[1] The psalm forms a regular part of Jewish, Catholic, Lutheran, and Anglican liturgies.

The psalm or verses of it have been paraphrased to hymns, and it has often been set to music, notably by Handel in his Chandos Anthems, by Mendelssohn who quoted from it in a movement of his choral symphony Lobgesang, and Zoltán Gárdonyi as part of three motets.

On this day, David composed two songs – Hodu, and "Sing to the Lord, the entire earth" (verse 2 of this psalm, which is also recorded in 1 Chronicles 16:23).

According to the Midrash Tehillim, these three instances allude to the three daily prayer services "when Israel sings praises to God".

[14] The extant palimpsest AqTaylor includes a translation into Koine Greek by Aquila of Sinope in about 130 CE, containing verses 7–13.

[note 1] Augustine quotes it in his commentary on the psalms (c. 430 AD), relating it to the crucifixion of Jesus,[19] as do several other Church Fathers such as Tertullian, Cyprian and Lactantius.

Most Biblical critics believe that the words "from the wood" were added by an early Christian scribe, perhaps as a gloss that was then incorporated into the main text.

[26] The final three verses in Latin, "Laetentur caeli", comprise the offertory antiphon used in the Mass During the Night for the Nativity of the Lord.

11–13 of the Psalm) was set by Orlande de Lassus for four parts,[28] and by Giovanni Bassano for double choir,[29] among others.

[32] German settings of the Baroque era: In the 19th century, Mendelssohn quoted from Psalm 96 in movement 10 of his choral symphony Lobgesang on biblical texts in 1810.

[41] Hymns referring to the psalm include the 1901 "This Is My Father's World", and "Sing to the Lord a new made song".