Font Size
Psalm 96:4-9
New Catholic Bible
Psalm 96:4-9
New Catholic Bible
4 For great is the Lord and worthy of all praise;
he is more to be feared[a] than all other gods.
5 The gods of the nations are merely idols,
but it was the Lord who made the heavens.[b]
6 Majesty and splendor surround him;
power and beauty[c] are in his sanctuary.
7 Render to the Lord, you families of nations,
render to the Lord glory and power.[d]
8 Render to the Lord the glory due to his name;
bring an offering and enter his courts.[e]
9 Worship[f] the Lord in the splendor of his holiness;
tremble before him, all the earth.
Footnotes
- Psalm 96:4 The Lord is great and worthy to receive praise and reverence (to be feared) because he alone is God and there is no other (see Ps 115).
- Psalm 96:5 Made the heavens: since the Lord made the heavens, which were supposedly the home of the gods, it follows that he is far greater than all the gods; but he is also greater because they are nothing more than idols.
- Psalm 96:6 The Lord is surrounded by personifications of divine attributes (majesty and splendor . . . power and beauty) that extol his universal kingship.
- Psalm 96:7 The psalmist makes use of Ps 29:1f, eliminating any allusion to the theme of “heavenly beings” (i.e., “sons of God”) and accentuating the universalist tone (see Ps 47:10; Zec 14:17). All peoples are specifically summoned to pledge their obedience to the Lord.
- Psalm 96:8 Courts: i.e., of the temple where the Lord dwells (see Ps 84:3, 11; 2 Ki 21:5; 23:11f). The psalmist may have been thinking of the outermost court of the temple, which was the court of the Gentiles.
- Psalm 96:9 The psalmist calls for the people to worship the Lord, i.e., give him their reverence, submission, and awe because of the splendor of his holiness (see Pss 29:2; 99; 110:3; 1 Chr 16:29).
