Psalms 98:1-3

A Call to Praise the LORD for His Righteousness.

1

A Psalm.

1 O sing to the LORD a 1new song, For He has done 2wonderful things, His 3right hand and His 4holy arm have gained the victory for Him.
2 5The LORD has made known His salvation; He has 6revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations.
3 He has 7remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; 8All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Psalms 98:1-3 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.''

Cross References 8

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Or "accomplished salvation"
  • [b]. I.e. faithfulness to His gracious promises
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