1 Sing to Yahweh a new song! Sing to Yahweh, all the earth.
2 Sing to Yahweh! Bless his name! Proclaim his salvation from day to day!
3 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples.
4 For great is Yahweh, and greatly to be praised! He is to be feared above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but Yahweh made the heavens.
Free Grace note
A new song for all the earth Psalm 96 refuses to keep Israel's worship inside Israel. Sing to Yahweh, all the earth. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples. The reason comes in verse 5, and it is one of the sharpest lines in the Psalter: all the gods of the peoples are idols, but Yahweh made the heavens. The Hebrew word for idols, elilim, sounds like a mocking pun on elohim, gods; it means worthless nothings. The logic is simple and vast. If the other gods are manufactured things, and Yahweh is the Maker of the sky itself, then he is not a regional deity with a local claim. Every family of nations owes him glory, which is exactly what verses 7 to 9 call for. This missionary heartbeat runs from Abraham, through whom all nations would be blessed, to the command to make disciples of all nations. And it reorders our own fears too. Money, power, and reputation are made things. The One who made the heavens is the only one worth the song.
6 Honor and majesty are before him. Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
7 Ascribe to Yahweh, you families of nations, ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength.
8 Ascribe to Yahweh the glory due to his name. Bring an offering, and come into his courts.
9 Worship Yahweh in holy array. Tremble before him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, “Yahweh reigns.” The world is also established. It can’t be moved. He will judge the peoples with equity.
11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice. Let the sea roar, and its fullness!
12 Let the field and all that is in it exult! Then all the trees of the woods shall sing for joy
13 before Yahweh; for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, the peoples with his truth.
Free Grace note
Why creation sings at the news of judgment The ending is the surprise of the psalm. Heavens glad, earth rejoicing, sea roaring, fields exulting, trees singing, all because he comes, he comes to judge the earth. We usually hear judgment as a threat, but creation hears it as rescue. To judge here means to set things right, the work of a good king who finally gives honest verdicts after generations of crooked ones. He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with his truth: no bribes, no partiality, no cases lost in the paperwork. A world groaning under injustice longs for exactly this, and Paul says creation itself waits eagerly for its liberation (Romans 8:19-22). The New Testament names the appointed Judge: God will judge the world in righteousness by the man he has ordained, Jesus, confirmed by raising him from the dead (Acts 17:31). So the psalm's command in verse 10 is still the church's message: say among the nations, Yahweh reigns. The King is coming to court, and for a broken world that is not the bad news. It is the good news the trees are singing about.
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