Declare his glory among the heathen; his marvellous works among all nations.
This song of praise for bringing the ark to Jerusalem calls God's people to make His goodness, character, truth and wonderful acts known to every people. It repeats Psalm 96 in poetic form, giving voice even to lifeless creation to sing before Him, and its picture language is not to be taken as plain prose. The Lord entrusted His law and truth to Israel not for themselves alone but that the whole nation might serve as His priest to the world by living it before the nations. To declare His glory is to preach His gospel and salvation to all the world in word and in daily life, because He alone is great and worthy of worship while the gods of the nations are idols and He made the heavens. This is a blessed duty and privilege given to the people best fitted to bear it, and when kings like Hezekiah would not show God's grace and power in prosperity but showed only his treasures to Babylon, God still carried His witness forward in adversity and captivity through Daniel and his companions.
Words and Setting
The verse belongs to an inspiring psalm of prayer and praise associated with bringing the ark of God to Jerusalem, written in a form to be sung. It stands in 1 Chronicles 16:23-33 as the record of Psalm 96, set as prayer and praise to be sung. That passage parallels and reproduces the whole of Psalm 96 with revisions, alterations and slight variations, just as 1 Chronicles 16:8-22 reproduces the first fifteen verses of Psalm 105. It is Hebrew poetry whose figurative poetic language must not be construed literally as prose. Scripture here personifies things without life and makes them speak and act as though alive, so that inanimate creation is given voice to declare God's glory among the nations, where all the trees sing out at the presence of God.
To declare his glory is to declare his goodness, character, and truth, together with his marvelous works. The mention of 1 Chronicles 16 connects it with Psalm 105, since both associate keeping God's commandments with a thousand generations. That connection rejects the claim that the promise of the land means the world's end must be far in the future, since the land is promised to those who belong to Christ, not to the Jews by physical descent.
Witness to Nations
Israel was called while still a pilgrim people in the wilderness to be priest to the whole world, for truth and law were given not for Israel alone and not to be kept within Israel but to be lived before the nations, and the very giving of the law attested the importance of that calling. To declare glory among the heathen and marvelous works among all nations is to preach the gospel and make salvation known to all the world and all peoples, in word and in life, in precept and in daily conduct, both by works and by Word. Those who receive the word reveal to others the life it has changed in them by proclaiming what God has done, declaring goodness and character and truth together with marvelous works. The call is universal because the Lord alone is great and worthy of praise, while the gods of the nations are idols but the Lord made the heavens, so that all the earth is to worship and fear Him and the Gentiles might be converted and won.
It is a blessed duty and great privilege laid on God's people and their kings, for the gospel the world needed was entrusted to the people best fitted to give it, to whom were given the adoption and the glory and the covenants and the law and the service of God and the promises for this purpose. They were placed in the great highway of nations, and the least of the nations was chosen so all would see the work as God's rather than man's. If His people will not witness in prosperity, the work will still be carried forward by witness in adversity, even through the heathen. When healing from sickness unto death prolonged Hezekiah's life fifteen years, the visit of ambassadors from distant powers including Babylon was a glorious opportunity to show forth salvation and grace and goodness and power and to satisfy their spiritual need, but he told nothing of grace and goodness and showed only silver and gold and spices and oil and armor and treasures, arousing Babylon's greed instead of meeting its need. Because royalty would not witness for God in peace and prosperity on the throne, it had to witness in strife and adversity and captivity, so Jerusalem fell and its treasure and royal seed including Daniel and his three companions were carried to Babylon.
Glory and marvelous works are to be proclaimed among the nations during humanity's probation, and salvation proclaimed to all the world both in works and by Word proves the gospel had already gone out worldwide in the past.
This song of praise for bringing the ark to Jerusalem calls God's people to make His goodness, character, truth and wonderful acts known to every people. It repeats Psalm 96 in poetic form, giving voice even to lifeless creation to sing before Him, and its picture language is not to be taken as plain prose. The Lord entrusted His law and truth to Israel not for themselves alone but that the whole nation might serve as His priest to the world by living it before the nations. To declare His glory is to preach His gospel and salvation to all the world in word and in daily life, because He alone is great and worthy of worship while the gods of the nations are idols and He made the heavens. This is a blessed duty and privilege given to the people best fitted to bear it, and when kings like Hezekiah would not show God's grace and power in prosperity but showed only his treasures to Babylon, God still carried His witness forward in adversity and captivity through Daniel and his companions.
Words and Setting
The verse belongs to an inspiring psalm of prayer and praise associated with bringing the ark of God to Jerusalem, written in a form to be sung. It stands in 1 Chronicles 16:23-33 as the record of Psalm 96, set as prayer and praise to be sung. That passage parallels and reproduces the whole of Psalm 96 with revisions, alterations and slight variations, just as 1 Chronicles 16:8-22 reproduces the first fifteen verses of Psalm 105. It is Hebrew poetry whose figurative poetic language must not be construed literally as prose. Scripture here personifies things without life and makes them speak and act as though alive, so that inanimate creation is given voice to declare God's glory among the nations, where all the trees sing out at the presence of God.
To declare his glory is to declare his goodness, character, and truth, together with his marvelous works. The mention of 1 Chronicles 16 connects it with Psalm 105, since both associate keeping God's commandments with a thousand generations. That connection rejects the claim that the promise of the land means the world's end must be far in the future, since the land is promised to those who belong to Christ, not to the Jews by physical descent.
Witness to Nations
Israel was called while still a pilgrim people in the wilderness to be priest to the whole world, for truth and law were given not for Israel alone and not to be kept within Israel but to be lived before the nations, and the very giving of the law attested the importance of that calling. To declare glory among the heathen and marvelous works among all nations is to preach the gospel and make salvation known to all the world and all peoples, in word and in life, in precept and in daily conduct, both by works and by Word. Those who receive the word reveal to others the life it has changed in them by proclaiming what God has done, declaring goodness and character and truth together with marvelous works. The call is universal because the Lord alone is great and worthy of praise, while the gods of the nations are idols but the Lord made the heavens, so that all the earth is to worship and fear Him and the Gentiles might be converted and won.
It is a blessed duty and great privilege laid on God's people and their kings, for the gospel the world needed was entrusted to the people best fitted to give it, to whom were given the adoption and the glory and the covenants and the law and the service of God and the promises for this purpose. They were placed in the great highway of nations, and the least of the nations was chosen so all would see the work as God's rather than man's. If His people will not witness in prosperity, the work will still be carried forward by witness in adversity, even through the heathen. When healing from sickness unto death prolonged Hezekiah's life fifteen years, the visit of ambassadors from distant powers including Babylon was a glorious opportunity to show forth salvation and grace and goodness and power and to satisfy their spiritual need, but he told nothing of grace and goodness and showed only silver and gold and spices and oil and armor and treasures, arousing Babylon's greed instead of meeting its need. Because royalty would not witness for God in peace and prosperity on the throne, it had to witness in strife and adversity and captivity, so Jerusalem fell and its treasure and royal seed including Daniel and his three companions were carried to Babylon.
Glory and marvelous works are to be proclaimed among the nations during humanity's probation, and salvation proclaimed to all the world both in works and by Word proves the gospel had already gone out worldwide in the past.