Fear before him, all the earth: the world also shall be stable, that it be not moved.
All the earth is called to stand in reverent fear before the Lord and worship Him in holiness, for the world is firmly established by Him and cannot be moved. It is sung as part of the psalm of praise given when the ark was brought to Jerusalem, reproducing Psalm 96 with slight variation in singable, poetic form that gives inanimate creation the language of rational beings. It charges God's pilgrim people as priests to declare His glory, salvation, works and Word among all nations so that Gentiles may be converted and know Him. That worship is due to Him as supreme King whose sovereign right remains, and is urged in view of His judgment when offering life gives way to examination, sentence and execution.
Setting and Literary Form
Fear before him, all the earth, with its declaration that the world is established so it will not be moved, is part of the psalm David gave to be sung when the ark of God was brought to Jerusalem. That psalm is a prayer and praise written in a form to be sung. It belongs to 1 Chronicles 16:23-33, which contains Psalm 96.
That section reproduces the whole of Psalm 96 with some slight variations. It is a revised and somewhat altered version of that psalm. In the same way, 1 Chronicles 16:8-22 contains the first fifteen verses of Psalm 105. The chapter is thus parallel to Psalm 105, and its commandments are connected with the promise extending to a thousand generations.
The verse is poetry, not prose. Its language is figurative poetic diction that must not be construed literally with the strict force of a prose statement. This is the manner in which Scripture gives to inanimate things the sentiments, actions and language of rational beings, as where all the trees sing out at the presence of God.
Worship and Enduring Stability
All the earth is called to fear before the Lord and to worship Him in holiness, acknowledging His greatness and authority. This call belongs to the psalm given to be sung when the ark was brought to Jerusalem, declaring that all the earth should fear before the Lord. The world is therein declared to be established so that it will not be moved.
Glory is to be given to God in view of His judgment, and worship and reverence are due to Him on that ground. The wider passage of 1 Chronicles 16:23-34 speaks of the close of probation, when the period in which life is offered to humanity gives way to judgment. That judgment proceeds through examination of cases, then the passing of sentence, and then its execution.
The world is established so that it shall not be moved, and its stability is assured because God remains its supreme King. Adam's dominion was subordinate, and no act of his could cancel God's sovereign right over the earth.
Witness to the Nations
The verse stands within Israel's charge to declare the glory of Jehovah among the nations, that the Gentiles themselves might be turned to Him. God's people were set apart as His priests to make Him known to the world by living His law openly before other nations in order to win them. When persons from the nations gave themselves to God, one and the same law was to govern both Israel and those converts.
The wider passage shows that the law was given in the solitudes of the great world to a pilgrim people called out to be priests to the whole world. That people were appointed to proclaim God's glory among all the nations, and the very manner of the giving of the law in such solitude attested its importance. The verse belongs to a proclamation that God's salvation is to be made known throughout the world both through His works and by His Word. That worldwide proclamation proves that the gospel had in the past been preached extensively and across the whole world. It calls all the earth to reverence God while presenting the world as established so that it shall not be moved.
All the earth is called to stand in reverent fear before the Lord and worship Him in holiness, for the world is firmly established by Him and cannot be moved. It is sung as part of the psalm of praise given when the ark was brought to Jerusalem, reproducing Psalm 96 with slight variation in singable, poetic form that gives inanimate creation the language of rational beings. It charges God's pilgrim people as priests to declare His glory, salvation, works and Word among all nations so that Gentiles may be converted and know Him. That worship is due to Him as supreme King whose sovereign right remains, and is urged in view of His judgment when offering life gives way to examination, sentence and execution.
Setting and Literary Form
Fear before him, all the earth, with its declaration that the world is established so it will not be moved, is part of the psalm David gave to be sung when the ark of God was brought to Jerusalem. That psalm is a prayer and praise written in a form to be sung. It belongs to 1 Chronicles 16:23-33, which contains Psalm 96.
That section reproduces the whole of Psalm 96 with some slight variations. It is a revised and somewhat altered version of that psalm. In the same way, 1 Chronicles 16:8-22 contains the first fifteen verses of Psalm 105. The chapter is thus parallel to Psalm 105, and its commandments are connected with the promise extending to a thousand generations.
The verse is poetry, not prose. Its language is figurative poetic diction that must not be construed literally with the strict force of a prose statement. This is the manner in which Scripture gives to inanimate things the sentiments, actions and language of rational beings, as where all the trees sing out at the presence of God.
Worship and Enduring Stability
All the earth is called to fear before the Lord and to worship Him in holiness, acknowledging His greatness and authority. This call belongs to the psalm given to be sung when the ark was brought to Jerusalem, declaring that all the earth should fear before the Lord. The world is therein declared to be established so that it will not be moved.
Glory is to be given to God in view of His judgment, and worship and reverence are due to Him on that ground. The wider passage of 1 Chronicles 16:23-34 speaks of the close of probation, when the period in which life is offered to humanity gives way to judgment. That judgment proceeds through examination of cases, then the passing of sentence, and then its execution.
The world is established so that it shall not be moved, and its stability is assured because God remains its supreme King. Adam's dominion was subordinate, and no act of his could cancel God's sovereign right over the earth.
Witness to the Nations
The verse stands within Israel's charge to declare the glory of Jehovah among the nations, that the Gentiles themselves might be turned to Him. God's people were set apart as His priests to make Him known to the world by living His law openly before other nations in order to win them. When persons from the nations gave themselves to God, one and the same law was to govern both Israel and those converts.
The wider passage shows that the law was given in the solitudes of the great world to a pilgrim people called out to be priests to the whole world. That people were appointed to proclaim God's glory among all the nations, and the very manner of the giving of the law in such solitude attested its importance. The verse belongs to a proclamation that God's salvation is to be made known throughout the world both through His works and by His Word. That worldwide proclamation proves that the gospel had in the past been preached extensively and across the whole world. It calls all the earth to reverence God while presenting the world as established so that it shall not be moved.