Psalms 96:1

PSALM XCVI

All the inhabitants of the earth are invited to praise the

Lord, 1-3.

His supreme majesty, 3-6.

The tribes of Israel are invited to glorify him, 7-9;

and to proclaim him among the heathen, 10.

The heavens and the earth are commanded to rejoice in him,

11-13.

NOTES ON PSALM XCVI

This Psalm has no title, either in the Hebrew or Chaldee. The Syriac: "Of David. A prophecy of the advent of Christ and the calling of the Gentiles to believe in him." The Vulgate, Septuagint, AEthiopic, and Arabic have, "A Song of David, when the House was built after the Captivity." We have seen in 1 Chronicles 16:23-13 a Psalm nearly like this, composed by David, on bringing the ark to Sion, from the house of Obed-edom. See the notes on the above place. But the Psalm, as it stands in the Chronicles, has thirty verses; and this is only a section of it, from the twenty-third to the thirty-third. It is very likely that this part was taken from the Psalm above mentioned, to be used at the dedication of the second temple. The one hundred and fifth Psalm is almost the same as that in Chronicles, but much more extensive. Where they are in the main the same, there are differences for which it is not easy to account.

Verse Psalms 96:1. Sing unto the Lord a new song] A song of peculiar excellence, for in this sense the term new is repeatedly taken in the Scriptures. He has done extraordinary things for us, and we should excel in praise and thanksgiving.