Psalm 98: Rejoice Before Him!

1 A Psalm. O sing to the LORD a new song; for He hath done

marvelous things; His right hand, and His holy arm, have gotten Him the

victory. 2 The LORD has made known His salvation; His righteousness has

He displayed openly in the sight of the heathen.

3 He has remembered His mercy and His truth toward the house of

Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

4 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; make a loud noise,

and rejoice, and sing praise. 5 Sing to the LORD with the harp, with the

harp, and the voice of a psalm. 6 With trumpets and sound of cornet make

a joyful noise before the LORD, the King.

7 Let the sea roar, and its fullness; the world, and those who dwell in

it. 8 Let the floods clap their hands; let the hills be joyful together 9 before

the LORD, for He comes to judge the earth; with righteousness shall He

judge the world, and the people with equity.

This is another anonymous Psalm, in the style of David, and the only Psalm which bears

the simple title of “a Psalm.” It is appropriate that it follows Psalm 97, since they both

express the themes of the Lord’s coming, judgment and kingship. Jewish commentators

have noted that it speaks of the coming of the Messiah and the joy that will be found

during His reign.

1 A Psalm. O sing to the LORD a new song; for He hath done marvelous

things; His right hand, and His holy arm, have gotten Him the victory. 2

The LORD has made known His salvation; His righteousness has He

displayed openly in the sight of the heathen.

• When God does a new thing or a mighty thing, the people are often called upon to

sing a new song. Sometimes these songs were composed for the occasion. At

other times they were spontaneous, and some of those were prophetic utterances

which came to the person under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. So also in the

New Testament the Spirit speaks of “psalm, hymns, and spiritual songs.” (Col.

3:16) The new song of the Old Testament is the spiritual song of the New.

• The people are called to rejoice because God has obtained the victory for Himself.

The references to the right hand and holy arm are prophetic references to Christ,

as Jesus Christ is the “man of God’s right hand.” The right hand was, of course,

the seat of authority and trust.

• Not only is Jesus the authorized king of God’s Kingdom, He is also the salvation

of God. His very name, Yeshua, or Yehoshua, means “Yahweh is salvation.” He is

also known as the “LORD our righteousness.” All of these references therefore

are pictures of Him.

• God’s justice is displayed in the sight of the heathen (goyim), the Gentile nations

which are surrounding and oppressing Israel at the time of His return.

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3 He has remembered His mercy and His truth toward the house of Israel;

all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. 4 Make a joyful

noise to the LORD, all the earth; make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing

praise.

• Here the people are reminded that God has been faithful: His salvation comes

because He has remembered His promises to His people. The deliverance of God

was often phrased in terms of God remembering His covenant to Abraham; this

was the case with the Exodus and the birth of Jesus.

• The point is made again that this is indeed a global kingdom – for Israel to be at

rest there cannot be another nation to harass them.

5 Sing to the LORD with the harp, with the harp, and the voice of a psalm. 6

With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the LORD,

the King.

• A picture of the boisterous praise that will greet Messiah when He comes. The

trumpet here is the manufactured trumpet, and the cornet is the shofar.

7 Let the sea roar, and its fullness; the world, and those who dwell in it. 8

Let the floods clap their hands; let the hills be joyful together 9 before the

LORD, for He comes to judge the earth; with righteousness shall He judge

the world, and the people with equity.

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 • These may be references to nature itself, since it seems that will be a lifting, at

least in part, of the curse which rests upon the creation since the Fall of Man. In

part, they could also be references to humanity; for example, the hills can be

symbols of the kingdoms of the earth.

• All must rejoice before Him because of His judgments; as we have seen, His

judgments are not something negative but positive!

Psalm 99: Enthroned in Power

1 The LORD reigns; let the people tremble; He sits between the

cherubim – let the earth be moved. 2 The LORD is great in Zion, and He is

high above all the people. 3 Let them praise Your great and terrible name;

for it is holy.

4 The king's strength also loves judgment; You do establish equity,

You execute judgment and righteousness in Jacob.

5 Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his footstool; for He is

holy. 6 Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among those who

call upon His name; they called upon the LORD, and He answered them.

7 He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud; they kept His testimonies, and the

ordinance that He gave them.

8 You answered them, O LORD our God; You were a God who forgave

them, though You took vengeance of their inventions.

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 9 Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his holy hill; for the LORD

our God is holy.

This has been called the “Holy, Holy, Holy” Psalm, as God’s holiness is proclaimed three

times. It is anonymous, although many attribute it to David. It matches very closely the

other Psalms in this section in terms of expressing God’s kingship and the fact that He

deserves our worship; it differs from the previous Psalms in being more focused on

worship and the relationship between God and His own people. It is a Psalm designed

to overwhelm its hearers with a sense of God’s majesty.

1 The LORD reigns; let the people tremble; He sits between the cherubim –

let the earth be moved. 2 The LORD is great in Zion, and He is high above

all the people. 3 Let them praise Your great and terrible name; for it is

holy.

• The people of Israel and the world itself should quake at (1) the fact of God’s reign

and (2) God’s presence. God’s Throne was pictured as being a place HE chose to

rest between cherubim, the highest of angels, as seen on the Ark of the Covenant.

(See picture following.)

• God was pictured as great in Zion. The idea of Zion, then and now, was a

political statement. It was an assertion that this place, as opposed to every other

place, is the place that God has chosen for Himself and, by extension, that this is

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 the people He has chosen for Himself. We see this in the beginning of the

Psalms.

Joshua and Moses worshipping before the Ark

4 The king's strength also loves judgment; You do establish equity, You

execute judgment and righteousness in Jacob.

• This of course is a reference to the King of that Kingdom. Jesus in his strength

loves judgment and equity, and He will carry out God’s righteous decrees in the

Israel.

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5 Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his footstool; for He is holy. 6

Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among those who call

upon His name; they called upon the LORD, and He answered them.

7 He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud; they kept His testimonies, and the

ordinance that He gave them. 8 You answered them, O LORD our God; You

were a God who forgave them, though You took vengeance on their deeds.

• Here the people are taught to listen to and obey the religious leaders and be sure

that they honor God in the Temple worship. Moses and the others named are

held up as examples of pure worship. They were honored for their faith and

obedience and God Himself communicated to them.

• Importantly, they followed the Law of Moses which God had given them.

• Another important point here is that although God answered them and spoke so

familiarly with them, He did deal with them when they transgressed.

9 Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his holy hill; for the LORD our

God is holy.

• The Psalm ends with another call to worship god in the place which He has

appointed for them.

• Because He is Lord and God and because He is holy, He has the right to insist

upon Man’s worship and to set forth to men how it is that they should worship

Him.