“For the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods.”
My Notes
What Does Psalms 96:4 Mean?
"For the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods." Nearly identical to Psalm 95:3, this verse adds "greatly to be praised" — the praise should match the greatness. If God is great, the praise must be great. Small praise for a great God is a contradiction. The addition of "feared" (yare — reverenced, held in awe) adds the weight of sobriety to the joy of praise. Proper worship includes both: great praise and genuine fear.
The phrase "above all gods" in Psalm 96 carries missionary implications — the psalm calls for worship from "all the earth" (v. 1) and "among the heathen" (v. 3). The LORD isn't just Israel's God. He's the God who deserves worship from every nation because he outranks every other divine claim on the planet.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Is your praise proportional to God's greatness — or has it become routine and undersized?
- 2.How do you hold together 'greatly praised' (joy) and 'greatly feared' (reverence) in the same worship?
- 3.What fear currently ranks higher in your life than the fear of the LORD?
- 4.How does this psalm's missionary scope ('all the earth') challenge a private, localized understanding of worship?
Devotional
Great. Greatly to be praised. Greatly to be feared. The adjective demands a proportional response. If God is great — and the psalm says he is — then everything directed toward him should be great too. Great praise. Great reverence. Great worship from a great number of people.
Greatly to be praised. The adverb modifies the praise itself. Not just praised. Greatly praised. Praised with intensity. Praised with volume. Praised with the kind of full-spectrum, full-body investment that matches the object of the praise. If your praise is mediocre, either you don't believe God is great or you're not responding proportionally to what you believe.
Feared above all gods. The fear here is reverential awe — the kind that makes you take your shoes off rather than run away. The other gods don't produce this fear. Baal doesn't make you tremble. Money doesn't make you awe-struck. Status doesn't produce reverence. Only the living God, the creator of everything, the judge of all, the one whose holiness is a consuming fire — only he is to be feared. And the fear goes above all other fears. Higher than your fear of failure. Higher than your fear of people. Higher than your fear of the future. The fear of the LORD is above all of them.
All the earth (v. 1). Among the heathen (v. 3). This psalm isn't for Israel's private use. It's a missionary psalm — calling every nation to recognize what Israel already knows: the LORD is great. And the response every nation should produce — once they see it — is praise and fear in equal measure.
Great God. Great praise. Great fear. The proportions should match.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
For the Lord is great,.... In the perfections of his nature; in the works of his hands, of creation, providence, and…
For the Lord is great - Yahweh is great. See the notes at Psa 77:13. This verse is taken literally from 1Ch 16:25. And…
These verses will be best expounded by pious and devout affections working in our souls towards God, with a high…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture