John Calvin Commentary Psalms 96:4

"For great is Jehovah, and greatly to be praised: He is to be feared above all gods." — Psalms 96:4 (ASV)

For Jehovah is great, and greatly to be praised. He particularly describes that God, whom he wants people to celebrate, and this is because the Gentile nations were prone to fall into error on this subject. So that the whole world might renounce its superstitions and unite in the true religion, he points out the one true God who is worthy of universal praise.

This is a point of the greatest importance. Unless people are restrained by proper respect for it, they can only dishonor him all the more when they attempt to worship him. We must observe this order if we are not to profane the name of God and count ourselves among unbelieving people, who put forward gods of their own invention.

The term gods in the verse can mean, as I observed already (Psalms 95:3), either angels or idols. I am still of the opinion that the term comprehends whatever is, or is considered, deity. As God, so to speak, sends rays of himself throughout all the world by his angels, these reflect some sparks of his Divinity.

People, again, in framing idols, fashion for themselves gods that have no existence. The Psalmist seeks to convince them that it is a gross error to ascribe undue honor either to the angels or to idols, thus detracting from the glory of the one true God. He convicts the pagan nations of clear infatuation, on the grounds that their gods are vanity and nothing, for such is the meaning of the Hebrew word אלילים , elilim, which is here applied to idols in contempt.

The Psalmist’s great point is to show that, since the Godhead is truly to be found only in the one Maker of the world, those religions that corrupt the pure worship of him are vain and contemptible.

Some may ask: Are angels then to be considered nothing and vanity, merely because many have been deceived in thinking them gods? I would reply that we wrong the angels when we give them the honor that is due to God alone. And while, for this reason, we are not to maintain that they are nothing in themselves, yet whatever imaginary glory has been attached to them must count for nothing. But the Psalmist is considering the gross delusions of the pagans, who impiously fashioned gods for themselves.

Before refuting their absurd notions, he very properly remarks about God that he is great, and greatly to be praised. — insinuating that his glory as the infinite One far excels any glory they dreamt was attached to their idols. We cannot help but notice the confidence with which the Psalmist asserts the glory of the true God, in opposition to the universal opinion that people might hold.

The people of God at that time were called to maintain a conflict of no small or ordinary kind with the vast array and enormous weight of superstitions that then filled the whole world. It might be said that the true God was confined to the obscure corner of Judea. Jupiter was the god universally accepted — and adored throughout all of Asia, Europe, and Africa.

Every country had its own particular gods, but these were also known in other regions, and it was only the true God who was robbed of the glory that belonged to him. All the world had conspired to believe a lie. Yet the Psalmist, aware that the vain delusions of people could take nothing away from the glory of the one God, looks down with indifference on the opinion and universal consensus of humanity.

The inference is clear: we must not conclude that the religion meeting with the approval of the multitude is necessarily the true one. For the Psalmist's judgment would have immediately collapsed if religion were something to be determined by the votes of people, and the worship of God depended on their whim.

So, however many may agree in error, we shall insist, following the Holy Spirit, that they cannot diminish God’s glory. For humanity is vanity itself, and all that comes from humanity is to be distrusted. Having asserted the greatness of God, he proves it by reference to the creation of the world, which reflects his perfections.

God must necessarily be self-existent and self-sufficient, which shows the vanity of all gods who did not make the world. The heavens are mentioned — a part for the whole — as the power of God is principally apparent in them, when we consider their beauty and adornment.