Psalms

The bulk of this Psalm is found in 1 Chronicles 16.  In fact the Psalm that was sung in 1 Chronicles was a compilation of parts of Psalm 96, 105 and 106.  At least in this case, the worship leaders took the freedom to combine Psalms to create new songs for an event.  The compilation was used in the dedication of the tabernacle on Mt. Zion.  David had brought the ark of God and placed in the tent that he pitched for it.  He appointed some Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, to give thanks and sing praise.  And a person could sing this Psalm with that in mind and praise God for his amazing works.  Some believe this Psalm was used in the dedication of the second temple when the Jews returned from exile. 

The Psalmist wrote of a time when the Jews were surrounded by the gentile nations.  Although we are unsure of the original context of the Psalm, we can be sure of a prophetic context looking forward to the messianic kingdom.  This Psalm looks forward to a time when there will be praise for the Lord from all the nations and even from the things of nature.  We see that there will be a joy throughout the entire earth when the Messiah is ruling from Jerusalem. 

A Song of Praise to God Coming in Judgment

¹ Oh, sing to the LORD a new song!
Sing to the LORD, all the earth.
² Sing to the LORD, bless His name;
Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.
³ Declare His glory among the nations,
His wonders among all peoples.
What is this new song?  It was the future praise of God throughout the entire universe by all people.  The people are instructed to sing, sing, sing; to praise, proclaim and declare God and all his attributes and works.  Yahweh is worthy of all praise because of the good news of salvation.  To the people at that time this good news was a plan of redemption.  There was a way to atone for sins and find forgiveness in His mercy and grace.  Of course, we see the good news from the other side of the cross.  Our sins are paid for by the shed blood of the final sacrifice that paid for all sin.  We are to praise, proclaim and declare this good news to the entire world in the same way these Old Testament saints did.   The "proclaim the good news" means to preach the gospel or to evangelize.

⁴ For the LORD is great and greatly to be praised;
He is to be feared above all gods.
⁵ For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
But the LORD made the heavens.
⁶ Honor and majesty are before Him;
Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.
The word translated to idols in verse 5 means 'things that are good for nothing' or 'worthless gods.'  The gods of the people are nothing but idols.  They are of no value.  They offer no redemption and no salvation.  They are dead and lifeless.  While in contrast, the Living God made the heavens.  In His power He is able to create by a word.   The Lord is great and greatly to be praised because he stands alone in contrast to all others.  He is to be feared above all. 

The presence of the Lord descended on the ark and the mercy seat.  The tabernacle was filled with God's presences.  Like a king entering to take his throne, the presence of the Lord saw honor and majesty go before Him.  Strength and beauty both reside in the sanctuary.  These words that describe set the tone for a high and holy view of the God of the universe.

⁷ Give to the LORD, O families of the peoples,
Give to the LORD glory and strength.
⁸ Give to the LORD the glory due His name;
Bring an offering, and come into His courts.
⁹ Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness!
Tremble before Him, all the earth.
As our praise continues, it becomes sacrificial.  We bring the sacrifice of praise to our God who has redeemed us.  In our sin we were as good as dead, spiritually dead with no way to help ourselves.  Yet, he raised us from the dead and gave us new life.  We are born again.  We see our response should be give, give, give.  Yet, we give not to purchase or maintain what we have but in a right response to our God who is worthy.  Together we give ourselves, we give him all the glory and strength we have, we give all the glory due His name.  That makes it endless praise for all eternity.  We are to bring our offering.  For us, we offer a broken and contrite heart.  We present ourselves to him.  We come into his courts.  One day in his courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.  We worship Him and seek the beauty of his holiness.  We fall face down, we tremble, we come to understand how high He is and low and humble we are.

¹⁰ Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns;
The world also is firmly established,
It shall not be moved;
He shall judge the peoples righteously."
The Lord reigns means the Lord has become King.  Jesus will sit on the throne of David and rule the nations (Luke 1:26-33; Rev 19:11-16).  The nations will come to understand that.  A time is coming when He will rule from Jerusalem.  In the Kingdom of God, the world will be firmly established.  It won't be moved.  God is the righteous judge and He will rule with a rod of iron.  Even then, at the end of a thousand years, there will be another rebellion.  People will rise rebel and suffer from the righteous judgment for an eternity.

¹¹ Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;
Let the sea roar, and all its fullness;
¹² Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it.
Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice
¹³ before the LORD.

From the heavens to the earth all should rejoice and be glad.  The seas will roar and the fields will be joyful.  The trees and forest will rejoice.  All the creation has groaned for this time when all things would be made right again.  All creation longed for perfection of God to rule in the world.

Romans 8:18-25

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. ¹⁹ For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; ²¹ because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. ²² For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. ²³ Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. ²⁴ For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth.
He shall judge the world with righteousness,
And the peoples with His truth.

He is coming!  There isn't a whole lot of commentary needed on this.  He is coming and He is going to judge the world in righteousness and truth.  Are we ready for that?  Do we really have any understanding of what that means?  I don't think so.  We are easily caught up in the day to day worries of this world.  We are distracted and drawn away from eternal things.  We have to constantly work to keep our eyes on the Lord and things that are coming.  Paul said these sufferings are not worthy to even be compared to the glory that will be revealed to us. 

When David sang this Psalm before the Lord, he certainly was making every effort to do it up right.  It was praise and worship with all he had, calling the whole universe to the same.  Is that our attitude of praise?