Bible Commentaries
Psalms 96

Verses 1-13

There is a beauty about this song which irresistibly appeals to the submissive soul. The previous warning must be heeded in order to sing it. When the personal life is loyal to His throne, the song of God’s wide and beneficent dominion thrills with exultation.

It moves out in widening circles. The first is that of His own people, and sets forth His supremacy over all the gods of the peoples. They are “things of nought”; He is the Creator, and all things high and beautiful are His (vv. Psa 96:1-6 ). The second calls upon the nations to recognise His Kingship, and to give Him His due, submitting themselves also in worship and reverence (vv. Psa 96:7-9 ). The third sweeps the whole earth into its circumference, and rejoices in the equity of His reign.

No study of the devotional literature of these people is possible without an ever-recurring consciousness of this far-reaching purpose of God. If the song of the Lord begin in the heart it always grows into the chorus in which others are included in its music. To know the gracious glory of His reign in personal life, is to reveal it to those beyond, and to desire its victories in the uttermost reaches.