Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary

on the Whole Bible

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Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

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P S A L M S

PSALM XCVI.

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This psalm is part of that which was delivered into the hand of Asaph

and his brethren

(1 Chron. xvi. 7),

by which it appears both that David was the penman of it and that it

has reference to the bringing up of the ark to the city of David;

whether that long psalm was made first, and this afterwards taken out

of it, or this made first and afterwards borrowed to make up that, is

not certain. But this is certain, that, though it was sung at the

translation of the ark, it looks further, to the kingdom of Christ, and

is designed to celebrate the glories of that kingdom, especially the

accession of the Gentiles to it. Here is,

I. A call given to all people to praise God, to worship him, and give

glory to him, as a great and glorious God,

ver. 1-9.

II. Notice given to all people of God’s universal government and

judgment, which ought to be the matter of universal joy,

ver. 10-13.

In singing this psalm we ought to have our hearts filed with great and

high thoughts of the glory of God and the grace of the gospel, and with

an entire satisfaction in Christ’s sovereign dominion and in the

expectation of the judgment to come.

An Invitation to Praise and Honour God; A Call to Glorify God.

     

1 O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the

earth.

  2 Sing unto the LORD, bless his name; show forth his salvation

from day to day.

  3 Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all

people.

  4 For the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised: he is

to be feared above all gods.

  5 For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD

made the heavens.

  6 Honour and majesty are before him: strength and beauty

are in his sanctuary.

  7 Give unto the LORD, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto

the LORD glory and strength.

  8 Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an

offering, and come into his courts.

  9 O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before

him, all the earth.

     

These verses will be best expounded by pious and devout affections

working in our souls towards God, with a high veneration for his

majesty and transcendent excellency. The call here given us to praise

God is very lively, the expressions are raised and repeated, to all

which the echo of a thankful heart should make agreeable returns.

     

I. We are here required to honour God,

     

1. With songs,

v. 1, 2.

Three times we are here called to sing unto the Lord; sing to

the Father, to the Son, to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the

beginning, when the morning stars sang together, is now, in

the church militant, and ever shall be, in the church

triumphant. We have reason to do it often, and we have need to be often

reminded of it, and stirred up to it. Sing unto the Lord, that

is, “Bless his name, speak well of him, that you may bring

others to think well of him.”

(1.) Sing a new song, an excellent song, the product of new

affections, clothed with new expressions. We speak of nothing more

despicable than “an old song,” but the newness of a song recommends it;

for there we expect something surprising. A new song is a song for new

favours, for those compassions which are new every morning. A new song

is New-Testament song, a song of praise for the new covenant and the

precious privileges of that covenant. A new song is a song that shall

be ever new, and shall never wax old nor vanish away; it is an

everlasting song, that shall never be antiquated or out of date.

(2.) Let all the earth sing this song, not the Jews only, to whom

hitherto the service of God had been appropriated, who could not

sing the Lord’s song in (would not sing it to) a strange

land; but let all the earth, all that are redeemed from

the earth, learn and sing this new song,
Rev. xiv. 3.

This is a prophecy of the calling of the Gentiles; all the earth shall

have this new song put into their mouths, shall have both cause

and call to sing it.

(3.) Let the subject-matter of this song be his salvation, the

great salvation which was to be wrought out by the Lord Jesus; that

must be shown forth as the cause of this joy and praise.

(4.) Let this song be sung constantly, not only in the times appointed

for the solemn feasts, but from day to day; it is a subject that can

never be exhausted. Let day unto day utter this speech, that, under the

influence of gospel devotions, we may daily exemplify a gospel

conversation.

     

2. With sermons

(v. 3):

Declare his glory among the heathen, even his wonders among

all people.

(1.) Salvation by Christ is here spoken of as a work of wonder, and

that in which the glory of God shines very brightly; in showing forth

that salvation we declare God’s glory as it shines in the face of

Christ.

(2.) This salvation was, in the Old-Testament times, as heaven’s

happiness is now, a glory to be revealed; but in the fulness of

time it was declared, and a full discovery made of that, even to babes,

which prophets and kings desired and wished to see and might not.

(3.) What was then discovered was declared only among the Jews, but it

is now declared among the heathen, among all people; the nations

which long sat in darkness now see this great light. The apostles’

commission to preach the gospel to every creature is copied from this:

Declare his glory among the heathen.

     

3. With religious services,

v. 7-9.

Hitherto, though in every nation those that feared God and wrought

righteousness were accepted of him, yet instituted ordinances were the

peculiarities of the Jewish religion; but, in gospel-times, the

kindreds of the people shall be invited and admitted into the service

of God and be as welcome as ever the Jews were. The court of the

Gentiles shall no longer be an outward court, but shall be laid in

common with the court of Israel. All the earth is here summoned to fear

before the Lord, to worship him according to his appointment. In

every place incense shall be offered to his name,
Mal. i. 11;

Zech. xiv. 17; Isa. lxvi. 23.

