Doctrines Covered	Doctrines Alluded To
	A Chart of Christ Jesus in the Old and New Testaments
	Placement of the Tabernacle Furniture	Doctrine of Heathenism
	Ark of the Covenant	Intercalation

Psalms Alluded To
Psalm 95
Psalms Appropriately Exegeted with this Chapter
Psalm 95

An Introduction to Psalm 96

I ntroduction: Psalm 96 is one of the psalms sung after the Ark of God had been deposited in the tent set up by David in Jerusalem. This was a part of the celebration, and, if 1Chron. 13, 15–16 are taken as fairly chronological, then this would have been part II of the celebration. Part I is moving the Ark from Obed-Edom’s home to the front gate of Jerusalem (which would have involved singing and celebration—this is 1Chron. 15); and part II would have been the celebration which followed, after the Ark had been successfully placed in its tent. Now, there is the alternative view that, at the end of 1Chron. 16, the original author (not of Chronicles, but of the manuscript which the writer of Chronicles used) wrote down what he recalled from this celebration, which would include songs sung both on the way to the city of Jerusalem and after the Ark had been put in the tent. I am not certain that this is all that important of a point, but I am simply making an attempt to accurately interpret the Word of God without making any unwarranted assumptions. In any case, sometime during the moving and depositing of the Ark, this psalm was sung.

Moving the Ark into Jerusalem was an event which involved great celebration; therefore, we would expect the psalms sung during this time to be celebratory. Psalm 96 is clearly celebratory, where the psalmist calls upon the heavens, the fields, the trees, etc. to rejoice.

In any portion of the Word of God, it does not strike me that celebratory language is enough (Psalm 150 may be an exception to this). I would expect that there would be some meat, so to speak. There are going to be two things which stand out in this psalm: Jesus will be spoken of by name and the psalmist will speak of the circular orbit of the earth (if you want to see this right now, just go to the final translation at the end of this document). When I came across these two things in the Hebrew, I must admit, it knocked my socks off. To prepare you for this, let me explain the writing of the psalmist versus the writing of the Holy Spirit. All Scripture is God-breathed, so the writer is breathing in Bible doctrine, and he breathes out Scripture. God the Holy Spirit is the source of divine viewpoint that the human author breathes in, and God the Holy Spirit has an effect upon the end product (i.e., the written Word of God). God the Holy Spirit so supernaturally directed the human writers of Scripture that, without waiving their intelligence, their individuality, their personal feelings, their literary style, or any other human factor of expression, His complete and coherent message to mankind was recorded with perfect accuracy in the original languages of Scripture: the very words bearing the authority of divine authorship.

I do not believe that every writer of Scripture fully understood all that they wrote. This does not mean that the authors of Scripture just opened themselves us, and God the Holy Spirit took over their bodies and hands—but there are aspects to Old Testament Scripture in particular, which were not fully understood by the writers themselves. What we find in Psalm 96 is a perfect example of this. One could read and translate this psalm, and never realize that one verse speaks of Jesus by name, and two other verses speak of the orbit of the earth. I do not believe that the psalmist himself knew this. However, as we find many times throughout the Word of God, the Holy Spirit seems to be giving us additional information from meaning-rich passages which even eluded the author. You might say that in many passages, there are layers of meaning, which, with time, become clear. It is like God the Holy Spirit is saying a few things to us through this psalm, and winking, so as to say, “Can you believe that I have inserted this information here?” In my examination of Scripture, I have often come across passages and events which seemed to be somewhat confusing—why are they there, what is being said, why is this important to point out? And, with a little study, all of a sudden, it all makes perfect sense. One example of this is when Saul spoke to Samuel, who was brought back from the dead. I must admit that, there were a number of times when I read this passage or heard it taught where I thought, what’s up with that? But, with a little bit of study, and guidance from God the Holy Spirit, when I realized what was going on, my jaw dropped in amazement. So was my experience with this psalm.

There are two more things which are found in this psalm, hidden away. We will find the name YHWH hidden in v. 11; and then we are told twice He has come! Although it is common to repeat a verb in order to give great emphasis to the action, it is less common to repeat a phrase. I find it interesting that Jesus is hidden in the 2^nd verse, YHWH (one member of the Godhead) is hidden in v. 11; and now in v. 13, it sounds as if Jesus will come to the earth two times (two advents). So, although some might take this to be emphatic, I think the true understanding here is, Jesus will come to the earth on two occasions—first as God’s suffering servant (Isa. 53) and then He will return to judge the earth (Psalm 96:13).

Spurgeon comments on the theme of this psalm: [Psalm 96] is a grand Missionary Hymn, and it is a wonder that Jews can read it and yet remain exclusive. If blindness in part had not happened unto Israel, they might have seen long ago, and would now see, that their God always had designs of love for all the families of men, and never intended that his grace and his covenant should relate only to the seed of Abraham after the flesh. We do not wonder that the large-hearted David rejoiced and danced before the ark, while he saw in vision all the earth turning from idols to the one living and true God.

The NET Bible is even more succinct: The psalmist summons everyone to praise the Lord, the sovereign creator of the world who preserves and promotes justice in the earth.

In 1Chron. 16, we have the first third of Psalm 105 recorded; and a few lines from Psalms 106 and 136; however, nearly all of Psalm 96 will be recorded in 1Chron. 16. We will examine Psalm 96 carefully and in great length herein, and give it a superficial examination in Chronicles.

We should be able to reasonably limit the authorship of this psalm to one of two men: David or Asaph. In a moderately confusing inscription—which is not found in the Hebrew—David is named as the author. David did direct Asaph to put together the songs and choir for this celebration, and Asaph chose this as one of the psalms to be sung. There is no reason to assume that Asaph wrote all of the psalms for this celebration. This all took place—the planning and celebration—in a very short space of time. I suspect that there was maybe a week’s time involved in the planning of this event, as the Ark was only kept at Obed-Edom’s home for a period of 3 months. During this time, God’s blessing had become quite noticeable, so that the Ark was understood to be the source of blessing. It would make little sense for God’s blessing to be evident in much less than these 3 months. Someone had to actually observe, from the outside, what was happening on Obed-Edom’s ranch, and this observation is what led David to decide to try again to move the Ark of God. Also, David had apparently studied the Word of God in the meantime, and he figured out what went wrong in his first attempt to move the Ark.

Let me back up a bit: David had already tried to move the Ark into Jerusalem, and one faithful man died as a result from an action which obviously was not some sort of calculated evil. The Ark appeared to become jarred and ready to fall, and this man (Uzziah) reached out his hand to steady the Ark, and he died right there on the spot. So David took the Ark to the nearest residence, the home of Obed-Edom, and he studied the Scriptures in order to figure out what to do. After 3 short months, it becomes obvious that Obed-Edom is being blessed by housing the Ark.

So, David tells Asaph to make these preparations to move the Ark, and Asaph does, organizing quite a remarkable celebration where psalms are sung and musical instruments are played. Asaph may have written some of the psalms and he may have taken some of the psalms out of the ever growing collection of psalms. Therefore, it is reasonable to suppose that David wrote this psalm, as per the Greek inscription (to be discussed in depth later) or that Asaph himself wrote this psalm (which is less likely, and would contradict the Greek inscription). There is no inscription in the Hebrew and, apart from this psalm being reproduced is almost its entirety in 1Chron. 16, we have no other clues as to its authorship.

I am having a more difficult time than usual summarizing and outlining this particular psalm. We begin with 6 commands in vv. 1–3 and 8 commands in vv. 7–10. The numbers here are unusual. 7 is often related to divine things, but 6 is the number of man. I am not completely certain what the number 8 seems to indicate. Interestingly enough, none of the sources which I refer to have clear outlines either. In all other psalms, I am able to supplement my own outline from 3 to 6 different outlines, which are generally quite prominent. However, in this situation, I found only two clear outlines.

Of these imperatives at the beginning of the psalm, the first 3 are the same; and of the imperatives of the middle of this psalm, the first 3 are the same. The 3^rd time sing s found, it is followed by the phrase bless His name; the 3^rd time ascribe (give) is used, it is in conjunction with His name. After His name, we have Jesus (salvation) mentioned in the first part; and after His name we have an offering mentioned. So we apparently have a parallelism being set up, and to associate salvation (Jesus) with an offering. So we clearly have some parallels here, but they are still not easy to apply an outline to. Essentially, I am thinking out loud here.

In any case, we begin with 6 imperatives in the first 3 verses, which at first deal with singing, but the final two are clearly content filled, where the hearer is enjoined to tell, to proclaim. In vv. 3b–6, we are told why we ought to proclaim Jehovah Elohim above all other gods. In vv. 7–10, we have 8 more imperatives, ending with very interesting language about the earth and God’s judgment of all people (vv. 11–13).

