Psalm Chapter 96
Psalm Context – Predominant themes that summarise the book of Psalms – Torah & Messiah, Lament & Praise, Faith & Hope
There are many poems in the Book of Psalms. However, they can be grouped into 2 relatively distinct categories – poems of lament and poems of praise.
Poems of lament predominate earlier in the chapters (Psalm 2 to 89), expressing prayers of and responses to pain, confusion and anger about how evil the world has become and the horrible things happening to the poet himself. These poems draw attention to what is wrong in the world and can be likened to calls/cries to God, imploring Him to do something about all of it.
Poems of praise outnumber lament poems in the later chapters (Psalm 90 to 145), expressing an overall sense of joy and celebration. These poems draw attention to what is good in the world, retelling stories of all the good that God has freely given, calling everyone who is willing to hear and accept God to give Him high praise and thank Him for everything. The climax of these poems of praise is in the last 5 chapters of the Book of Psalms, the ‘Hallelujah’ conclusion.
This gradual shift from lament to praise is profound as it provides reason and context to the nature of prayer. The book of Psalms teaches us to put our faith and hope in the Messianic kingdom to come.
At the same time, this book acknowledges the reality that this same hope creates tension for us in our own lives as we look out in despair on the tragic state of our world. God never told us to ignore the pain of our lives, but because we are Christians, we embody a biblical type of faith that is forward-looking, that looks to the promise of God’s future messianic kingdom.
It is this very faith that allows us to see the world for what it is whilst standing firm on God’s promises to keep ourselves in check.
Psalm 96
This chapter is one of a series of poems that announce that God is Lord of All.
He is the God who reigns as the one true King of the world, so much so that everything that has breath – all creation; ‘the sea’, ‘the trees’, have all been summoned to celebrate that future day when God will bring his righteous justice and kingdom to all corners of the world.
There are 3 groups of audiences this chapter addresses:
- The people of God (Psalm 96: 1-6)
- All nations of the earth (Psalm 96: 7-10)
- All creation (Psalm 96: 11-13)
Addressing these 3 groups emphasises the fact that everyone and everything will come to know God and His story of salvation, experience His glory and witness His second coming.
No one and nothing can escape or be hidden.
This chapter reminds us of the reasons why God is indeed the only One worthy of all praise, the only truly worthy and righteous Judge, that it is only through God that everything exists; there is none like Him.
Thus, the manner in which all people and all creation will offer to and worship God is likened to one worthy of royalty – in anticipation, in awe and with fear.
In spite of all that God lets us face to put our faith in Him to the test, this Psalm is one of good cheer, scattered with lively imagery, proving to us that there will come a time when gloom and misery shall be no more, a time when God will ultimately deem us worthy to enter the glorious kingdom He has long prepared for us.