This indeed spoke mortification to the Jews, but, withal, it gave a

prospect of that which would redound very much to the glory of God and

to the happiness of mankind. Now observe how the acts of devotion to

God are here described.

(1.) We must give unto the Lord; not as if God needed any thing,

or could receive any thing, from us or any creature, which was not his

own before, much less be benefited by it; but we must in our best

affections, adorations, and services, return to him what we have

received from him, and do it freely, as what we give; for God loves

a cheerful giver. It is debt, it is rent, it is tribute, it is what

must be paid, and, if not, will be recovered, and yet, if it come from

holy love, God is pleased to accept it as a gift.

(2.) We must acknowledge God to be the sovereign Lord and pay homage to

him accordingly

(v. 7):

Give unto the Lord glory and strength, glory and empire, or

dominion, so some. As a king, he is clothed with robes of glory

and girt with the girdle of power, and we must subscribe to both.

Thine is the kingdom, and therefore thine is the power and

the glory. “Give the glory to God; do not take it to yourselves,

nor give it to any creature.”

(3.) We must give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name,

that is, to the discovery he has been pleased to make of himself to the

children of men. In all the acts of religious worship this is that

which we must aim at, to honour God, to pay him some of that reverence

which we owe him as the best of beings and the fountain of our being.

(4.) We must bring an offering in to his courts. We must bring

ourselves, in the first place, the offering up of the Gentiles,
Rom. xv. 16.

We must offer up the sacrifices of praise continually

(Heb. xiii. 15),

must often appear before God in public worship and never appear before

him empty.

(5.) We must worship him in the beauty of holiness, in the

solemn assembly where divine institutions are religiously observed, the

beauty of which is their holiness, that is, their conformity to the

rule. We must worship him with holy hearts, sanctified by the grace of

God, devoted to the glory of God, and purified from the pollutions of

sin.

(6.) We must fear before him; all the acts of worship must be

performed from a principle of the fear of God and with a holy awe and

reverence.

     

II. In the midst of these calls to praise God and give glory to him

glorious things are here said of him, both as motives to praise and

matter of praise: The Lord is great, and therefore greatly to

be praised

(v. 4)

and to be feared, great and honourable to his attendants, great

and terrible to his adversaries. Even the new song proclaims God great

as well as good; for his goodness is his glory; and, when the

everlasting gospel is preached, it is this, Fear God, and give glory

to him,
Rev. xiv. 6, 7.

1. He is great in his sovereignty over all that pretend to be deities;

none dare vie with him: He is to be feared above all gods–all

princes, who were often deified after their deaths, and even while they

lived were adored as petty gods–or rather all idols, the gods of

the nations
v. 5.

All the earth being called to sing the new song, they must be convinced

that the Lord Jehovah, to whose honour they must sing it, is the one

only living and true God, infinitely above all rivals and pretenders;

he is great, and they are little; he is all, and they are

nothing; so the word used for idols signifies, for we know that

an idol is nothing in the world,
1 Cor. viii. 4.

2. He is great in his right, even to the noblest part of the creation;

for it is his own work and derives its being from him: The Lord made

the heavens and all their hosts; they are the work of his

fingers

(Ps. viii. 3),

so nicely, so curiously, are they made. The gods of the nations were

all made–gods, the creatures of men’s fancies; but our God is the

Creator of the sun, moon, and stars, those lights of heaven, which they

imagined to be gods and worshipped as such.

3. He is great in the manifestation of his glory both in the upper and

lower world, among his angels in heaven and his saints on earth

(v. 6):

Splendour and majesty are before him, in his immediate presence

above, where the angels cover their faces, as unable to bear the

dazzling lustre of his glory. Strength and beauty are in his

sanctuary, both that above and this below. In God there is every

thing that is awful and yet every thing that is amiable. If we attend

him in his sanctuary, we shall behold his beauty, for God is

love, and experience his strength, for he is our rock. Let

us therefore go forth in his strength, enamoured with his beauty.

The Kingdom of Christ.

     

10 Say among the heathen that the LORD reigneth: the world

also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall

judge the people righteously.

  11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the

sea roar, and the fulness thereof.

  12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then

shall all the trees of the wood rejoice

  13 Before the LORD: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the

earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the

people with his truth.

     

We have here instructions given to those who were to preach the gospel

to the nations what to preach, or to those who had themselves received

the gospel what account to give of it to their neighbours, what to

say among the heathen; and it is an illustrious prophecy of the

setting up of the kingdom of Christ upon the ruins of the devil’s

kingdom, which began immediately after his ascension and will continue

in the doing till the mystery of God be finished.

     

I. Let it be told that the Lord reigns, the Lord Christ reigns,

that King whom God determined to set upon his holy hill of Zion. See

how this was first said among the heathen by Peter,

Acts x. 42.