Very few commentators attempted any sort of an outline for this psalm. Keil and Delitzsch write: The five six–line strophes of the Psalm before us are not to be mistaken. The chronicler has done away with five lines, and thereby disorganized the strophic structure; and one line (Psalm 96:10) he has removed from its position. I don’t really follow what they are saying, except that, the structure is disorganized.
Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge Outline Psalm 96
Scripture	Primary Focus of Section
Psalm 96:1–3	An exhortation to praise God
Psalm 96:4–7	An exhortation to praise God for his greatness.
Psalm 96:8–10	An exhortation to praise God for his kingdom
Psalm 96:11–13	An exhortation to praise God for his general judgment

The approach which the Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge takes is, they make the imperatives the 1^st section, followed by non-imperatives for the 2^nd; followed by imperatives for the 3^rd section, followed by non-imperatives for the 4^th section. This certainly has as much merit as my outline has, and there are some parallels to be drawn, but they do not seem to continue throughout the entirely of the psalm.

Taken from Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge; by Canne, Browne, Blayney, Scott, and others about 1880, with introduction by R. A. Torrey; courtesy of E-sword, Psalm 96 Introduction.

Chapter Outline

Charts, Maps and Short Doctrines

The NIV Study Bible has even a simpler outline:
The NIV Study Bible Outline of Psalm 96
Scripture	Primary Focus of Section
Psalm 96:1–6	A call to all nations to sing the praise of the Lord.
Psalm 96:7–12	A call to all nations to worship the Lord and to hail throughout the world the glory of His righteous role.

The NIV Study Bible suggests that each section can be further subdivided into two sections.

Chapter Outline

Charts, Maps and Short Doctrines

There is a general pervasive theme in this psalm: the universality of Jehovah Elohim and the fact that the God of the Jews will judge all mankind. This is the fundamental thrust of Psalm 96.

When it comes to the outline of this psalm, I don’t think that I have done it justice, nor do I find great work done by other scholars either. I have this nagging suspicion that there is a key which unlocks and helps all of this to fit together as it should. David tends to have intricately organized psalms.

Now, despite the lack of a good outline, there is a general pervasive theme in this psalm: the universality of Jehovah Elohim and the fact that the God of the Jews will judge all mankind. This understanding is the basis of this psalm. First of all, this psalm is clearly directed to all the nations (vv. 3, 7, 9–10, 13). Secondly, the true God of all mankind is Jehovah Elohim (vv. 2, 4, 7–10, 13) because the gods of these heathen nations are empty, meaningless idols (vv. 4–5). This is the fundamental thrust of Psalm 96. If you understand this, navigating the psalm is easy.

There are remarkable similarities with this psalm and Psalm 95—specifically, the first 6 verses of Psalm 95 and the first 9 verses of this psalm. Being that we find these psalms together, and that the LXX also attributes Psalm 95 to David, it is reasonable that he composed them around the same time. In the latter portion of Psalm 95, David specifically speaks about the Meribah generation—Gen X—and, given that David is moving the Ark after studying the Old Testament (that which is available to him), it is reasonable that he would become inspired to write about some of the things which he finds in his Old Testament (the books of the Law, Genesis, and perhaps Job, Judges, Joshua, and Ruth).

Let me take these points and put them together.

David is the Author of Psalm 96

1. Psalm 96 is sung to celebrate David moving the Ark of God from the home of Obed-Edom into Jerusalem. Therefore, this psalm was written in a time period consistent with Davidic authorship. 1Chron. 16:23–33

2. The LXX attributes both Psalms 95 and 96 to David. Both psalms are very similar to one another. Psalm 95 is clearly the result of the author knowing the true issues involved in the exodus with the Meribah generation. At the very least, some one at some time, believed that David was the author of this and the previous psalm.

3. This comports quite well with the idea that David, when his first attempt to move the Ark of God failed, went back and read up on the Ark in the Law of God, his Old Testament. We would expect that whatever David writes to reveal a knowledge of Old Testament Scripture, and Psalm 95 clearly shows that.

4. David, being a musical sort, would be inspired to write about what he has read, and what could be more inspiring than the Meribah generation? I say that only partly tongue-in-cheek. I grew up with one particularly bad influence in my life, and I knew from a very early age that, if this person zigged, then I ought to zag. We learn from bad examples. Every believer who examines the life of David ought to recognize that he screwed up about a decade of his life by making some wrong decisions; and this should inform us. But, I digress. What is important is, the similarity between Psalms 95 and 96; their close proximity, and the name of David being affixed to both psalms in the Greek suggests that David is the author.

