Psalm 98 is an enthronement hymn. It highlights the military victory of the Lord. It emphasizes the role of nature in praising the Lord it mentions the kingship of the Lor in the middle of the psalm. One can interpret it as an actualized version of Psalm 96. This Psalm occurs in a section of the book of Psalms (Book IV, Psalms 90-106) that one commentator says arose out of a response to the crisis of exile and its aftermath. In other words, the writer did not write it for a celebration of a happy event; he wrote it for people who were amid challenging times. With the rise of the Persian Empire under Cyrus and the return of the exiles came the renewal of the belief in the royal rule of the Lord over the nations.[1] The Psalm connects saving history to the experience of worship. We see again the event nature of the experience of the Lord in Israel and therefore in Christianity as well. The marvelous deeds and victory the Lord gave to Israel become the occasion for bursting forth in praise, even during a time of exile. The relationship to Psalm 96 is so close that some scholars suggest the same author. The heading of the psalm, mizmor, usually translated “a Psalm” has the connotation “song of praise,” which would relate closely to verses 4-5. Exodus 15 and Judges 5 are early Hebrew songs of praise for the victory of God. It has a close relationship with Psalm 96. Psalm 68 is of a similar nature. Psalm 97 and many other psalms have similar themes. I Chronicles 16:23-36 and Isaiah 40-55 have major parallels. This psalm praises the rule of the Lord, triumph over heathen in primordial and historical times, and foretelling of a universal reign of justice. The poet looks forward to the judgment of the Lord with joy, for the Lord is gracious and this overcomes fear.
People have an amazing capacity to sing joyfully, even write new songs, at the most difficult of times. Well, how can that be? When we are in difficulty, we do not feel much like celebrating, like smiling to the Lord. Nevertheless, consider this: The hunger for joy is so persistent that it at least suggests that joy is more lasting than our troubles, that joy connects us to the great secret God has imbedded in the universe.
"How many of us ever stop to think
of music as a wondrous magic link
With God; taking sometimes the place of prayer,
when words have failed us neath the weight of care.
Music, that knows no country, race or creed;
But gives to each according to his need."
--poet unknown
Psalm 98:1-2 describe the victory of the Lord. It shows its affinity with II Isaiah here with 52:10, where the Lord will bare the holy arm of the Lord in the sight of all nations and the ends of earth shall see the victory of our God. This psalm invites people, 1 O sing to the Lord (YHWH) a new song. A new song matches the New Year. We see the phrase in Psalm 33:3, 40:3, 96:1, 144:9, 149:1, Isaiah 42:10, Revelation 5:9, 14:3. The focus of hope for the community is the Lord. The reason is that the Lord has done marvelous things. It stresses that the right hand and the holy arm of the Lord (metonyms meaning the power of the Lord, Isaiah 52:10) have gotten the Lord victory (yshc, salvation, saving power, and deliverance.) Further, as in Isaiah 52:10, 2 the Lord has made this victory and revealed the vindication (righteousness or justice) of the Lord in the sight of the nations (goyim, peoples). Having experienced powerful deliverance from the Lord, they joyfully sing praises to the Lord. The event nature of the faith of Israel, and therefore of Christian faith as well, comes out here. The writer can look back upon events of victory and the marvelous deeds of the Lord. These events will give rise to the praise we find in this song. These events reveal the nature of the Lord, who is worthy of praise today.
In 98: 3-8, we find a summons for people to worship. The past marvelous and victorious events give rise to a summons to an event in the life of the community and individuals to praise and worship. The fact that 3 He (the Lord) has remembered brings comfort to the righteous.[2] In this case, (the Lord) remembers divine steadfast love and faithfulness, attributes of the Lord that refer to the consistency the love the Lord connected to covenant obligations has to the house of Israel. Again, the public witness to this faithful love is such that the ends of the earth have seen the victory of their God. Thus, the coming of God is not just for Israel, but also for the entire world. Everyone will see the righteousness of God. These marvelous and victorious events also give rise to the hope that the Lord will remember who the Lord is today and act today in similarly marvelous and victorious ways today. Thus, the goal of history is revelation of the righteousness of the Lord. The deliverance the Lord brought was a public act to which the peoples can witness, a notion important in scripture. Thus, only in this future consummation of world history, with the deity of God and divine glory manifest to all peoples, will history reach its goal.[3] For that reason, the response of persons to such marvelous and victorious deeds will always be a matter of faith and hope. Verses 4-8 mirror the noisy acclaim of the new king, a common theme in the enthronement psalms. In verses 4-6, the psalm calls upon the world to give homage to the Lord. It urges 4 Make a joyful noise (to raise a noise by shouting or with an instrument, whether in wartime victory or worshipful praise, also in Psalm 66:1, 95:1-2, and 100:1) to the Lord, all the earth. They are to break forth into joyous song (ranan) and sing praises (zamar). The heading of the psalm, mizmor, usually translated “a Psalm,” could also mean a song of praise, such as we find here. The Psalm invites the people to 5 sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, and the sound of melody (or melodious praise), 6 with trumpets (crafted from silver), horn (shophar or horn of the ram). This reference is significant given its use in I Kings 1:39 in the coronation of Solomon. The people shouted Long live King Solomon. This connection leads some to think the enthronement psalms were used in an annual ritual of the re-enthronement of the Lord as king in Israel. The use of the shofar at Rosh Ha-Shanah or the New Year would be a remnant of this ancient practice among the Jewish people. The heading of the Psalm, mizmor, has a close connection with such praise. Psalm 150 also celebrates with instruments. They are to make a joyful noise before the King, who is the Lord. I Samuel 12 makes it clear the Lord is the true king of Israel. We can see this emphasis in I Chronicles 16:31, as wells as Psalm 96:10, 97:1, 149:1-3, and 47. As king, the Lord rules and judges the world. In the context of this Psalm, the judgment of the Lord is favorable, so the people offer praise. The Lord has righted wrongs and therefore elicits praise from the people of the Lord. In verses 7-8, nature sets itself in motion to give praise to the Lord. Verses 7-8 suggest that the natural world plays the role of the populace at the coronation. It alludes to the myth concerning the rebellion of the waters (Psalm 93:3-4), in which case they suggest the sea and rivers have been subdued and pay homage to the Lord now. 7 Let the sea roar (its chaotic roar vanquished), and all that fills it; the world and those who live in it. 8 Let the floods (overwhelming but vanquished) clap their hands (in Isaiah 55:12 is the trees that clap their hands); let the hills sing together for joy (as in Isaiah 55:12). Psalm 24, I Chronicles 16:31-33, Isaiah 44:23, 49:13, 55:12 testify to the enthusiastic songful praise of nature. The sounds of nature join with human voices to offer praise to the Lord. The Lord has calmed nature on behalf of human beings. Praise is the natural anticipated response of all creation for its Creator.
Psalm 98: 9 concludes with a variant of Psalm 96:13, emphasizing the coming of the Lord and a messianic era of worldwide justice. Such praise from nature and human beings is 9 at the presence of the Lord, for he is coming for the Lord is coming to judge the earth/world/peoples with righteousness and equity. The psalm ends with an emphasis upon justice a central task of the king, although human kings did not always do so fairly, so it ends with a desire for an ideal, divine royal judge.
The idea of singing praises to the Lord is one we find in the New Testament as well. Matthew 26:30 and Mark 14:26 mention that Jesus and his disciples sang a hymn together before they headed out to the Mount of Olives, where authorities arrested Jesus. Acts 16:25 speaks of the jailed Paul and Silas singing hymns to God. Ephesians 5:18-20 and the similar Colossians 3:15-17 speak of singing thankful psalms, hymns and spiritual songs to the Lord. Revelation 5:11-14 has angels and elders “singing with full voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb [the sacrificially slain and risen Lord Jesus Christ] that was slaughtered to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!’” Then we join “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing, ‘To the one seated on the throne [God] and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!’” Christian people have understandably come to read many Psalms in the light of God’s revelation to us in Jesus Christ. In 1719, the early, great English hymn-writer, Isaac Watts, published “Joy to the World”; in this hymn/carol Watts wonderfully paraphrases and Christianizes many themes from Psalm 98. We join all creation in singing a song of joyful praise to the Lord for the saving and ruling work of the Lord among us.
Among the interesting reflections of the philosopher Hegel, in his Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion, is that for the believer, if this life is all there is, it seems like a desert. However, viewed from the standpoint of faith, God is the sacred center that animates and inspires all things. Believers view this life within God, and therefore have a resulting feeling of “bliss,” joy, and happiness. The grief of this life passes away in devotion, worship, and hope. Anxiety passes away because in God, we consider ourselves fortunate. We can have liveliness, confidence, and enjoyment because of the promised happiness of eternity. For him, promised happiness in eternity radiates life here and now. In fact, when the knowledge we have in our heads reaches into our hearts, it truly becomes our own. Such knowledge will animate us in a way that compels us to act. One of those acts is worship and devotion, in which we find supreme enjoyment because we experience our lives within the life of God.
Could it be that Jesus, even in his grief, sadness, and anger, smiled within because he knew the great secret of the Lord? He knew the promise of the Lord for deliverance and redemption of all creation.[4]
Praise is compliment, approval, and giving honor. In one sense, the world rings with praise. Lovers praise each other. Readers praise favorite authors. Walkers praise their surroundings. Sports enthusiasts praise their favor sport and team. We might praise the weather. The list continues with your favorite alcoholic drink, actors, horses, schools, countries, historical persons, children, flowers, mountains, and even a politician or scholar. Yet does not all of this praising of finite things give us a hint of the supremely Valuable? Yet, praise is more than complement. We praise to complete the enjoyment of that which we praise. The feeling that gives rise to praise needs to find expression in our words to reach its completion and fullness. Our words say much about what is in our hearts. Think of praise in the context of lovers. They do not tell each other of the beauty of the other simply to offer compliment. Their delight in each other is incomplete until they put into words the delight they have in their hearts.[5]
In human life, sometimes, the old songs simply do not suffice. We feel the urge for a new song. Many Psalms, even Psalm 98, have the historical context of exile. Jesus sung psalms on the way from the upper room to Gethsemane. Paul sung songs while in prison. In one sense, such joy and praise take great courage and confidence, making an affirmation of faith in God when the evidence for doing so is not so good.
“Joy to the World,” for we as believers join with creation in offering praise, not so much for what is, but for what will be. The focus is not here, not now, and certainly not human beings. Rather, the focus is on the future reign of God.
Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.[6] The kinship we come to feel heart to heart and the way we look at the world is what can knit us together in happiness. Prosperity alone cannot do that.[7] In times of suffering and struggle, we can still have this kind of happiness.
Therefore, sing, smile, and rejoice, even if you can think of no reason to do so – other than your confidence that the Lord has your future, and the future of the world, in loving and gracious hands.
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4] G.K. Chesterton wrote in Orthodoxy a century ago, to the effect that although Jesus let his grief, sadness and anger show on his face, he had to restrain himself from smiling because he knew Christianity’s great secret — that the promise of the kingdom of heaven, the promise of which Revelation speaks, the promise of deliverance is all true. In order to meet us where we were, Jesus had to restrain himself from breaking out in joy. As Chesterton put it:
“There was some one thing that was too great for God to show us when he walked upon our earth; and I have sometimes fancied that it was his mirth.”
[5] In Reflections on Psalms (93-95), C.S. Lewis brilliantly uncovers the true nature of praise.
“But the most obvious fact about praise — whether of God or anything — strangely escaped me. I thought of it in terms of compliment, approval or the giving of honor. I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise unless (sometimes even if) shyness or the fear of boring others is deliberately brought in to check it. [I must say that I never thought of praise in such a way. We praise all the time, and we hear praise all the time. Do you not think so? Hear him out on this.] The world rings with praise — lovers praising their mistresses, readers their favorite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favorite game — praise of weather, wines, dishes, actors, horses, colleges, countries, historical personages, children, flowers, mountains, rare stamps, rare beetles, even sometimes politicians and scholars. [Praise is everywhere. What you add to this list? Now, here is the point in terms of our relationship with God] ... My whole, more general difficulty about the praise of God depended on my absurdly denying to us, as regards the supremely Valuable, what we delight to do, what indeed we can’t help doing, about everything else we value. [In other words, the most natural thing in the world is to offer praise for what we consider valuable in our lives. Of course, the challenge here is, does God so animate our lives that we therefore offer praise.]
“I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses, but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. [A feeling does not have its completion until we can express it in words. A thought reaches its fullness when we express it in words. Frankly, human language is so much a part of us that we forget how powerful it is when we can express ourselves in words. Of course, you expect a preacher, one who lives by words, to say such a thing. Yet, pay attention to your use of language. It will say much about what is “in here,” in your heart. Then he offers an example.] It is not out of compliment that lovers keep telling one another how beautiful they are, the delight is incomplete till it is expressed.”
[6] Mother Teresa.
[7] It is not the level of prosperity that makes for happiness but the kinship of heart to heart and the way we look at the world that knits us together. —Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
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