Psalms 96King James Version
O sing unto the Lord a new song. Declare his glory among the heathen. Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof.
Sing unto the LORD a new song: sing, all the earth. Declare his glory among the heathen. The gods of the nations are idols; the LORD made the heavens. Honor and majesty are before him. Give unto the LORD the glory due his name; come into his courts. Say among the nations: the LORD reigns. The world is established; he shall judge the people righteously. The heavens rejoice, the earth is glad, the sea roars, the fields are joyful, all the trees sing.
The new song is new precisely because it announces what the idol-worshipping nations have not yet heard: that the one who made the heavens reigns and is coming to judge with equity.
verse: "Say among the heathen that the LORD reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously." The proclamation to the nations is the new song's content.
No superscription. Parallel in 1 Chronicles 16:23-33, placing it in David's liturgical celebration of the ark's arrival in Jerusalem. One of the enthronement psalms. 'New song' appears throughout the Psalter as an eschatological marker: the song sung when God's full reign is disclosed.
All the earth and all families of nations addressed; God enthroned in heaven and worshipped in his courts; the idol-gods contrasted as the work of human hands; creation itself (heavens, earth, sea, fields, trees) as the responding choir.
Psalm 96 is a missionary psalm: the invitation to sing is addressed to all the earth and all nations. It is nearly identical to 1 Chronicles 16:23-33, connecting it to David's ark-installation celebration. The final vision of creation rejoicing at God's coming to judge (vv11-13) became foundational for the vision of universal renewal in Isaiah 55 and Revelation 19.
For when you want to feel the universal scope of what you believe, that this is not private religion but a claim on all reality. The psalm is the antidote to faith that has shrunk.
1O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth.
2Sing unto the LORD, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day.
3Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people.
4For the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods.
5For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens.
6Honour and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
7Give unto the LORD, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the LORD glory and strength.
8Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts.
9O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth.
10Say among the heathen that the LORD reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously.
11Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof.
12Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice
13Before the LORD: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.