Chapter Ninety-Six

Psalm 96 shows great similarity with Psalms 94 and 95 both in content and in the tone of presentation, full of enthusiastic praise to God. Its similarity with the content of the book of the prophet Isaiah indicates its dependence on the first and determines the time of the psalm’s origin not earlier than the writing of the prophet’s latter part. Since there is no mention here of the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, it was written before the time of the Babylonian captivity. The psalm is full of solemn rejoicing, an elevation of religious feeling, which speaks to corresponding joyful facts from the religious life of the people. Such a time was the reign of Josiah, who restored true worship, and the inscription “on the arrangement of the earth” can be understood as religious arrangement, not political.

The Lord is the king of the whole world. Let all peoples rejoice. Around Him is darkness; righteousness is the foundation of His throne (1–2). He will destroy all his enemies, all the earth trembles before Him (3–5). The heavens declare His righteousness, visible to all peoples (6–7). The Hebrew people rejoice in the majesty of the Lord over all gods (8–9). All should love God, since He is the source of every good (10–12).

Psalm 96:1. The Lord reigns: let the earth rejoice; let the many islands be glad. The Lord is king over all gods and the whole world. This should bring joy not only to the Hebrews, but to the “islands,” all pagan peoples, often designated by this image.

Psalm 96:2. Cloud and darkness surround Him; righteousness and judgment are the foundation of His throne. Psalm 96:3. Fire goes before Him and burns up His enemies all around. Psalm 96:4. His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees it and trembles. Psalm 96:5. The mountains melt like wax before the face of the Lord, before the face of the Lord of all the earth. Psalm 96:6. The heavens declare His righteousness, and all peoples see His glory. Psalm 96:7. Let all who serve idols, who boast in their images, be ashamed. Bow down before Him, all you gods. 6 A description of the extraordinary greatness of the Lord. “Cloud and darkness surround Him.” He dwells in clouds and mist, the usual images of God’s appearance to ancient people, indicating the incomprehensibility of His nature; “righteousness and judgment are the foundation of His throne” – justice and determination form the basis of His power (“throne”), that is, at the foundation of His dominion lies the fitting reward to each, which is strictly defined and cannot be changed. “Fire goes before Him” – fire has the property of destroying all, and at the same time it is a symbol of purification, that is, the Lord will destroy all His enemies, but only those who deserve it, will destroy all that is unclean, contrary to Him. One of the manifestations of such power and judgment of God over His adversaries is lightning and thunder, from which the earth was shaken. Mountains melted from Him, probably understood as strong streams of rain from the mountain, carrying many stones. “All peoples see His glory” – the appearance of a thunderstorm as an expression of Divine Justice (“the heavens declare His righteousness”) was known to all people. These appearances clearly showed the almightiness of God and His dignity; before Him idols are insignificant, which is why the writer invites all peoples to acknowledge and confess the One God Jehovah alone. To the worship of the One God, the writer invites both people and gods. By gods are understood the kings and princes of nations. In the LXX, the Angels are invited to bow down. Since the angels, as incorporeal beings, constantly and invisibly always serve God and bow down to Him, the worship of which the psalmist speaks must be understood as worship visible, before the whole world, and this will happen only at the Last Judgment. From this, the given place of the psalm in the understanding of its writer broadens its meaning, acquiring a prophetic character: the power of God over the world, manifested in thunderstorms, contains a prefigurement of the general judgment of God over the whole world and all His adversaries.

Psalm 96:8. Zion hears and is glad, and the daughters of Judah rejoice because of Your judgments, O Lord, Psalm 96:9. For You, O Lord, are high above all the earth, exalted far above all gods. Such a miraculous manifestation of Divine help to the Hebrews, revealed in the threatening phenomena of nature against their pagan enemies, as witnessed by their history, granted them victory, filled all Zion with extraordinary joy, in which young women took part by composing and performing songs of praise and thanksgiving. (By Zion one can understand Jerusalem, and by the daughters – other cities of Palestine, that is, the joy was universal).

Psalm 96:10. You who love the Lord, hate evil! He guards the souls of His holy ones; He delivers them from the hand of the wicked. Psalm 96:11. Light shines on the righteous, and joy on the upright of heart. Psalm 96:12. Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous, and give praise to the memory of His holiness. From these facts of Divine protection, the writer of the psalm draws the appropriate moral instruction: all righteous people (perhaps here understood only as Hebrews, as at that time the only people who had preserved true knowledge of God) should love God, be faithful to Him, since this is the pledge of their happiness (“light shines”); the described cases of miraculous help, as monuments of Divine holiness (“the memory of His holiness”) and the insignificance of idols should be sung (“give praise”). Evidently, the reading during the reign of Josiah of the history of the Hebrew people, full of facts of miraculous guidance and protection from the side of God, filled the writer with an exalted feeling of reverence and gave content to this psalm. * * * * According to the LXX: all His Angels