HTML edition for divineprinciplebible.com, continuing Psalms with chapters 96 through 100. Commentary is included only where the passages are especially significant for new-song praise, the LORD’s reign, holiness before His presence, God’s righteous judgment, mercy, and joyful service by all the earth. Simple diagrams are added where they clarify the movement of the psalm. Divine Principle and True Father are named where the connection is clearly in view.
Comment on 96:1–2: Psalm 96 begins with a new song and with all the earth summoned to sing. Divine Principle strongly resonates with the idea that new providential acts call forth new praise and renewed proclamation of salvation.
Comment on 96:3: Glory is not to remain hidden within one circle. Heaven’s wonders are meant to be declared among all peoples and nations.
Comment on 96:4–5: The psalm sharply contrasts idols with the Creator. Divine Principle strongly affirms that only the God who made the heavens is worthy of ultimate reverence and worship.
Comment on 96:7 and 96:9: The nations are called to return glory to God. Beauty, holiness, and fear belong together before Heaven’s presence.
Comment on 96:10 and 96:13: The great announcement is that the LORD reigns and comes to judge the earth in righteousness. This is a strong enthronement and future-judgment theme.
Comment on 97:1: Psalm 97 continues the enthronement theme. Earth and distant isles are called to rejoice because the LORD reigns. Heaven’s kingship is universal in scope.
Comment on 97:2: God is surrounded by mystery, yet His throne rests on righteousness and judgment. Divine Principle strongly resonates with this: Heaven may be hidden in majesty, but never arbitrary in character.
Comment on 97:3–4: The imagery is powerful and holy. The coming of God exposes and burns away opposition. Heaven’s appearing is both revelation and judgment.
Comment on 97:7: Idolatry is shamed before the true God. False objects of devotion cannot stand when Heaven’s reality is revealed.
Comment on 97:10–11: Love of God includes hatred of evil. This is a moral love, not sentimental religion only. The reward is sown light and gladness for the upright.
Psalm 97 is a psalm of holy reign, judgment, and light for the righteous. It strongly reflects Divine Principle themes of Heaven’s mysterious majesty joined to righteous judgment, the downfall of idolatry, and the truth that those who love the LORD must hate evil and rejoice in His holiness.
Comment on 98:1: Again a new song rises because God has done marvelous things. New acts of Heaven call forth fresh testimony and praise.
Comment on 98:2–3: Salvation is made known publicly before the nations, and it is grounded in remembered mercy and truth toward Israel. Divine Principle strongly resonates with this union of covenant remembrance and worldwide revelation.
Comment on 98:4–6: Praise becomes full and musical before the King. Joyful noise is not disorder here but ordered celebration of Heaven’s saving reign.
Comment on 98:7–8: Creation itself is summoned into praise. This is beautiful. The whole created world is imagined as participating in Heaven’s joy.
Comment on 98:9: As in Psalm 96, the coming judgment is not only fearful but joyful for creation, because it means righteous ordering of the world.
Psalm 98 is a psalm of marvelous salvation and creation-wide joy. It strongly reflects Divine Principle themes of Heaven making salvation openly known, mercy and truth remembered in history, and the whole world rejoicing because God comes to judge in righteousness and equity.
Comment on 99:1: Psalm 99 emphasizes the holy majesty of God’s reign. The right response is not casual familiarity but trembling reverence.
Comment on 99:2–3: Greatness, height, and holiness are central here. Divine Principle strongly resonates with the idea that Heaven’s name carries holy authority above all peoples and systems.
Comment on 99:4: God’s reign loves judgment and establishes equity. This is a major public-principle verse: Heaven’s kingship is morally ordered and just.
Comment on 99:6: The psalm remembers central figures who called on God and were answered. Divine Principle strongly values such providential representatives whose relation to Heaven shaped history.
Comment on 99:7–8: God both speaks and judges, forgives and answers wrongdoing. This balanced holiness is important. Mercy does not erase moral seriousness.
Psalm 99 is a psalm of holy kingship and reverent worship. It strongly reflects Divine Principle themes of God’s exalted rule in righteousness, the importance of central figures who called on Heaven, and the union of forgiveness and judgment in the holy character of God.
Comment on 100:1–2: Psalm 100 is one of the simplest and most beloved praise psalms. Joy, service, and singing belong together. Heaven is not served by gloom alone but by glad-hearted attendance.
Comment on 100:3: This is a profound identity verse. Divine Principle strongly resonates with it because man does not create himself or own himself absolutely; we belong to the Creator as His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Comment on 100:4: Thanksgiving is the proper way of entering. This is a strong heart-discipline: the approach to God is marked by gratitude and praise.
Comment on 100:5: The psalm ends with goodness, mercy, and generational truth. True Father often emphasized that God’s heart is enduring and that His truth is not for one moment only but for all generations.
Psalm 100 is a psalm of glad service and thankful entry. It strongly reflects Divine Principle themes of belonging to God as Creator and Shepherd, entering Heaven’s presence with gratitude, and resting in the everlasting goodness,
God of Original Ideal Commentary
Psalm 96 is a psalm of new-song praise and worldwide proclamation. It strongly reflects Divine Principle themes of declaring Heaven’s glory among all nations, rejecting idols before the Creator, and rejoicing that the LORD reigns and comes to judge the earth in righteousness.