Deeper Commentary
Psa 98:1
A Psalm
Sing to Yahweh a new song, for He has done marvellous things! His right
hand and His holy arm have worked salvation for Him-
Even in the Old Testament, the idea of living in a spirit of newness of
life is to be found. David six times invites us to sing with him “a new
song” (Ps. 33:3; 40:3; 96:1; 98:1; 144:9; 149:1 cp. Is. 42:10). Invariably
these songs are associated with the experience of God’s redemption (cp.
Rev. 5:9). Obviously those ‘new songs’ were intended to be repeatedly
sung. Our regular experience of forgiveness and redemption should urge us
onwards in the spirit of ‘newness of life’. Like Paul we die daily with
the Lord, and the power of His resurrection life likewise daily breaks out
in us.
Psa 98:2
Yahweh has made known His salvation, He has openly shown His
righteousness in the sight of the nations-
The parallel between righteousness and salvation is common in
Isaiah. We are saved not by God turning a blind eye, but by the imputation
of righteousness in His Son. As Romans exalts, this means that God is
"just" and right in His salvation of us as sinners. The language is that
of Is. 56:1 "My salvation is near to come, and My righteousness to be
revealed", that is, as Ps. 98:2 puts it, to be openly shown in the eyes of
the world. All the world will one day see that you have been saved- and so
we should be public to them about it now. "My mouth shall tell of Your
righteousness and of Your salvation all the day; although I don't know the
full account of it" (Ps. 71:15). This will be an eternal theme in our
awareness, and that should begin now.
It was God’s prophesied will that the Gospel would go world-wide;
but it required the freewill strivings of Paul to enable it, and the
strivings with God in prayer by the brethren. With these thoughts in mind,
bear in mind the parallels between Psalms 96 and 98.
Sing unto the Lord a new song (96:1)
But there are some subtle differences. Ps. 96:2,3 exhorts us: “Show
forth His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the heathen”.
But Ps. 98:2 puts it another way: “The Lord has made known His salvation.
His righteousness has He openly shewed in the sight of the nations”.
These latter words are only true in that
we
make known that salvation, and
we declare His glory among the
nations. Thus a statement in Ps. 98 that Yahweh has shewed His glory to
the nations becomes an imperative for us to go and do that in Ps. 96.
Psa 98:3
He has remembered His grace and His faithfulness toward the house
of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God-
The exiles thought God had forgotten them, but now the
faithful will perceive that their salvation means He has not forgotten
them. They had thought that their God "has forsaken me, and the Lord has
forgotten me” (Is. 49:14). These words are a repeat of Is. 52:10
"Yahweh has made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all
the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God".
"Salvation" is Yeshua. Clearly the day when all the earth shall perceive the Lord Jesus is in view. In the immediate context of David and later the exiles, the hope was that the extremities of the eretz promised to Abraham, places like Babylon and Assyria where the exiles were, would perceive that God had saved His people.
Psa 98:4
Make a joyful noise to Yahweh, all the earth! Burst out and sing
for joy, yes, sing praises!-
Literally "Shout!". The ascension of kings was greeted with a
shout, joy and praise (1 Sam. 10:24; 1 Kings 1:39; 2 Kings 11:12,14, "the
shout of a king" Num. 23:21). Zion is to shout greatly for her King comes
to her (Zech. 9:9). So this looks ahead to the Lord's return and
establishment as eternal king of God's Kingdom, and yet we also joyfully
perceive His present kingship and kingly dominion over us. This bursting
or breaking out in praise is very much Is. 52:9: "Break forth into joy,
sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem; for Yahweh has comforted His
people, He has redeemed Jerusalem". This psalm is clearly related to the
possibilities at the time of the restoration.
The very "ends of the earth" who saw God's salvation of His people are invited to praise Him for it (Ps. 98:3,4)- the invitation to join in praise was effectively an invitation to join in worship, and thereby to become part of God's covenant people. These ends of the eretz were places like Babylon and Assyria, who had previously abused God's people.
