Psalms 98

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1O sing unto the Lord a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.2The Lord hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen.3He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.4Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.5Sing unto the Lord with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm.6With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the Lord, the King.7Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.8Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together9Before the Lord; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.

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Notes for this chapter

Historical Background

Psalm 98 is a compact and radiant song of praise that moves with remarkable energy from the particular salvation of Israel toward the universal reign of God over all creation. Though its author is unnamed, the psalm bears close kinship with Psalm 96 and with the great prophetic declarations of Isaiah 40 through 55, leading many scholars, including Adam Clarke, to suggest it was composed during or after the Babylonian captivity, when the theme of God's dramatic rescue of His people would have carried the most intense meaning. The Hebrew title is simply “A Psalm,” mizmor, suggesting it was set to music for formal worship. Its nine verses form a tightly constructed hymn with three movements, each summoning a wider circle of praise until the whole earth and all of creation join in anticipation of the coming Judge.

The opening verses establish the reason for this new song: God has done marvellous things, and the victory belongs entirely to Him. The phrase “his right hand, and his holy arm” draws on ancient Near Eastern warrior imagery where the right arm represented the strength and authority of a king in battle. Barnes notes that this is not the arm of Israel's army or the wisdom of its leaders, but the sovereign, unassisted action of God Himself. The “new song” called for here reflects not merely a fresh composition but a qualitatively different response to a new and unprecedented act of salvation.

Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown connect this language directly to Exodus imagery, where God's arm brought Israel out of Egypt, while simultaneously pointing forward to something greater. The Adventist understanding sees this salvation as ultimately fulfilled in the cross of Christ, where God's righteousness was displayed before the entire watching universe, vindicating both His mercy and His justice in the same moment. Ellen White writes in The Desire of Ages that the plan of redemption was not an afterthought but was laid before the foundation of the world, and here the psalmist celebrates that this plan has now broken into visible history.

Core Teaching

Verses two and three widen the view from personal rescue to global revelation. The Lord has not worked quietly in a corner. His righteousness has been “openly shewed in the sight of the heathen,” meaning the nations, the Gentiles, those who stood outside the covenant. This is one of the Old Testament's most deliberate universalist statements, anticipating the New Testament proclamation that the gospel is for every nation and people.

Matthew Henry observes that God's faithfulness to Israel was never intended to be merely a private arrangement but a visible demonstration to all the world of how He keeps His promises across centuries. The phrase “he hath remembered his mercy and his truth” carries the Hebrew word emet, which can be rendered faithfulness or covenant loyalty, suggesting that what motivated God was not sentiment alone but the binding commitment He had made. All the ends of the earth, those farthest from Jerusalem both geographically and spiritually, have become witnesses to this salvation. echoes this thought almost word for word, and this cross-reference strengthens the view that Psalm 98 breathes the same prophetic air as the great Servant Songs, where Israel's redemption becomes the means by which light reaches the nations.

Commentary Insights

The middle section of the psalm, verses four through six, is a summons to universal worship employing every instrument available in ancient Israelite liturgy. The harp, the kinnor, was a smaller stringed instrument associated with lyrical devotion, while the trumpets and the cornet, the shofar, were used for proclamation and for signaling the presence of the king. By bringing all these voices together the psalmist pictures a worship service that is both intimate and royal, both deeply personal and formally majestic. The phrase “before the Lord, the King” is significant because it frames all of this praise not as an emotional exercise but as an act of loyal homage to a reigning sovereign.

In the Adventist understanding of the heavenly sanctuary, such scenes of corporate worship find their counterpart in the worship described in Revelation 4 and 5, where the redeemed and the angels and all creation join in ascribing worth to the Lamb who was slain. Ellen White reminds her readers in Patriarchs and Prophets that music was one of God's original gifts to humanity, and its fullest use is not entertainment but the magnifying of divine character.

Reflection & Application

The psalm closes with one of the most visually striking passages in all of Hebrew poetry. The sea roars, the floods clap their hands, and the hills are joyful together, not as mere metaphor but as genuine participation in cosmic praise. Ancient Hebrew poetry frequently personified creation this way, and Paul draws on exactly this tradition in Romans 8 when he describes creation groaning and waiting for the revelation of the sons of God. The reason creation responds so exuberantly is given in verse nine: the Lord is coming to judge the earth with righteousness and equity.

In most modern thinking, judgment is something to be feared and avoided, but in the biblical worldview, particularly in the Psalms, the coming of God to judge is the answer to everything that has gone wrong in a suffering and unjust world. Matthew Henry captures this beautifully when he writes that creation itself longs for the Judge because only His arrival will set right what sin has disordered.

Go deeper — references Classic commentaries on this chapter

Matthew Henry's Commentary Matthew Henry (1662–1714) Adam Clarke's Commentary Adam Clarke (1760–1832) Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Jamieson, Fausset & Brown (1871) Barnes' Notes on the Bible Albert Barnes (1798–1870) EGW Writings Ellen G. White Blue Letter Bible Study tools and lexicon

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