The psalmist breaks into praise to God, proclaiming him as supreme and unique, doing what no other god can do. In verse 8 the gods are the gods of the other nations. Those nations were created by the God of Israel, not by their own gods, so they will worship him and praise his greatness (glorify thy name), that is, they will praise him because he is great. None of the gods is able to do what the Lord of Israel has done (verse 8b). This line may be translated, as Revised Standard Version does, as an absolute statement of the great deeds of the Lord or, as Good News Translation has it, as a continuation of the thought of line a, that none of the gods has done what the Lord has done. In either case, works here refers to God’s deeds on behalf of Israel, not to the works of creation (also wondrous things in verse 10a). Translators should refer to the translation comment on gods in 82.1. There the gods were related to God. In 86.8 the gods are related to the pagan nations. Therefore it may be necessary to make clear that these are gods worshiped by the other nations; for example, “The gods others worship are not like you, O Lord,” “You, O Lord, are greater than the gods other nations pray to,” or “Others pray to spirits, but none of these is great as you are, Great Spirit.”
It should be noted that in verse 9a both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation say that only those nations that God has created will come, implying that there are nations that God did not create. So it is better, with Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, and Bible en français courant, to translate “You have created all the nations, so they will come to you….”
For verse 8b and verse 10a compare similar language in 72.18; 77.14. In verse 10b the psalmist declares thou alone art God, that is, he has the rank and nature that none of the other gods has. The words may be translated “you alone, O God, do wonderful things,” proclaiming what he alone does, not that only he is God (so Bible de Jérusalem, New Jerusalem Bible, Dahood). But the translation preferred by the majority is recommended.
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on the Book of Psalms. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1991. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .