit that quickeneth, no longer in the letter that killeth, but keepeth that new commandment, that we love one another, not with the narrow patriotism and fellow feeling of a small tribe, or a mere national church, but with a citizenship which embraces all the whole earth.” (Neale and Littledale) Outside of the Psalms, there are three times that new songs are admonished— all in anticipation of the day of Yeshua—> Sing to Him “a new song, and His praise from the ends of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, you coastlands and you inhabitants of them!” (Isaiah 42:10) “And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.” (Revelation 5:9-10) “They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth.” (Revelation 14:3) I believe that this mysterious number is symbolic of all of the redeemed. “‘Sing to Yahweh all the earth.’— “The call to worship is addressed to ‘all nations and all creatures.'” (The New Bible Commentary) Even of old, it has always been intended— not for the Jews only, but rather for all. “‘Sing to Yahweh, bless His name; proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.’— beginning “today”— if you will but hear His voice. “Other news delights us only at first hearing; but the good news of our redemption is sweet from day to day, ‘as if it were done [or accepted by us] but today,’ saith Kimchi here.” (John Trapp) — “‘Declare His [coming] glory among the heathen. Publish God's praise, not only in Israel, but to the ends of the earth. Let all mankind hear the joyful news (comp. Psalms 2:8; Psalms 47:1, Psalms 47:8; Psalms 138:4). ‘His wonders among all people;’ rather, among all the peoples; i.e. ‘all the nations of the earth.’” (Pulpit Commentary)— as in the the song of Moses: “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people; for He will avenge the blood of His servants, and render vengeance to His adversaries; He will provide atonement for His land and His people.” (Deuteronomy 32:43) 4 For Yahweh is great and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. 5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but Yahweh made the heavens.6 Honor and majesty are before Him; strength and beauty are in His sanctuary. “The second [strophe] sets Him above all the ‘Nothings’ which usurp the name of gods, and thus prepares the way for His sole monarchy.” (Expositor's Bible)—> “’For Yahweh is great and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods.’ rather, vanities, or nothings. In the original there is a play upon the words—the elohim of the nations are mere elilim. Elilim is a favourite designation of the heathen gods in Isaiah. Compare the statement of St. Paul, ‘We know that an idol is nothing in the world’ (1 Corinthians 8:4).” (Pulpit Commentary) “But Yahweh”— that is, Yeshua— “’made the heavens.’ The power of ‘creation’- of causing anything to exist where there was nothing before - must pertain to God alone, and is the highest act of Divinity. No pretended pagan god has that power; no man has that power. The true God has reserved the exercise of that power to Himself, and has never, in any instance, imparted it to a created being.” (Albert Barnes) Thus “the fear which the knowledge of Almighty God evokes is wholesome and true; it is a godly reverence." (H. C. Leopold) “Men can but mimic these things; their pompous pageants are but the pretence of greatness. ‘Honour and majesty are with Him’ [Jesus] and with Him alone.... ‘Strength and beauty are in His tabernacle.' In Him are combined all that is mighty and lovely, powerful and resplendent. We have seen rugged strength devoid of beauty, we have also seen elegance without strength; the union of the two is greatly to be admired. Do we desire to see the ‘sublime and beautiful’ at one glance? Then we must look to the eternal throne...” (C. H. Spurgeon)- of King Messiah. 7 Give to Yahweh, O families of the peoples, give to Yahweh glory and strength. 8 Give to Yahweh the glory due His name; bring an offering, and come into His courts. 9 Oh, worship Yahweh in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth. “The third summons outlying nations to bring their homage, and flings open the tabernacle to all men, inviting them to put on priestly robes, and do priestly acts there.“ (Expositor’s Bible)—> ’Give to Yahweh, O families of the peoples,’ etc. He calls upon them to come in kindreds or families, in allusion to the Jewish custom of families coming by themselves, on the several festival days to worship in Jerusalem; and the Holy Ghost gives us here to understand that such custom was to serve as a model for Christians, whose families should unite in coming to the church to give [or ascribe] glory and honour to God [in Jesus] for all the wonderful things He accomplished in the redemption of man; for it was not by our own industry, or by our merits, that we have come to grace, and to be the adopted children of God, but through God's mercy, to whom, therefore, is due all honour and glory.” (Robert Bellarmine) 10 Say among the nations, “Yahweh reigns; the world also is firmly established, it shall not be moved; He shall judge the peoples righteously.” 11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and all its fullness; 12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before Yahweh. 13 For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with His truth. “The fourth calls on nature in its heights and depths, heaven and earth, sea, plain, and forest, to add their acclaim to the shouts which hall the establishment of Jehovah’s visible dominion.”—> “Say among the nations, ‘Yahweh reigns;’ Justin Martyr complains that the Jews had in some copies of the LXX, cut off the adjection in this verse: απο του ξυλον, ‘by the tree,’ meaning the wood of the cross. So this text is cited by Tertullian, by Augustine, by Arnobius, and in the old Roman Psalter... ‘God hath reigned from the tree.’ This is a grand idea,… 'the [new] world also is firmly established, it shall not be moved; He shall judge the peoples righteously... The closing theme is, that Messiah the King cometh to judge the earth. Let then the infidel tremble.” (Joseph Sutcliffe)