Psalms 96 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Time Period
Temple period, with a version of it placed in Chronicles at the bringing of the ark to Jerusalem around 1000 BC, and a wider outlook that suits the years after the exile
Location
The temple courts in Jerusalem, with the nations, the sea, the fields, and the forests all summoned to join in
Audience
Israelite worshipers, and through them every nation invited to acknowledge God as king
Situation
A call to sing a new song and to tell the nations that the Lord reigns, contrasting him with the idols of the peoples, which the psalm calls worthless. Families of nations are told to bring an offering and enter his courts, and creation itself is called to celebrate his coming judgment.
Key Background
Most of this psalm appears in 1 Chronicles 16 as part of the music performed when David brought the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem, which shows how temple songs were reused and reassembled across centuries. Bringing tribute into a king's court was the recognized way for a foreign people to acknowledge a ruler's authority, so the invitation to the nations uses the vocabulary of international politics. Judgment here is good news rather than a threat, because in the ancient world a king's judgment meant setting things right for the wronged, which is why the trees and the sea are told to be glad about it.