Division. - We have here three stanzas of three verses each. In the first, Psalm 98:1-3, the subject of praise is announced; in the second, Psalm 98:4-6, the manner of that praise is prescribed; and in the third, Psalm 98:7-9, the universal extent of it is proclaimed.

Hints to Preachers

Psalm 98:1. - "A new song." The duty, beauty, and benefit of maintaining freshness in piety, service, and worship.

Psalm 98:1. - "He hath done marvellous things."

I. He hath created a marvellous universe.

II. He has established a marvellous government.

III. He hath bestowed a marvellous gift.

IV. He hath provided a marvelous redemption.

V. He hath inspired a marvellous book.

VI. He hath opened a marvellous fulness.

VII. He hath effected a marvellous transformation. - W. Jackson.

Psalm 98:1. - "The victory." The victories of God in judgment, and in mercy: especially the triumphs of Christ on the cross, and by his Spirit in the heart, and in and by the church at large.

Psalm 98:2. - "The Lord hath made known his salvation."

I. The contents of which it is composed.

II. The reasons for which it has been provided.

III. The price at which it has been procured.

IV. The terms on which it shall be imparted.

V. The way in which it must be propagated.

VI. The manner in which its neglect will be punished. - W. J.

Psalm 98:2 (first clause). -

I. What is salvation?

II. Why it is called the Lord's: - "Salvation is of the Lord."

III. How he has made it known.

IV. For what purpose.

V. With what results. - E. G. Gange.

Psalm 98:2. - The great privilege of knowing the gospel.

I. In what it consists.

1. Revelation by the Bible.

2. Declaration by the minister.

3. Illumination by the Spirit.

4. Illustration in daily providence.

II. To what it has led.

1. We have believed it.

2. We have so far understood it as to growingly rejoice in it.

3. We are able to tell it to others.

4. We abhor those who mystify it.

Psalm 98:2. - Salvation's glory.

I. It is divine - "his salvation."

II. It is consistent with justice - "his righteousness."

III. It is plain and simple - "openly showed."

IV. It is meant for all sorts of men - "heathen."

Psalm 98:3 (first clause). - The Lord's memory of his covenant. Times in which he seems to forget it; ways in which even in those times he proves his faithfulness; great deeds of grace by which at other times he shows his memory of his promises; and reasons why he must ever be mindful of his covenant.

Psalm 98:3 (last clause). - "All the ends of the earth."

I. Literally. Missionaries have visited every land.

II. Spiritually. Men ready to despair, to perish.

III. Prophetically. Dwell on the grand promises concerning the future, and the triumphs of the church. - E. G. G.

Psalm 98:3. - "All the ends of the earth have seen," &c.

I. The greatest foreigners have seen it; many have "come from the east and the west;" Greeks, Peter's hearers, the Eunuch, Greenlanders, South Sea Islanders, Negroes, Red Indians, &c., &c.

II. The ripest saints have seen it; they are at the right end of the earth, stepping out of the wilderness into Canaan, &c.

III. The vilest sinners have seen it; those who have wandered so far that they could get no farther without stepping into hell. The dying thief. The woman who was a sinner. Those whom Whitfield called "the devil's castaways." - W. J.

Psalm 98:4. - The right use of noise.

I. "Make a noise." Awake, O sleeper. Speak, O dumb.

II. "Make a joyful noise." The shout of deliverance, of gratitude, of gladness.

III. "Make a loud noise, all the earth." Nature with her ten thousand voices. The church with myriad saints.

IV. "Make a joyful noise unto God." Praise him alone. Praise him for ever. - E. G. G.

Psalm 98:6. - Joy a needful ingredient of praise. The Lord as King, an essential idea in adoration. Expression in various ways incumbent upon us, when praising Joyfully such a King.

Psalm 98:7, Psalm 98:8. - Nature at worship. The congregation is -

I. Vast. Sea, earth, rivers, hills.

II. Varied. Diverse in character, word, aspect, each from the other, constant and alike in this alone, that all, always worship God.

III. Gladsome. In tins like the worshippers in heaven, and for the same reason - sin is absent. - E. G. G.

Psalm 98:8. - The song of the sea, and the hallelujah of the hills.

Psalm 98:9. - The last judgment as a theme for thankfulness.

Psalm 98:9. - "Before the Lord." Where we are, where our joy should be, where all our actions should be felt to be, where we shall be - "before the Lord." Enquire - What are we before the Lord? What shall we be when he cometh?

Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings

Title

The inscription of the Psalm in Hebrew is only the single word מזמור Mizmor, "Psalm" (whence probably the title "orphan Mizmor" in the Talmudic treatise Avodah Zara). - J. J. S. Perowne.

Title

Hengstenberg remarks, "This is the only Psalm which is entitled simply 'a Psalm.' This common name of all the Psalms cannot be employed here in its general sense, but must have a peculiar meaning." He considers that it indicates that this is the lyric accompaniment of the more decidedly prophetical Psalm which precedes it, - in fact, the Psalm of that prophecy. He also notes that in the original we have in Psalm 98:5-6 words akin to the title brought into great prominence, and perhaps this may have suggested it.

Title

It is at least interesting to notice that a song of Zion which so exults in the king's arrival should be called pre-eminently מזמור Mizmor; as if the Psalm of Psalms were that which celebrates Israel, and the earth at large, blessed in Messiah's Advent. - Andrew A. Bonar.

Whole Psalm

A noble, spirit-stirring Psalm. It may have been written on the occasion of a great national triumph at the time; but may, perhaps, afterwards be taken up at the period of the great millennial restoration of all things. The victory here celebrated may be in prophetic vision, and that at Armageddon. Then will salvation and righteousness be openly manifested in the sight of the hostile nations. Israel will be exalted; and the blessed conjunction of mercy and truth will gladden and assure the hearts of all who at that time are Israelites indeed. Godliness will form the reigning characteristic of the whole earth. - Thomas Chalmers.

Whole Psalm

The subject of the Psalm is the praise of Jehovah. It consists of three strophes of three verses each. The first strophe shows why, the second how Jehovah is to be praised; and the third who are to praise him. - Frederick Fysh.

Whole Psalm

This Psalm is an evident prophecy of Christ's coming to save the world; and what is here foretold by David is, in the Blessed Virgin's Song, chanted forth as being accomplished. David is the Voice, and Mary is the Echo.

1. David. "O sing unto the Lord a new song." (The Voice.)Mary. "My soul doth magnify the Lord." (The Echo.)

2. David. "He hath done marvellous things." (The Voice.)Mary. "He that is mighty hath done great things." (The Echo.)

3. David. "With his own right hand and holy arm hath he gotten himself the victory." (The Voice.)Mary. "He hath showed strength with his arm, and scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts." (The Echo.)

4. David. "The Lord hath made known his salvation; his righteousness hath he openly showed," &c. (The Voice.)Mary. "His mercy is on them that fear him, from generation to generation." (The Echo.)

5. David. "He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel." (The Voice.)Mary. "He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy." (The Echo.)

These parallels are very striking; and it seems as if Mary had this Psalm in her eye when she composed her song of triumph. And this is a farther argument that the whole Psalm, whether it record the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, or the Jews from the Babylonish captivity, is yet to be ultimately understood of the redemption of the world by Jesus Christ, and the proclamation of his gospel through all the nations of the earth: and taken in this view, no language can be too strong, nor poetic imagery too high, to point out the unsearchable riches of Christ. - Adam Clarke.

