1. God rules all history now. It is difficult to appreciate this fact sometimes because there is so much unrighteousness and violence in the world. Nevertheless, God does rule in the sense that he both holds the evil in check and also intervenes to judge it in history from time to time.
Derek Kidner calls the third stanza of this four-part poem "The King's Due,” which is a good description since it is about the glory due God for his greatness (vv. 7-9).
Derek Kidner calls the first six verses of the psalm "The King's Glory." The first point the psalmist makes about God's glory, that is, why he is "most worthy of praise," is that "he is to be feared above all gods” (v. 4).
As we saw yesterday, Psalm 96 provides a model of how we can praise God. There are two things to notice especially.
There must have been many joyful moments in the lifetime of King David, but to judge from the narratives the brightest of all must have been when the ark of God was brought to Jerusalem from its temporary resting place in the house of Obed-Edom. Thousands of people were assembled, led by hundreds of priests. There were choirs and an orchestra. And when the priests set out with the ark their steps were heralded by the sounding of rams' horns and trumpets, the clash of cymbals, and the plucking of lyres and harps. David was so delighted that he threw decorum aside and danced among the people before the Lord.
