Home

For Teaching

Psalms 96: What the Passage Says

36 claims across 13 verses, in the order the chapter makes them.

Not a sermon outline. What Psalms 96 says, and what its hard words meant. The reading of it is yours.

The Chapter in a Sentence

This psalm calls the whole earth to sing a new song to the LORD and to tell the nations what he has done. It contrasts the LORD, who made the heavens, with the gods of the nations, which are idols, and calls people to bring an offering and worship him. It ends by calling the sky, the sea, the fields, and the trees to be glad because the LORD is coming to judge the earth with righteousness.

Claim by Claim

  1. 96:1
    • Sing a new song to the LORD.
    • All the earth is to sing to the LORD.
  2. 96:2
    • Sing to the LORD.
    • Bless the LORD's name.
    • Announce his salvation from day to day.
  3. 96:3
    • Recount his glory among the nations.
    • Recount his wonders among all the peoples.
  4. 96:4
    • The LORD is great.
    • The LORD is greatly to be praised.
    • He is to be feared above all gods.
  5. 96:5
    • All the gods of the peoples are worthless idols.
    • The LORD made the heavens.
  6. 96:6
    • Splendor and majesty are before him.
    • Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
  7. 96:7
    • Families of the peoples are to ascribe to the LORD.
    • Ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
  8. 96:8
    • Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name.
    • Bring an offering.
    • Come into his courts.
  9. 96:9
    • Bow down to the LORD in holy splendor.
    • All the earth is to tremble before him.
  10. 96:10
    • Say among the nations that the LORD reigns.
    • The world is established so that it will not be shaken.
    • He will judge the peoples with equity.
  11. 96:11
    • Let the heavens rejoice.
    • Let the earth be glad.
    • Let the sea roar.
    • Let all that fills the sea roar.
  12. 96:12
    • Let the field exult.
    • Let all that is in the field exult.
    • Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy.
  13. 96:13
    • They sing before the LORD.
    • He is coming.
    • He is coming to judge the earth.
    • He will judge the world with righteousness.
    • He will judge the peoples with his faithfulness.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

96:1
Where "LORD" appears in capitals it stands for the personal name of Israel's God, written in Hebrew with four letters (YHWH); readers traditionally did not pronounce it and said "Lord" instead. "A new song" is a set phrase in the Psalms, a song called for by something newly done, not simply a new tune.
96:2
"Salvation" here translates a Hebrew word (yeshuah) meaning rescue, deliverance, or victory: being saved from an enemy or a danger in this life. It is a word for being pulled out of trouble.
96:3
"Heathen" is the King James word for the Hebrew goyim, which means simply "the nations", the peoples other than Israel. It carries none of the modern English suggestion of savagery or ignorance.
96:4
"Feared" translates a Hebrew word covering everything from terror to reverent awe; here it is closer to the awe owed to a king than to fright. "Above all gods" uses the ordinary language of the ancient world, in which each nation had its own gods.
96:5
The Hebrew word behind "idols" is elilim, meaning "worthless things" or "nothings." It is chosen partly for its sound, which closely echoes el, the ordinary word for a god, so the line is a pun: the nations' gods are non-gods.
96:6
The "sanctuary" is the temple in Jerusalem, the building set apart for God's worship. "Beauty" in the King James means splendor or magnificence rather than prettiness, and "honour" here means visible dignity or grandeur.
96:7
"Give unto the LORD" translates a Hebrew verb meaning to ascribe or credit, to declare openly that glory and strength belong to him. No object is being handed over. "Kindreds of the people" means the clans or families of the peoples: all humanity, counted by family groups.
96:8
The "offering" (Hebrew minchah) is a gift brought to a superior; at the temple it was usually grain, flour, or oil rather than an animal. The "courts" are the open walled courtyards surrounding the temple, where worshipers gathered, ordinary people did not enter the building itself.
96:9
"The beauty of holiness" is a genuinely disputed phrase. It may mean "in holy array", dressed in the special garments worn for worship, or "in the splendor of his holiness." The Hebrew allows both readings. "Fear before him" means tremble, a physical reaction rather than an attitude.
96:10
"The LORD reigneth" is the shout used when a king was crowned: "the LORD is king." "Established... not moved" draws on the ancient picture of the earth as a structure set on fixed foundations and therefore unshakable. "Judge" here and in verse 13 translates a Hebrew verb that means to govern and to set things right, not merely to try a case in court.
96:11
In Hebrew poetry the thundering of the sea is applause, the noise of a crowd acclaiming a king, not a threat. "The fulness thereof" means everything that fills it.
96:12
"Wood" in the King James means woodland or forest, not timber.
96:13
"Truth" here translates emunah, which means faithfulness, reliability, keeping faith, the steadiness of someone who can be depended on, rather than truth in the sense of accurate statement. The doubled "for he cometh, for he cometh" is Hebrew emphasis, like saying "he is coming, he really is coming."

Read Psalms 96