Psalm 98:1

"O sing unto the Lord a new song." This is man's end, to seek God in this life, to see God in the next; to be a subject in the kingdom of grace, and a saint in the kingdom of glory. Whatsoever in this world befalleth us, we must sing: be thankful for weal, for woe: songs ought always to be in our mouth, and sometimes a new song; for so David here, "sing a new song" that is, let us put off the old man, and become new men, new creatures in Christ: for the old man sings old songs: only the new man sings a new song: he speaketh with a new tongue, and walks in new ways, and therefore doth new things, and sings new songs; his language is not of Babylon or Egypt, but of Canaan; his communication doth edify men, his song glorify God. Or a new song, that is, a fresh song, nova res, novum canticum, new for a new benefit, Ephesians 5:20, "Give thanks always for all things." It is very gross to thank God only in gross, and not in parcel. Hast thou been sick and now made whole? praise God with the leper, Luke 17:sing a new song for this new salve. Dost thou hunger and thirst after righteousness, whereas heretofore thou couldst not endure the words of exhortation and doctrine? sing a new song for this new grace. Doth Almighty God give thee a true sense of thy sin, whereas heretofore thou didst draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with cart ropes, and wast given over to work all uncleanness with greediness? O sing, sing, sing, a new song for this new mercy.

Or new, that is, no common or ordinary song; but as God's mercy toward us is exceeding marvellous and extraordinary, so our thanks ought to be most exquisite, and more than ordinary: not new in regard of the matter, for we may not pray to God or praise God otherwise than he hath prescribed in his word, which is the old way, but new in respect of the manner and making, that as occasion is offered, we may bear our wits after the best fashion to be thankful.

Or, because this Psalm is prophetical, a new song, that is, the song of the glorious angels at Christ's birth, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men," (Luke 2:14); a song which the world never heard before: that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head is an old song, the first that ever was sung; but this was no plain song, till Christ did manifest himself in the flesh. In the Old Testament there were many old songs, but in the New Testament a new song. That "unto us is born a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord," is in many respects a new song; for whereas Christ was but shadowed in the Law, he is showed in the Gospel; and new, because sung of new men, of all men. For the sound of the Gospel is gone through all the earth, unto the ends of the world (Romans 10:18); whereas in old time God's old songs were sung in Jewry: "His name is great in Israel. In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling place in Zion," Psalm 76:1, Psalm 76:2. - John Boys.

Psalm 98:1

"A new song." O ye who are new in Christ, though formerly old in the Old Adam, sing ye to the Lord. - Psalter of Peter Lombard, 1474.

Psalm 98:1

"He hath done marvellous things." He has opened his greatness and goodness in the work of redemption. What marvels has not Christ done?

1. He was conceived by the Holy Ghost.

2. Born of a virgin.

3. Healed all manner of diseases.

4. Fed thousands with a few loaves and fishes.

5. Raised the dead.

6. And what was more marvellous, died himself.

7. Rose again by his own power.

8. Ascended to heaven.

9. Sent down the Holy Ghost.

10. And made his apostles and their testimony the instruments of enlightening, and ultimately converting, the world. - Adam Clarke.

Psalm 98:1

"His right hand." Since the Psalmist says, that Christ hath gotten him the victory by his right hand and his arm, it is not only a demonstration of his divine and infinite power, but also excludes all other means, as the merits of saints and their meretricious works. - Martin Luther.

Psalm 98:1

"Holy arm." The creation was the work of God's fingers: "When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers," Psalm 8:3; redemption a work of his arm; "His holy arm hath gotten him the victory": yea, it was a work of his heart, even that bled to death to accomplish it. - Thomas Adams.

Psalm 98:1

Psalm 98:1

"O sing unto the Lord a new song; for he hath done marvellous things." We had a new song before (Psalm 96:1-13) because the Lord was coming, but now we have another new song because he has come, and seen and conquered. Jesus, our King, has lived a marvellous life, died a marvellous death, risen by a marvellous resurrection, and ascended marvellously into heaven. By his divine power he has sent forth the Holy Spirit doing marvels, and by that sacred energy his disciples have also wrought marvellous things and astonished all the earth. Idols have fallen, superstitions have withered, systems of error have fled, and empires of cruelty have perished. For all this he deserves the highest praise. His acts have proved his Deity, Jesus is Jehovah, and therefore we sing unto him as the Lord. "His right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory"; not by the aid of others, but by his own unweaponed hand his marvellous conquests have been achieved. Sin, death, and hell fell beneath his solitary prowess, and the idols and the errors of mankind have been overthrown and smitten by his hand alone. The victories of Jesus among men are all the more wonderful because they are accomplished by means to all appearance most inadequate; they are due not to physical but to moral power - the energy of goodness, justice, truth; in a word, to the power of his holy arm. His holy influence has been the sole cause of success. Jesus never stoops to use policy, or brute force; his unsullied perfections secure to him a real and lasting victory over all the powers of evil, and that victory will be gained as dexterously and easily as when a warrior strikes his adversary with his right hand and stretches him prone upon the earth. Glory be unto the Conqueror, let new songs be chanted to his praise. Stirred by contemplating his triumphs, our pen could not forbear to praise him in the following hymn:

