Psalm 96 Part 2

The theme of the first section (vs1-6) is repeated in vs7-9 – God is worthy of praise from the entire earth.  The same word for ‘families’ used in v7 is found in Gen12:3, where God promised Abraham that all the ‘families of the earth would be blessed. The ultimate fulfilment of this being in Abraham’s greatest descendent, Jesus the Messiah. The meaning of the Hebrew word for worship is to prostrate oneself, not to praise God for his attributes, which is what the English word worship means. But here we must note that although the meaning of the Hebrew word differs from the English word, the Hebrew understanding of worship nevertheless does also involve giving God praise for his attributes. That is what is being said here. Here the nations of the world are told to give God glory.  Paul declared,”At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow.” (Phil2:10.) If then why not now?

The 3-fold ‘give’ (‘ascribe’ NASB) of vs7-9 is a mirror of the 3-fold ‘sing’ that began the first section. We come into God’s presence to receive through teaching, but also to ‘give’ to Him. We give Him our time, our attention, our worship, our surrender, our service, our resources, and much more. The triple repetition of this phrase impresses the urgency of the call and is a subtle reference to the Triune nature of God, similar to the Holy, Holy, Holy of Rev4:8.

It is ‘beautiful’ that God is God and not man, that He is more than the greatest man or a super-man. His holy love, grace, justice, and majesty are beautiful. This is the ‘splendour of His Holiness.’ ‘The Lord reigns’ (v10) is a fundamental and powerful message for God’s people to proclaim to the world. Whether others recognize His reign or not, the Lord nevertheless reigns, and that reign will one day be openly and obviously imposed upon the whole world. The world also needs to hear that God is a righteous ‘judge,’ before whom the whole world must give account (C.F.Rev14:6-7). When the world hears and believes this, they will hopefully prepare themselves for that judgment to come.