Oh, 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. Psalm 98:1
On that Glorious Day
Psalm 98, one of the set of royal psalms that includes Ps. 93-99, is an exuberant psalm of praise. This psalm shares the same joy as Ps. 96. The psalmist again proclaims a new song. The marvels God has worked include salvation, and nature joins the chorus of the saved acclaiming God when He comes to judge the world.
98:1-2 The term marvelous things is used only to describe the actions of God in the Bible. The right hand of the Lord is a way of referring to His great salvation of Israel from Egypt. The phrase is like a slogan for the Lord’s redemption. Sight of the nations: God’s salvation was designed to be a witness to the nations (Deut. 4:6).
Oh, 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. 2 The Lord has made known His salvation; His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations.
98:7, 8 In Canaanite thought, the sea represented a dark deity. In the Psalms, the sea is a part of creation that God completely controls (Ps. 93). The clapping of the hands of the rivers and the rejoicing of the hills represents the praise of creation at the establishment of God’s kingdom on the earth.
7 Let the sea roar, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell in it; 8 Let the rivers clap their hands; Let the hills be joyful together before the Lord,
98:9 He is coming: This verse and 96:13 answer the call for justice found at many points in the Psalms. The coming of the Judge is a reason for joy. At last the Lord will put an end to cruelty, evil, and injustice.
Righteousness in judgment (98:9). Righteousness in OT is rooted in the idea of conformity to a norm. That norm is the revealed will of God, which in turn has its basis in God’s character. To say that God is righteous is to affirm both that He is the ultimate standard of what is moral and right and good, and also that He never acts out of harmony with His character. Scripture also makes it clear how God’s righteousness is expressed. Formally, righteousness is expressed in the laws, statutes, and other expressions of God’s will found in the Bible. Practically, God’s righteousness is expressed in His acts of judgment, as this verse states and in His gift of salvation, the other major theme of this psalm. Thus, Psalm 98 celebrates a righteousness of God which promises equity to all mankind: salvation to those who believe and judgment to those who persist in sin and unbelief.
9 For He is coming to judge the earth. With righteousness He shall judge the world, And the peoples with equity.
** God wants to make us happy. He doesn’t want us just to be glad. He wants to see us jumping and shouting with joy. We will be singing a new song. Not by ourselves. But unto Him. He wants to be our audience. It will be a brand-new us singing on a brand-new day in a brand-new world.
98 1 A Psalm. Oh, 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. 2 The Lord has made known His salvation; His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations. 3 He 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. 4 Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises. 5 Sing to the Lord with the harp, With the harp and the sound of a psalm, 6 With trumpets and the sound of a horn; Shout joyfully before the Lord, the King. 7 Let the sea roar, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell in it; 8 Let the rivers clap their hands; Let the hills be joyful together before the Lord, 9 For He is coming to judge the earth. With righteousness He shall judge the world, And the peoples with equity.
