"Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. The Lord has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations. He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God."

Psalm 98:1-3

This psalm is very similar to Psalm 96, expressing the same joyous sense of the worthiness of Israel’s saving God to be worshipped by the nations and the whole of creation. It begins by recalling the Lord’s great salvation, which is not some private affair, but public, historical reality that has been shown to all nations. It is an event of international significance and embodies the promise of redemption for all the people on earth. Such an event demands a ‘new song’ (v. 1) because it transcends the limits of all previous compositions.

So great is this God and so wonderful his salvation that the whole earth is invited to join in the song, and a full panoply of instruments will be needed to celebrate his grace appropriately. Even that ecstatic praise, however, is insufficient to do justice to the Lord and the ‘marvelous things’ he has done (v. 1), so the whole of creation is summoned to contribute to the everlasting song: sea, world, rivers, mountains – all are called to ‘sing before the Lord’ their Creator (v. 9). The entire natural world seems to be set in motion by the glory of God, resulting in the magnificent harmony of an ‘exultant chorus of the whole world singing praises to the glory of God.’

CLOSING PRAYER

I rejoice, Father, because I know that Christ died and rose for me—and now, in heaven, intercedes for me.

(Edited from Encounter with God)