Psalms 96.
An exhortation to praise God, for his greatness, for his kingdom, and for his general judgment.
THIS psalm is attributed to David in the Greek copies. It was composed by him upon the translation of the ark from the house of Obed-edom to the place that he had prepared for it on mount Sion: and it is extant in 1 Chronicles 16 only differing in some particulars, which are supposed to have been added by Ezra upon rebuilding the temple after the captivity. But, says Bishop Patrick, it never had a full completion till the time of the Messiah, who was indeed the temple of God, which came to dwell among us. Several of the Jewish Rabbis acknowledge that it belongs to his times, and the Syriac title informs us, that it was a prophesy of the coming of Christ, and the calling of the Gentiles.

Psalms 96:5. The gods of the nations are idols— Things of nothing. Mudge. Vanities; things which have no substance or being. The words strength and beauty, or glory, in the next verse, are the very words by which the ark is described in Psalms 78:61.

Psalms 96:8. Give unto the Lord, &c.— After David has exhorted the people to praise and to give thanks to God for his peculiar mercies to them, he breaks out into a rapture of gratitude, in contemplation of the infinite bounty and benignity of the Creator; and calls upon the whole creation to fill up the chorus of his praise; Give unto the Lord, &c. to the end of the psalm. In 1Ch 16:34 he returns to his own people, O give thanks unto the Lord, &c. and concludes with those words which seem to be the form in which he blessed, i.e. prayed for his people; first calling upon them to join with him in the prayer, 1Ch 16:34 and say ye, Save us, O God, &c. See Life of David, b. ii. c. 12.

Psalms 96:9. In the beauty of holiness— The beauty of holiness means the temple, or courts of the temple; which was the peculiar residence of Jehovah, and remarkable for its beauty and elegance. By the Lord, in the next verse, both Jews and Christians generally agree that the Messiah is meant.