Text -- Psalms 96:1-13 (NET)

Psalm 96

96:1 Sing to the Lord a new song! Sing to the Lord, all the earth! 96:2 Sing to the Lord! Praise his name! Announce every day how he delivers! 96:3 Tell the nations about his splendor! Tell all the nations about his amazing deeds! 96:4 For the Lord is great and certainly worthy of praise; he is more awesome than all gods. 96:5 For all the gods of the nations are worthless, but the Lord made the sky. 96:6 Majestic splendor emanates from him; his sanctuary is firmly established and beautiful. 96:7 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the nations, ascribe to the Lord splendor and strength! 96:8 Ascribe to the Lord the splendor he deserves! Bring an offering and enter his courts! 96:9 Worship the Lord in holy attire! Tremble before him, all the earth! 96:10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns! The world is established, it cannot be moved. He judges the nations fairly.” 96:11 Let the sky rejoice, and the earth be happy! Let the sea and everything in it shout! 96:12 Let the fields and everything in them celebrate! Then let the trees of the forest shout with joy 96:13 before the Lord, for he comes! For he comes to judge the earth! He judges the world fairly, and the nations in accordance with his justice.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Psa 96:1

¹ sn Psalm 96. The psalmist summons everyone to praise the Lord, the sovereign creator of the world who preserves and promotes justice in the earth.

² sn A new song is appropriate because the Lord is constantly intervening in the world as its just king. See also Pss 33:3; 40:3; 98:1.

NET Notes: Psa 96:2

¹ tn Heb “announce from day to day his deliverance.”

NET Notes: Psa 96:3

¹ tn The verb “tell” is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

NET Notes: Psa 96:4

¹ tn Or perhaps “and feared by all gods.” See Ps 89:7.

NET Notes: Psa 96:5

¹ tn The Hebrew term אֱלִילִים (’elilim, “worthless”) sounds like אֱלֹהִים (’elohim, “gods”). The sound play draws attention to the statement.

NET Notes: Psa 96:6

¹ tn Heb “majesty and splendor [are] before him.”

² tn Heb “strength and beauty [are] in his sanctuary.”

NET Notes: Psa 96:8

¹ tn Heb “the splendor of [i.e., “due”] his name.”

NET Notes: Psa 96:9

¹ tn Or “in holy splendor.”

NET Notes: Psa 96:13

¹ tn The verbal forms in v. 13 probably describe God’s typical, characteristic behavior, though they may depict in dramatic fashion the outworking of divine judgment or anticipate a future judgment of worldwide proportions, in which case they could be translated “will judge the world.”

² tn Heb “and the nations with his integrity.”