There is only one aspect of this psalm which suggests other than a Davidic authorship: this psalm is difficult to organize, and David’s psalms tend to be extremely well-organized. In fact, they tend to be so carefully organized, that if you miss the key to the organization, then you cannot recognize the organization itself.

Now, just because I don’t recognize a careful organization in this psalm does not mean that one does not exist. However, this minor detail has caused several commentators to furrow their brows.

Chapter Outline

Charts, Maps and Short Doctrines

Although I have done a commentary on Psalm 95, I wrote it back in 1997, when I was just beginning to write commentary; therefore, it definitely needs to be updated.

Matthew Henry comments about this Psalm: This psalm is a prophecy of the calling of the Gentiles; all the earth will have this new song put into their mouths, will have both cause and be called upon to sing it. The subject-matter of this song is His salvation, the great salvation which was to be brought about by the Lord Jesus; that must be shown forth as the cause of this joy and praise.

It is fascinating that, Psalm 95 speaks of the negative volition and failure of Israel and that this psalm speaks of the Messiah and evangelizing the Gentiles. This would give the pastor-teacher two different approaches to this psalm: (1) teach these psalms separately, as warranted in Scripture (for instance, Psalm 96 could be read either along side 1Chron. 16 or with the book of Nehemiah) and Psalm 95 after a study of the Pentateuch; or (2) as a pair of psalms taught consecutively, to introduce, for instance, Rom. 9, where, because of the negative volition of Israel, God has gone to the Gentiles. These two psalms illustrate God’s change of focus, without necessarily revealing any Church Age mystery doctrine (http://www.realtime.net/~wdoud/topics/mystery.html is a good link which will give you a quick and dirty look at the Mystery Doctrines).

Chapter Outline

Charts, Maps and Short Doctrines

This does lead me to a digression: how does the Old Testament relate to the mystery doctrine of the Church Age? The Church Age itself is a mystery to those in the Old Testament—no one saw it coming. The Church Age is rarely mentioned in the gospels (I believe the Upper Room Discourse is the only place where there is any amount of concentrated teaching pertinent to the Church Age).

The Old Testament and the Mystery Doctrines

1. We need to define some basic terms to begin with:

a. A dispensation is a period of time seen from the divine perspective. This word actually refers to the administration of a household, and a dispensation tells us how God administers His household here on earth. Like many words of Scripture, this was a secular term appropriated by the Apostle Paul and given a non-secular application. Bob Thieme Jr. did this as well, appropriating such terms as rebound, the Forward Line of Troops, etc.

b. The Age of Israel, which begins with the Patriarchs in Genesis and is suspended (not ended) around the time of the 1^st advent of Jesus Christ, and therefore, takes in the bulk of the Old Testament.

c. The Church Age follows, beginning at the day of Pentecost after our Lord’s ascension into heaven.

d. Some theologians (like R. B. Thieme III), speak of the 1^st advent of our Lord as a separate dispensation—the Dispensation of the Hypostatic Union. There are portions of Daniel which lay out a specific time table for the Age of Israel, and at some point in time, I need to put that to paper.

2. Paul, throughout his epistles, speaks of mystery doctrines. This term mystery refers to doctrines which are not known to those outside a Greek fraternity or organization (again, giving a secular term and non-secular meaning). A modern-day equivalent might be the Skull and Crossbones fraternity at Harvard. Those inside the fraternity know the doctrines, rules, regulations, and aims of their organization. Those outside the fraternity do not know these things.

3. These mystery doctrines are doctrines peculiar to the Church Age and not found in any previous dispensation. This would include the universal indwelling of the Holy Spirit, God the Father and God the Son; the baptism of the Holy Spirit; the filling of the Holy Spirit, and, the biggie: that God is working through an organization different from Israel (i.e., the very existence of the Church Age).

4. These mystery doctrines were not known to believers in the Age of Israel. These mystery doctrines were not even known to the Apostles, for the most part (which is not saying much, as they seemed to understand very little during the 1^st Advent).

5. However, in the Upper Room Discourse and in the epistles of Paul (as well as in the other epistles), we have the mystery doctrines of the Church Age laid out.

6. So, I would think that, with Paul’s use of the term mystery (μυστήριον), that no one could go to the Old Testament and pontificate on the Church Age or on the doctrines of the Church Age.