Forth to the battle rides our King;

He climbs his conquering car;

He fits his arrows to the string,

And smites his foes afar.

Convictions pierce the stoutest hearts,

They bleed, they faint, they die;

Slain by Immanuel's well-aimed darts,

In helpless heaps they lie.

Behold, he bares his two-edged sword,

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5 Sing unto 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.

In these three verses we are taught how to praise the Lord.

Psalm 98:4

"Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth." Every tongue must applaud, and that with the vigour which joy of heart alone can arouse to action. As men shout when they welcome a king, so must we. Loud hosannas, full of happiness, must be lifted up. If ever men shout for joy it should be when the Lord comes among them in the proclamation of his gospel reign. John Wesley said to his people, "Sing lustily, and with a good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength. Be no more afraid of your voice now, nor more ashamed of its being heard, than when you sung the songs of Satan." "Make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise;" or "Burst forth, and sing, and play." Let every form of exultation be used, every kind of music pressed into the service till the accumulated praise causes the skies to echo the joyful tumult. There is no fear of our being too hearty in magnifying the God of our salvation, only we must take care that the song comes from the heart, otherwise the music is nothing but a noise in his ears, whether it be caused by human throats, or organ pipes, or far-resounding trumpets. Loud let our hearts ring out the honours of our conquering Saviour; with all our might let us extol the Lord who has vanquished all our enemies, and led our captivity captive. He will do this best who is most in love with Jesus: -

"I've found the pearl of greatest price,

My heart doth sing for joy;

And sing I must, a Christ Ihave,

Oh, what a Christ have!"

Psalm 98:5

"Sing unto the Lord with the harp." Skill in music should not be desecrated to the world's evil mirth, it should aid the private devotions of the saint, and then, like George Herbert, he will sing, -

"My God, my God,

continued...

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

9 Before the Lord; for he cometh to judge the earth; with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.

Psalm 98:7

"Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof" Even its thunders will not be too grand for such a theme. Handel, in some of his sublime choruses, would have been glad of its aid to express his lofty conceptions, and assuredly the inspired Psalmist did well to call in such infinite uproar. The sea is his, let it praise its Maker. Within and upon its bosom it bears a wealth of goodness, why should it be denied a place in the orchestra of nature? Its deep bass will excellently suit the mystery of the divine glory. "The world, and they that dwell therein." The land should be in harmony with the ocean. Its mountains and plains, cities and villages, should prolong the voice of jubilee which welcomes the Lord of all. Nothing can be more sublime than this verse; the muses of Parnassus cannot rival the muse of Zion, the Castalian fount never sparkled like that "fount of every blessing" to which sacred bards are wont to ascribe their inspiration. Yet no song is equal to the majesty of the theme when Jehovah, the King, is to be extolled.

Psalm 98:8

"Let the floods clap their hands." The rolling rivers, the tidal estuaries, the roaring cataracts, are here summoned to pay their homage, and to clap their hands, as men do when they greet their sovereigns with acclamation. "Let the hills be joyful together," or in concert with the floods. Silent as are the mighty mountains, let them forget themselves, and burst forth into a sublime uproariousness of mirth, such as the poet described when he wrote those vivid lines -

"Far along,

From peak to peak, the rattling crags among,

Leaps the live thunder! Not from one lane cloud,

But every mountain now hath found a tongue,

And Jura answers, through her misty shroud,

Back to the joyous Alps, who car to her aloud."

Psalm 98:9

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