1 O sing to the Lord a new song;
his marvelous works among all the peoples.
4 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
7 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
Psalm 96 is an enthronement hymn. With the rise of the Persian Empire under Cyrus and the return of the exiles, the renewal of the belief in the kingly rule of God over the nations began.[1] “Yahweh has become king” in verse 10 is theme. The kingdom Yahweh assumes is the world. We might note an abridged form of the Psalm in I Chronicles 16:23-33. It stands with Psalm 105. Despite its self-description that it is a “new song,” it may combine two poems, in honor of the sovereignty of God and of the divine coming as judge of the world. It also has similarities with Psalm 29, 33, and II Isaiah. Phrases in this psalm occur enough in other psalms, such as 9:8, 29:1-2, 33:3a, 48:1, 95:3, 98:1, 7, 9, as well as II Isaiah, that some think of it as anthology. The psalm is for the festival of the New Year, and thus it has a note of joy. It has an expansive mood of joy and celebration. It could also be an enthronement psalm or a song in celebration of the Ark of the Covenant. One could use it for any celebrative moment in the history of Israel. The main theme, though, is that it is time to celebrate.
If something huge happens in your life, you will want to celebrate. The Chinese celebrate by lighting firecrackers in the streets and setting off fireworks. Marriages are celebrated with huge parties. A promotion might be celebrated by having dinner at a fancy restaurant. When a baby is born, fathers used to pass out cigars. Yes, this psalm says, something has happened that invites us to celebrate.
Psalm 96: 1-6 offer a command to praise and the reasons for doing so. 1 O sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. It invites the earth to sing the new song this psalm represents. What is the earth to sing? 2 Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell (imperative basseru) of his salvation (yeshuatow) from day to day. 3 Declare (bissar, as deliver or proclaim the message or gospel) his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples. Those who worship are to pass on their knowledge of what the Lord has done among them, but not just to the people of God. They are to tell the nations and all the peoples. What they are to pass along is their knowledge of the saving history of the Lord, their knowledge of the mighty and marvelous acts of God. The reason the people of the Lord are to witness in this way receives a clear statement. Here is the background for the New Testament notion of the gospel and its proclamation.[2] 4 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be revered above all gods. 5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. The community stands alone in the world and therefore has a worldwide vocation. It must proclaim the first commandment. It presupposes that the Gentiles have gods and are continually engaged in the production and proclamation of gods. No nation survives in the world without gods. The only options are gods or the living God. To worship other gods is to deny God an honor rightly belonging to God alone.[3] Thus, this new song declares the superiority of the Lord over all the idols human beings fashion. 6 Honor and majesty (hadar) are before him; strength and beauty (teperet) are in his sanctuary. This portion of the psalm concludes with relating a theophany in the sanctuary that displays honor, majesty, strength, and beauty. Displays of might from the Lord we understand well. Displays of beauty often escape us. Beauty is the power of attraction that invites the other to gaze upon it. It may surprise us that the suffering and enigmas of the world do not enter the consideration of this psalm. Yet, if the Lord has assumed rule, if one now knows definitively who is supreme in this world, then everything is already decided. Everything is good and there is no grumbling of any sort. All true praise lives out of the certainty of the eschatological rule of God, it does not stop at what is subjected to our human calculation. It knows that already even now the rule that belongs to God. It knows that someday we shall utter praise even about that which now distresses us.[4]
In Psalm 96: 7-13, the reason for offering praise shifts to the awareness that the Lord is here. The Psalm adapts Psalm 29:1-2 to focus upon its universalist aspect by stressing the new relationship with the Lord that is available. 7 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 8 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into the courts of the temple in Jerusalem. Such an offering would be like paying homage to the Lord as their new king. 9 Worship the Lord in holy splendor; tremble before him, all the earth. 10 Say among the nations, “The Lord is king! The nations are to acknowledge the Lord as their king. Therefore, the world is firmly established; it shall never be moved. Theologically, the point is that the Lord wills to preserve the world the Lord has made. To use the ancient image, preservation involves keeping the circle of the earth intact.[5] The Lord will not liquidate creation, for the immanent will of the Lord will sustain it. He will judge the peoples with equity.” Such divine judgment will restore order in such a way that nature joins in singing praise to the Lord. 11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; 12let the field exult, and everything in it. Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy 13before the Lord; for he is coming, for he is coming to judge (shaphat, settling or helping one gain one’s rights) the earth. Such coming of the Lord in judgment is not punitive judgment, for the surrounding words suggest this. This judging is something of a helping and saving kind, injustice and oppression will disappear from the world of nations.[6] He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with his truth. Such a statement arises out of the eschatological features of the Hellenistic period of Jewish history and expresses the hope for the establishment of the royal of the Lord over the nations. Christians need to remember that Jesus shared this expectation of the Jewish people for the rule of God.[7]
If something huge happened in your life (a promotion, a baby born, a marriage, sale of a house, purchase of a house, etc.), how would you celebrate? It may depend on where you are in the world. The Chinese celebrate by lighting firecrackers in the streets and setting off fireworks. Bought a new refrigerator? Light a firecracker. It might depend on the event. Marriages are celebrated with huge parties. A promotion might be celebrated by having dinner at a fancy restaurant. When a baby is born, fathers used to pass out cigars. What we can do to appropriately celebrate Christ’s birth? That takes us into the nature of the secular holiday experience. We can party and give and gifts. This psalm suggests that there is no better way to celebrate than to proclaim the arrival! Sing, the psalmist says, bless, tell, declare, ascribe, bring, worship, say, be glad, rejoice and exult.
[1] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 2, 394.
[2] (von Rad, Biblical Interpretation in Preaching 1973, 1977) 78.
[3] (von Rad, Biblical Interpretation in Preaching 1973, 1977), 80.
[4] (von Rad, Biblical Interpretation in Preaching 1973, 1977) 79.
[5] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 2, 35.
[6] (von Rad, Biblical Interpretation in Preaching 1973, 1977) 81.
[7] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 2, 326.
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