Some of the ancients added a gloss to this, which by degrees crept into

the text, The Lord reigneth from the tree (so Justin Martyr,

Austin, and others, quote it), meaning the cross, when he had this

title written over him, The King of the Jews. It was because he

became obedient to death, even the death of the cross, that God exalted

him, and gave him a name above every name, a throne above every throne.

Some of the heathen came betimes to enquire after him that was born

King of the Jews,
Matt. ii. 2.

Now let them know that he has come and his kingdom is set up.

     

II. Let it be told that Christ’s government will be the world’s happy

settlement. The world also shall be established, that it shall not

be moved. The natural world shall be established. The standing of

the world, and its stability, are owing to the mediation of Christ. Sin

had given it a shock, and still threatens it; but Christ, as Redeemer,

upholds all things, and preserves the course of nature. The world of

mankind shall be established, shall be preserved, till all that belong

to the election of grace are called in, though a guilty provoking

world. The Christian religion, as far as it is embraced, shall

establish states and kingdoms, and preserve good order among men. The

church in the world shall be established (so some), that it cannot

be moved; for it is built upon a rock, and the gates of hell shall

never prevail against it; it is a kingdom that cannot be

shaken.

     

III. Let them be told that Christ’s government will be incontestably

just and righteous: He shall judge the people righteously

(v. 10),

judge the world with righteousness, and with his truth,
v. 13.

Judging is here put for ruling; and though this may be extended to the

general judgment of the world at the last day, which will be in

righteousness

(Acts xvii. 31),

yet it refers more immediately to Christ’s first coming, and the

setting up of his kingdom in the world by the gospel. He says himself,

For judgment have I come into this world

(John ix. 39; xii. 31),

and declares that all judgment was committed to him,
John v. 22, 27.

His ruling and judging with righteousness and truth signify,

1. That all the laws and ordinances of his kingdom shall be consonant

to the rules and principles of eternal truth and equity, that is, to

the rectitude and purity of the divine nature and will.

2. That all his administrations of government shall be just and

faithful, and according to what he has said.

3. That he shall rule in the hearts and consciences of men by the

commanding power of truth and the Spirit of righteousness and

sanctification. When Pilate asked our Saviour, Art thou a king?

he answered, For this cause came I into the world, that I should

bear witness unto the truth

(John xviii. 37);

for he rules by truth, commands men’s wills by informing their

judgments aright.

     

IV. Let them be told that his coming draws nigh, that this King, this

Judge, standeth before the door; for he cometh, for he cometh.

Enoch, the seventh from Adam, said so. Behold, the Lord cometh,

Jude 14.

Between this and his first coming the revolutions of many ages

intervened, and yet he came at the set time, and so sure will his

second coming be; though it is now long since it was said, Behold,

he comes in the clouds

(Rev. i. 7)

and he has not yet come. See

2 Pet. iii. 4,

&c.

     

V. Let them be called upon to rejoice in this honour that is put upon

the Messiah, and this great trust that is to be lodged in his hand

(v. 11, 12):

Let heaven and earth rejoice, the sea, the field, and all the

trees of the wood. The dialect here is poetical; the meaning is,

1. That the days of the Messiah will be joyful days, and, as far as

his grace and government are submitted to, will bring joy along with

them. We have reason to give that place, that soul, joy into which

Christ is admitted. See an instance of both,

Acts viii.

When Samaria received the gospel there was great joy in that

city

(v. 8),

and, when the eunuch was baptized, he went on his way rejoicing,
v. 39.

2. That it is the duty of every one of us to bid Christ and his

kingdom welcome; for, though he comes conquering and to conquer, yet he

comes peaceably. Hosanna, Blessed is he that cometh; and again,

Hosanna, Blessed be the kingdom of our father David

(Mark xi. 9, 10);

not only let the daughter of Zion rejoice that her King comes

(Zech. ix. 9),

but let all rejoice.

3. That the whole creation will have reason to rejoice in the setting

up of Christ’s kingdom, even the sea and the field; for,

as by the sin of the first Adam the whole creation was made subject

to vanity, so by the grace of the second Adam it shall, some way or

other, first or last, be delivered from the bondage of corruption

into the glorious liberty of the children of God,
Rom. viii. 20, 21.

4. That there will, in the first place, be joy in heaven, joy in the

presence of the angels of God; for, when the First-begotten was

brought into the world, they sang their anthems to his praise,

Luke ii. 14.

5. That God will graciously accept the holy joy and praises of all the

hearty well-wishers to the kingdom of Christ, be their capacity ever so

mean. The sea can but roar, and how the trees of the

wood can show that they rejoice I know not; but he that

searches the heart knows what is the mind of the Spirit, and

understands the language, the broken language, of the weakest.

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Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

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