Psalms 98

A Psalm.

This psalm is written in the same strain as Psalms 96:0, of which it is the echo in theme and spirit. The first lines of the first verses, together with the last verses of each, bear a close and literal resemblance. But there are peculiar indications in Psalms 98:0 of some occasion of victory, (Psalms 98:1,) and of the manifestation of divine judgments upon the idolatrous nations (Psalms 98:2) in vindication of his covenant with the house of Israel, (Psalms 98:3,) which ally it, historically, with Psalms 97:0. The judicial aspects of the two psalms are also strikingly similar, and their triumphal celebration of Jehovah’s kingdom over the nations resembles a military triumph, which distinguishes them from the simply devout joyfulness over the converted peoples in Psalms 96:0. The Septuagint, Vulgate, and Syriac ascribe the psalm to David, and the Syriac title, which refers it to “the deliverance of the people from Egypt,” though not accurate, indicates how strongly the evidences of a special occasion impressed the mind. We may safely refer it to the same occasion as Psalms 97:0, with which it corresponds in theme and historic allusion. Compare Psalms 98:1-3 with Psalms 97:7-8, and see introduction to Psalms 97:0. But the language and imagery far out-step any local occasion, rising to the sublime height of prophecy, and finding its real fulfilment in the triumph of Christ over death and all his enemies, and in the establishment of his kingdom on the earth.

The divisions of the psalm are simple. In the first strophe (Psalms 98:1-3) is a call to sing unto Jehovah for his works of power, and judgment, and faithfulness; in the second, (Psalms 98:4-6,) “all the earth,” all nations, are invited to join in the “new song;” in the third, (Psalms 98:7-9,) all nature is appealed to, to swell the chorus of praise “because Jehovah cometh to judge the earth.”

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A Psalm The only instance where mizmor ( a psalm) stands alone in the title, whence this has been called “the orphan psalm.” Delitzsch. But it rather marks it as “a psalm among psalms a genuine lyrical effusion. It forms, in fact, the lyrical complement to the more decidedly prophetical psalm by which it is preceded.” Thrupp.