Psalms 98:2-9

2 The Lord hath made known his health; in the sight of heathen men he hath showed his rightfulness. (The Lord hath made known his victory; yea, he hath shown his righteousness before the heathen.)

3 He bethought on his mercy; and on his truth, to the house of Israel. All the ends of earth; saw the health of our God. (He remembered his love, and his faithfulness, toward the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth; have seen the victory of our God.)

4 All earth, make ye heartily joy to God; sing ye, and make ye full out joy, and say ye psalm. (All the earth, heartily make ye joy to God; sing ye, and rejoice, and sing ye a song.)

5 Sing ye to the Lord in an harp, in harp and in voice of psalm; (Sing ye to the Lord on a harp, yea, on a harp, and with the words of a song/and with the strains of a lute;)

6 in trumps beaten out with hammer, and in voice of a trump of (a) horn. Heartily sing ye in the sight of the Lord, the king; (and with trumpets beaten out with a hammer, yea, with the sound of trumpets and horns. Heartily sing ye before the Lord, the King;)

7 the sea and the fullness thereof be moved; the world, and they that dwell therein. (let the sea roar, and all the creatures in it; yea, the whole world, and all that live in it!)

8 Floods shall make joy with hand; together hills shall make full out joy, (The rivers make joy, or clap, with their hands; the hills rejoice together,)

9 for the sight of the Lord; for he cometh to deem the earth. He shall deem the world in rightfulness; and peoples in equity. (before the Lord; for he cometh to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness; and the peoples with justice, or with fairness.)

Psalms 98:2-9 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 98

\\<>\\. This is the only psalm throughout the whole book which is so called, without any other additional word, epithet, or inscription. The Targum calls it a psalm of prophecy, or a prophetic psalm, as indeed it is; for it respects time to come, as Jarchi observes, even the Gospel dispensation. Aben Ezra says, perhaps this psalm is concerning the coming of the Redeemer; a doubt need not be made of it, it certainly is. Abendana, a later writer among the Jews, says of the latter part of the psalm, that it figuratively expresses the greatness of the joy that shall be in the days of the Messiah. The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, ascribe it unto David; but it was not penned by him on account of any victory obtained by him, but as a prophecy of the victories and salvation of the Messiah; nor is it of the same argument with, or a compendium of, the song of Moses at the Red sea, as Grotius thinks; though the inscription of the Syriac version begins thus, ``a Psalm of David, concerning the redemption of the people out of Egypt, when they conquered and triumphed;'' yet it more rightly adds, ``but spiritually a prophecy concerning the coming of Christ, and the calling of the Gentiles unto the faith.''