Bible Study from February 17, 2020 - Psalm 96

In this study, we looked at Psalm 96. When you compare this psalm with 1 Chronicles 16:23-33, you will see that David is the author and that this psalm was used as a part of the thanksgiving sung to God, when the Ark of the Covenant was brought into the Tabernacle in Jerusalem that King David had prepared. The Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, says that this psalm was also used when the temple was rebuilt, after the Babylonian captivity.

Psalm 96 calls us to sing to the Lord a “new” song. The term is used many times in the psalms. See, for example, Psalm 33:3, 98:1, 144:9, 149:1, and Psalm 40:3, where David says of the Lord, “He put a new song in my mouth” - another clear indication that God inspired these sacred writings, too, as well as the rest of the Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:15-17). The first “Servant Song” in Isaiah is also called a “new song,” as it predicts the coming our Savior, Jesus (Isaiah 42:1ff, and especially, v.10).

The Book of Revelation also tells us that those in heaven are singing “a new song” to God, with focus on “the Lamb Who was slain” in order to “ransom people for God." See Revelation 5:6-9, and especially v.9), Rev. 14:1-3, and Rev. 15:3-6, where the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb were sung. Jesus our Savior is that Lamb. He is God’s own Son, the perfect Lamb, sacrificed on the cross, to take away the sin of the world, once for all. (See the use of an unblemished lamb in Exodus 12:1-13, and often in Old Testament sacrifices, and the words of John the Baptist, about Jesus, in John 1:29, and the discussion about the sacrifice of Jesus, once for all, in Hebrews 9:11-14 and 9:24-28, etc.)

Psalm 96, then, gives glory to God and calls us to “tell of His salvation from day to day” (v. 2) “to all the earth” (v.1), “among the nations” and “among all the peoples”(v.3). For He alone is God, the Creator. All other gods are idols, good for nothing (v.4-5). The Lord alone is to be spoken of for His glory and strength. He alone is to be worshipped, and offerings are to be brought to Him (v. 6-9). He reigns and comes to judge all peoples justly. He comes in righteousness and faithfulness (v.10,13). (The New Testament applies words like these to Jesus, Who is the Righteous and Faithful One, for our salvation, and Who will come again on the Day of Judgement. See 1 Corinthians 1:30-31, Acts 17:30-31, and Revelation 19:11-13, for example.) 

Psalm 96 describes, in a poetic way, all creation giving praise to God and rejoicing in Him (v. 11-12); and the prayer is that all “families of the peoples” (v. 7) will also come to know and worship Him, as well.