Psalm 98

 ¹Oh, sing to the Lord a new song!

For He has done marvelous things;

His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory.

²The Lord has made known His salvation;

His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations.

³He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;

All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

⁴Shout joyfully to the Lord,

all the earth; Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.

⁵Sing to the Lord with the harp,

With the harp and the sound of a psalm,

⁶With trumpets and the sound of a horn;

Shout joyfully before the Lord, the King.

⁷Let the sea roar, and all its fullness,

The world and those who dwell in it;

⁸Let the rivers clap their hands;

Let the hills be joyful together before the Lord,

⁹For He is coming to judge the earth.

With righteousness He shall judge the world,

And the peoples with equity.

Commentary

Vs. 1 ¹Oh, sing to the Lord a new song!

For He has done marvelous things;

His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory.

In every generation there is a Scriptural cry, a decree for us all to sing to the Lord a new song! For though the hymns and songs of previous generations are well beloved and are frequently sung in our church assemblies, we are to make our own melodies to the Lord, to make songs that reverberate within us and our generation of our joy in Him, songs then that we compose from our own hearts that heartfeltly declare our own joy in the Lord is what we are to do. For this is good and pleasing to the Lord that we should express our own joy of Him in our worship of Him (Eph. 5:19),’ that we should give thanks to Him for all the marvelous things He has done for us and for all (Isaiah 25:1). For it is His right hand and His holy arm that have gained Him the victory, and we are the most grateful recipients of His Victory! This then is a decree that will see its fulfillment with the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ when His redeemed people will declare that He Himself has done this for us all!

Vs. 2-3 ²The Lord has made known His salvation;

His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations.

³He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;

All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

From the Day of Calvary forward the Lord has made known His salvation, He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations through His suffering Crucifixion Death for us all! And through His Great Sacrifice for us all He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel (Deut. 32:43; Psalm 65:3; Ezekiel 16:62-63 etc.) But again, these passages also clearly speak to the Lord’s Second Coming when all nations will see Him with all of us whom He has redeemed. And on that Day, they will see that He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel. Which again began with Jesus Christ’s birth (Luke 1:44-45; 1:72), but they will not see its fulfillment until He delivers Israel out of Jacobs troubles during the Tribulation period and then brings them with Himself into the New Millenia of which this Psalm is pointing too.

Vs. 4-9 ⁴Shout joyfully to the Lord,

all the earth; Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.

⁵Sing to the Lord with the harp,

With the harp and the sound of a psalm,

⁶With trumpets and the sound of a horn;

Shout joyfully before the Lord, the King.

⁷Let the sea roar, and all its fullness,

The world and those who dwell in it;

⁸Let the rivers clap their hands;

Let the hills be joyful together before the Lord,

⁹For He is coming to judge the earth.

With righteousness He shall judge the world,

And the peoples with equity.

The call now goes out for us all to shout joyfully to the Lord, for us to uninhibitedly express our delight and praise and thankfulness towards Him. For us all to break forth in song, rejoicing, and praises (vs.4). For us to sing to the Lord along with whatever musical instruments or devices that express our own gratitude and thanksgiving to Him, all instruments (even loud instruments) then can be used to express our heart felt worship of Him and bring edification to His congregation (Vs. 4-6). For we are all to shout joyfully before the Lord, the King. Subdued and constrained worship then is not becoming of Him, nor us! For even the sea is commanded to roar in all its fulness at the Lord’s Presence, all the world and all who dwell within (vs. 7). For all of creation itself will exceedingly delight itself in the Lord when He Reigns, the rivers will clap their hands and the hills will be joyful before Him, in anticipation of His coming to judge the earth! “For He is coming to judge the earth. With righteousness He shall judge the world, And the peoples with equity.” Through justice and fairness then the Lord Jesus Christ will Judge all peoples, amen!

 Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.