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Psalm 96 · a question people ask

Psalm 96 has no title. Who wrote it, and why is it also in 1 Chronicles?

In the text

In the WEB, Psalm 96 opens with its own words, "Sing to the LORD a new song!" (Psalm 96:1), with no title, and it names no singer. Most of its lines stand in the song of 1 Chronicles 16:23-33, which comes after "Then on that day David first ordained giving of thanks to the LORD by the hand of Asaph and his brothers" (1 Chronicles 16:7); the chapter on 1 Chronicles 16 looks at what that verse says and doesn't say, sets the differences side by side, and notes that the song has neither the psalm's first line nor the words it ends with (Psalm 96:1, 96:13). Psalm 96 has two more lines the song doesn't: "Sing to the LORD! Bless his name!" (Psalm 96:2), and "He will judge the peoples with equity" (Psalm 96:10). And it says "for he comes" twice (Psalm 96:13), where the song says it once (1 Chronicles 16:33). Neither book says which came first, and these notes don't say either.

The verses

“Sing to the LORD a new song! Sing to the LORD, all the earth. Sing to the LORD! Bless his name! Proclaim his salvation from day to day!”
Psalm 96:1-2 · World English Bible
“Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns.” The world is also established. It can’t be moved. He will judge the peoples with equity.”
Psalm 96:10 · World English Bible
“before the LORD; for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, the peoples with his truth.”
Psalm 96:13 · World English Bible
“Then on that day David first ordained giving of thanks to the LORD by the hand of Asaph and his brothers.”
1 Chronicles 16:7 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Psalm 96

Psalm 96: Say among the nations

Psalm 96 says Sing to the LORD three times and Ascribe to the LORD three times, and sends the praise out: "Declare his glory among the nations" (96:3). And it says "for he comes" twice (96:13), where the same line in 1 Chronicles 16:33 and the close of Psalm 98 say it once.

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions