Psalms 98:1-9

Psalm 98 ¹ 

A psalm.

98:1 Sing to the Lord a new song, ² 

for he performs ³  amazing deeds!

His right hand and his mighty arm

accomplish deliverance. ⁴ 

98:2 The Lord demonstrates his power to deliver; ⁵ 

in the sight of the nations he reveals his justice.

98:3 He remains loyal and faithful to the family of Israel. ⁶ 

All the ends of the earth see our God deliver us. ⁷ 

98:4 Shout out praises to the Lord, all the earth!

Break out in a joyful shout and sing!

98:5 Sing to the Lord accompanied by a harp,

accompanied by a harp and the sound of music!

98:6 With trumpets and the blaring of the ram’s horn,

shout out praises before the king, the Lord!

98:7 Let the sea and everything in it shout,

along with the world and those who live in it!

98:8 Let the rivers clap their hands!

Let the mountains sing in unison

98:9 before the Lord!

For he comes to judge the earth!

He judges the world fairly, ⁸ 

and the nations in a just manner.

[98:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 98. The psalmist summons the whole earth to praise God because he reveals his justice and delivers Israel.

[98:1]  ² sn A new song is appropriate because the Lord is constantly intervening in the world as its just king. See Ps 96:1.

[98:1]  ³ tn The perfect verbal forms in vv. 1-3 are understood here as describing characteristic divine activities. Another option is to translate them as present perfects, “has performed…has accomplished deliverance, etc.” referring to completed actions that have continuing results.

[98:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “his right hand delivers for him and his holy arm.” The right hand and arm symbolize his power as a warrior-king (see Isa 52:10). His arm is “holy” in the sense that it is in a category of its own; God’s power is incomparable.

[98:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “makes known his deliverance.”

[98:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “he remembers his loyal love and his faithfulness to the house of Israel.”

[98:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “the deliverance of our God,” with “God” being a subjective genitive (= God delivers).

[98:9]  ⁸ tn The verbal forms in v. 9 probably describe God’s typical, characteristic behavior, though they may depict in dramatic fashion the outworking of divine judgment or anticipate a future judgment of worldwide proportions (“will judge…”).