Psalms 96 - Introduction - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Bible Comments

A.M. 2959. B.C. 1045.

This Psalm is a part of that which was delivered to Asaph and his brethren, (see 1 Chronicles 16:7,) on occasion of bringing up the ark to the city of David, by which it appears, both that David was the author of it, and that it has a reference to that event. “But,” says Bishop Patrick, “it never had a complete fulfilling till the Messiah, who was indeed the temple of God, came to dwell among us, to give eternal salvation to us.” Accordingly several of the Jewish writers, as he observes, acknowledge that it belongs to the times of the Messiah; and the Syriac title informs us, that the Psalm is a prophecy of the coming of Christ, and of the calling of the Gentiles. Here is,

(1,) A call to praise God, as a great and glorious God, Psalms 96:1-9.

(2,) To rejoice in his judging all the world, Psalms 96:10-13.