Psalms 96:4

“Praise him with the timbrel and dance, etc.] Or “pipe”f1983; (see Gill on “<19E903>Psalm 149:3”); praise him with stringed instruments; or divers “kinds”f1984 of instruments not named, as R. Saadiah Gaon; and which, as Aben Ezra says, had all one sound or note; what they were is not known, as also many of them that are particularly mentioned; and organs; which have their name from the loveliness of their sound; these are of ancient original and use, (<010421>Genesis 4:21 <182112>Job 21:12 30:31); but were not of the same kind with those now in use, which are of much later invention.”

“For the Lord is great - Yahweh is great. See the notes at Psalms 77:13. This verse is taken literally from 1 Chronicles 16:25. And greatly to be praised - Worthy of exalted praise and adoration. He is to be feared above all gods - He is to be reverenced and adored above all that are called gods. Higher honor is to be given him; more lofty praise is to be ascribed to him. He is Ruler over all the earth, and has a claim to universal praise. Even if it were admitted that they were real gods, yet it would still be true that they were local and inferior divinities; that they ruled only over the particular countries where they were worshipped and acknowledged as gods, and that they had no claim to…”

“Gods - The gods of the nations, as the next verse expounds it. Psalms 96:6”

“96:4-6 The gods of the nations are as nothing before the glorious and majestic Creator of the earth. 96:4 Great is the Lord! . . . most worthy of praise: With this refrain, the poet exalts the Lord over all the gods (95:3) and nations (99:2). He inspires awe more than anyone or anything else (76:7, 12; 89:7; 99:3; 111:9). He is beyond human possession or comprehension. The story of what he does to redeem his people causes them to praise him.”

“For the: Psa 18:3, Psa 86:10, Psa 89:7, Psa 145:3; Exo 18:11; Sa1 4:8; Neh 9:5 and greatly: Psa 18:3 he is: Psa 66:3, Psa 66:5, Psa 76:7, Psa 89:7, Psa 95:3; Jer 5:22, Jer 10:6, Jer 10:7; Luk 12:5; Rev 15:4 Psalms 96:5”

“Confirmation of the call from the glory of Jahve that is now become manifest. The clause Psa 96:4, as also Psa 145:3, is taken out of Psa 48:2. כל־אלהים is the plural of כּל־אלוהּ, every god, Ch2 32:15; the article may stand here or be omitted ( Psa 95:3, cf. Psa 113:4). All the elohim, i.e., gods, of the peoples are אלילים (from the negative אל), nothings and good-for-nothings, unreal and useless. The lxx renders δαιμόνια, as though the expression were שׁדים (cf. Co1 10:20), more correctly εἴδωλα in Rev 9:20. What Psa 96:5 says is wrought out in Isa 40, Isa 44, and elsewhere; אלילים is a name of idols that occurs nowhere more frequently than in Isaiah. The sanctuary ( Psa 96:6) is here…”