Psalm 96 is the 96th psalm of the Book of Psalms, a hymn. The first verse of the psalm calls to praise in singing, in English in the King James Version: "O sing a new song unto the Lord". Similar to Psalm 98 ("Cantate Domino") and Psalm 149, the psalm calls to praise God in music and dance, because he has chosen his people and helped them to victory. It is one of the royal psalms praising God as the King of His people.
In the slightly different numbering system used by the Greek Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate, this psalm is Psalm 95. In Latin, it is known as "Cantate Domino canticum novum".[1]
The psalm forms a regular part of Jewish, Catholic, Lutheran, and Anglican liturgies. The Latin conclusion, "Laetentur caeli", is used during the Christmas night liturgy. The psalm or verses of it have been paraphrased to hymns, and it has often been set to music, notably by Handel in his Chandos Anthems, by Mendelssohn who quoted from it in a movement of his choral symphony Lobgesang, and Zoltán Gárdonyi as part of three motets.
Incipit: "O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth." (KJV; in Hebrew שירו ליהוה שיר חדש שירו ליהוה כל־הארץ).[2][3]
Background and themes
According to Radak, this psalm was composed by David when he brought the Ark of the Covenant up to Jerusalem. On this day, David composed two songs – Hodu, and "Sing to the Lord, the entire earth" (verse 2 of this psalm, which is also recorded in 1 Chronicles 16:23). As recounted in 1 Chronicles 16:7, David instructed Asaph and his brothers to sing these songs daily. Hodu was sung before the Ark every morning, and Psalm 96 was sung before the Ark every afternoon, until the time the Temple was constructed and the Ark was moved into it.[4] However, Alexander Kirkpatrick associates the "newness" of the song with the deliverance of Israel from Babylonian captivity, inaugurating "a new stage in the nation’s history".[5] He notes that the Septuagint's title for this psalm is "When the house was being built after the Captivity".[5]
In Hebrew, this psalm is known as Shiru Lashem ("Sing to the Lord"), and repeats the word "sing" three times. According to the Midrash Tehillim, these three instances allude to the three daily prayer services "when Israel sings praises to God". They are: Shacharit, the morning prayer, corresponding to "Sing a new song to the Lord" (verse 1); Mincha, the afternoon prayer, corresponding to "Sing to the Lord, all the earth" (verse 1); and Maariv, the evening prayer, corresponding to "Sing to the Lord, bless His Name" (verse 2).[6][7]
In Baptist minister Charles Spurgeon's assessment, Psalm 96 is a "missionary hymn".[8] It is specifically paired with Psalm 95, which described "Israel's hard-heartedness" toward God in the desert. Christian scholars assert that Israel employed that same hard-heartedness to reject Jesus as the Messiah, so now the Christians have the task of declaring the gospel to the world.[8][9]Matthew Henry interprets verses 10 to 13 in this psalm as instructions of what to say for those who preach the gospel.[10]
Biblical scholars note numerous thematic and structural similarities between Psalm 96 and Psalm 97, which are both "Kingship of YHWH" psalms.[11]
Text
Hebrew
The following table shows the Hebrew text[12][13] of the Psalm with vowels alongside an English translation based upon the JPS 1917 translation (now in the public domain).
Most Biblical critics believe that the words "from the wood" were added by an early Christian scribe, perhaps as a gloss that was then incorporated into the main text.[20] However, Fr John Hunwicke hypothesized that, if the verse is original, it might have originally referred to the wooden Ark of the Covenant and its victory over the Philistine god Dagon.[22]
Uses
Judaism
Psalm 96 is the second of six psalms recited during the Kabbalat Shabbat (Welcoming the Shabbat) service in Ashkenazic, Hasidic and some Sephardic communities.[23] These six psalms represent the six days of the week, with Psalm 96 corresponding to the second day of the week (Monday).[24]
Calling to sing, Psalm 96 has been paraphrased in hymns, and often set to music. "Laetentur caeli" (vv. 11–13 of the Psalm) was set by Orlande de Lassus for four parts,[28] and by Giovanni Bassano for double choir,[29] among others.[30]Handel set the psalm around 1712,[31] and a movement of his Chandos Anthems in 1717 or 1718.[32] German settings of the Baroque era:
Heinrich Schütz set Psalm 96 in German, "Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied", for choir as part of his composition of the Becker Psalter, SWV 194.[33]
In the 19th century, Mendelssohn quoted from Psalm 96 in movement 10 of his choral symphony Lobgesang on biblical texts in 1810. Czech composer Antonín Dvořák quoted the psalm, combined with verses of Psalm 98, in the final movement of his Biblical Songs of 1894.[39]
In the 20th century, Zoltán Gárdonyi set Psalm 96 as part of three motets in German, "Singet dem Herren", for mixed choir a cappella, along with a Finnish song and Psalm 23, published by Schott.[40]James MacMillan wrote "A New Song" in 1997, with lyrics taken from this Psalm.[41]
And from the ninety-fifth Psalm they have taken away this short saying of the words of David: 'From the wood.' For when the passage said, 'Tell ye among the nations, the Lord hath reigned from the wood,' they have left, 'Tell ye among the nations, the Lord hath reigned.' Now no one of your people has ever been said to have reigned as God and Lord among the nations, with the exception of Him only who was crucified, of whom also the Holy Spirit affirms in the same Psalm that He was raised again, and freed from [the grave], declaring that there is none like Him among the gods of the nations: for they are idols of demons.