Ps. 98:3-5 continues the radical appeal of Ps. 96:7 to the Gentile world,
but it urges them to come and worship (which involved coming to the
sanctuary in Israel) exactly because God has been so gracious to sinful
Israel. Israel's extreme sin and God's radical grace and patience with
them for not being good witnesses to the Gentiles... was to serve as
encouragement for the Gentiles to come to Israel's God and praise Him,
confident that their sins too could be forgiven.
Psa 98:5
Sing praises to Yahweh with the harp, with the harp and the voice
of melody-
David's invitation of others to praise God with the harp was
effectively asking them to share his personal praise of God- for he was
known for his personal praising of the Lord with the harp. "The
voice of melody" is that possible at the restoration in Is. 51:3: "Yahweh
has comforted Zion... joy and gladness shall be found therein,
thanksgiving and the voice of melody".
There is a massive emphasis in the Psalm upon joy [:4 "Make a joyful noise to Yahweh, all the earth! Burst out and sing for joy"; :5 "Sing praises"; :6 "make a joyful noise"; :8 "let the mountains sing for joy"; :9 "Let them sing"]. This leads up to the reason why: because ["for"] the Lord Jesus is coming (:9). This is the end stress of the Psalm; it's how the poetry "works", in this case. Such joy in anticipation of His return and judgment means that God's people are utterly certain of the outcome of the judgment. His coming means their salvation. And this is why salvation is such a theme of the opening verses of the Psalm: He "worked salvation" for His people (:1), "openly made known His salvation" (:2), "remembered His grace and His faithfulness toward the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God" (:3). God has historically saved His undeserving people Israel by grace alone, as all the world knows and as God has so publically demonstated. And that is why all His people have such confidence that the Lord's coming means their salvation. This is the huge meaning of Israel's history for every believer. It's why we are given the Old Testament, the history of God's amazing grace towards Israel. Especially at the Red Sea, which salvation this Psalm begins by alluding to. This is why we can have such joy just at the prospect of our Lord's coming.
Psa 98:6
With trumpets and sound of the ram’s horn make a joyful noise
before the King, Yahweh-
These were the trumpets which summoned Israel to keep the feasts in
Zion. The idea is that the Gentiles would joyfully respond to the call to
enter covenant relationship with Yahweh, and therefore keep His feasts.
But the exiles didn't repent, and Ezekiel records their involvement with
idol worship. As happened at Hezekiah's time, instead of Jerusalem
becoming the international centre of Yahweh worship, the people instead
returned to the idols of the surrounding nations.
Psa 98:7
Let the sea roar with its fullness; the world, and those who live
therein-
The idea is that all of the planet, the sea representing the peoples,
would rejoice at the prospect of the coming of Israel's Lord in judgment (:9). This is not therefore speaking of the Kingdom; but
rather of David's desire that before the Lord's coming, the Gentile
peoples would come to such relationship with Him that they rejoiced at the
prospect of His coming in judgment, knowing by faith that they would not
be condemned.
Psa 98:8
Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing for joy
together-
The rivers and mountains are personified people because they are
intended to be understood as representative of peoples and nations. The
"rivers" have been used as representative of the Gentile armies which
overran God's people; but they were envisaged as repenting and clapping
with joy at the prospect of Yahweh's appearance in judgment; for they
would repent. This is Is. 55:12 "For you shall go out with joy,
and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth
before you into singing; and all the trees of the fields shall clap their
hands". But the stress may be on the twice repeated idea or
command: "let...". This is a command to the nations [rivers and mountains]
to rejoice at the prospect of the second coming. But they will not,
because at the Lord's coming, "The mountains melt like wax at the presence
of Yahweh" (Ps. 97:5). The fall and melting of the mountains would not be
necessary if they had repented and welcomed the idea of the Lord's return.
Psa 98:9
Let them sing before Yahweh, for He comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity- This is quoted in Acts 17:31 concerning the final day of judgment at the Lord's return: "He has appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom He has ordained; of which He has given assurance to all men, in that He has raised him from the dead". David feels God's judgment is ongoing now (Ps. 9:4), but that is preparation for the future day of judgment. Appreciating this means that we live our lives before the judgment presence of God. The reason for joy was that judgment day is coming- judgment was a joyful prospect, not a dread uncertainty, because God's judgments are ahead of time revealed in His word.
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