16:9 Sing to him! Make music to him!
Tell about all his miraculous deeds!
96:1 Sing to the Lord a new song! 2
Sing to the Lord, all the earth!
96:2 Sing to the Lord! Praise his name!
Announce every day how he delivers! 3
96:3 Tell the nations about his splendor!
Tell 4 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. 5
96:5 For all the gods of the nations are worthless, 6
but the Lord made the sky.
96:6 Majestic splendor emanates from him; 7
his sanctuary is firmly established and beautiful. 8
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! 9
Bring an offering and enter his courts!
96:9 Worship the Lord in holy attire! 10
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, 11
and the nations in accordance with his justice. 12
30:4 Sing to the Lord, you faithful followers 15 of his;
give thanks to his holy name. 16
12:5 Sing to the Lord, for he has done magnificent things,
let this be known 17 throughout the earth!
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
3 tn Heb “announce from day to day his deliverance.”
4 tn The verb “tell” is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
5 tn Or perhaps “and feared by all gods.” See Ps 89:7.
6 tn The Hebrew term אֱלִילִים (’elilim, “worthless”) sounds like אֱלֹהִים (’elohim, “gods”). The sound play draws attention to the statement.
7 tn Heb “majesty and splendor [are] before him.”
8 tn Heb “strength and beauty [are] in his sanctuary.”
9 tn Heb “the splendor of [i.e., “due”] his name.”
10 tn Or “in holy splendor.”
11 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.”
12 tn Heb “and the nations with his integrity.”
13 tn The verb עָנָה (’ana) normally means “to answer,” but it can be used more technically to describe antiphonal singing in Hebrew and in Ugaritic.
14 sn This song of the sea is, then, a great song of praise for Yahweh’s deliverance of Israel at the Sea, and his preparation to lead them to the promised land, much to the (anticipated) dread of the nations. The principle here, and elsewhere in Scripture, is that the people of God naturally respond to God in praise for his great acts of deliverance. Few will match the powerful acts that were exhibited in Egypt, but these nonetheless set the tone. The song is certainly typological of the song of the saints in heaven who praise God for delivering them from the bondage of this world by judging the world. The focus of the praise, though, still is on the person (attributes) and works of God.
15 tn A “faithful follower” (חָסִיד) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 12:1; 16:10; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).
16 tn Heb “to his holy remembrance.” The noun זֵכֵר (zekher, “remembrance”) here refers to the name of the
17 tc The translation follows the marginal reading (Qere), which is a Hophal participle from יָדַע (yada’), understood here in a gerundive sense.