7. However, the Church Age was never hidden from Jesus Christ. The Church Age was never hidden from God the Holy Spirit. All members of the Godhead are in on the plan of God the Father. Therefore, we should not be surprised to find passages in the Old Testament which at least give us hints about the coming Church Age. The Holy Spirit knows about all the dispensations; the Holy Spirit understands every doctrine and every mechanic of every period of time. Therefore, it is not inconceivable that there are going to be passages that, after the fact, reveal to us that God the Holy Spirit knew about the Church Age and He tells us about it to some limited degree, without betraying the mystery doctrines or the fact of the Church Age itself.

8. Therefore, from the perspective of the Church Age—and taking into account the perspective of those living during the Age of Israel—we may find things within this psalm which at least suggests what is coming.

9. As a general rule, we may expect that no Old Testament is going to give us any specifics about the Church Age nor will it tell us about the doctrines which are peculiar to Church Age believers. However, the Old Testament is written by God the Holy Spirit, as per our definition of the inspiration of Scripture, and since the Holy Spirit knows the entire plan of God, there will be, from time to time, passages which reveal that the Holy Spirit knows God’s plan in its entirety.

10. I am trying to come up with an illustration of this, and I can come up with two possible ones:

a. There is some organization called the Turtles with the one cardinal rule that, if someone asks you point blank, “Are you a Turtle?” you must answer “You bet your sweet ass I am.” I believe that someone asked Johnny Carson this question, roughly a Millennium ago, on national tv, and he gave the appropriate response. At that time, using that kind of language on national tv was shocking, to say the least. Someone who was not a Turtle would have been nonplused by such a question.

b. I am sure that the Skull and Crossbones organization has a secret handshake. If you meet a fellow S and C guy, you might share this handshake. A person who is a S and C member who is about ready to shake hands with someone he thinks is a fellow member, may begin to use the secret handshake, but change to a normal handshake when he sees that person is not responding in that way.

c. Apart from these things, you may not realize that this or that person is a Turtle or a member of the S and C organization, but there are things that they might do from time to time which reveal their knowledge of their respective organizations, without revealing any real secrets. This is what we will find from time to time in the Bible. The Holy Spirit knows the end from the beginning, and when we also know some of these things, we can recognize it.

d. Two simple examples are, when God clothed Adam and Eve with animal skins, as an unbeliever, we might read this and have no idea what is going on. However, God had to cover their sins, and this was done by the representative sacrifice of an animal. When God had respect for Abel’s sacrifice but not for Cain’s vegetables, and unbeliever reading this would have no idea why God would seem to be so arbitrary. A believer with doctrine would understand that this is the difference between an animal sacrifice and human works.

11. So, the deal is this: God the Holy Spirit knows all of human history, from beginning to end. These things may not necessarily be known specifically from the Old Testament, but, when viewing the Old Testament from our period of time, it is obvious that God the Holy Spirit reveals more to us in His Word than even the human author realizes.

Just in case you think I am making this Turtle thing up, see http://ruaturtle.com Also, I am only guessing about the Skull and Crossbones handshake.

Chapter Outline

Charts, Maps and Short Doctrines

Psalm 96 Inscription

The occasion of this psalm is clear: it was sung the second time that David moved the Ark of God. However, the inscription which is found in the Greek says something about the captivity and the building of the house (the Temple?). Therefore, we need to examine in depth, this inscription which is found in the Greek, but not in the Hebrew.

Right away, with the inscription, we run into problems with Psalm 96. We do not find an inscription in the Hebrew but we find one in the Greek and Latin. Furthermore, the inscription is all about David building his house and it is said to be after the captivity, which is somewhat confusing, as we would expect the word captivity to refer to those of Judah being taken away to Babylon, which took place several hundred years after the time of David. It might be best just to lay these problems out one by one.

Problems with the Inscription of Psalm 96

1. There is no inscription in the Hebrew, but there is in the Greek and Latin.

2. It is clear that this psalm was sung when David brought the Ark into Jerusalem, based upon the text of 1Chron. 16.

3. The Greek text speaks of this being written when David had his house (palace) built.

4. It is possible that we should separate David, the named author, from the building of this house. Perhaps this is speaking of the building of the Temple?

5. The Greek also speaks of this being built in relation to the captivity, which is generally understood to refer to the Babylonian captivity, which takes place 400 years after the time of David.