Psalms 98:4-9

4 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music;
5 make music to the LORD with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing,
6 with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn— shout for joy before the LORD, the King.
7 Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy;
9 let them sing before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity.

Psalms 98:4-9 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.''

Cross References 12

  • 1. Psalms 20:5; Isaiah 12:6; Isaiah 44:23; Isaiah 52:9; Isaiah 54:1; Isaiah 55:12
  • 2. Psalms 33:2; Psalms 92:3; Psalms 147:7
  • 3. Isaiah 51:3
  • 4. S Numbers 10:2; S 2 Samuel 6:15; Numbers 10:10
  • 5. S Exodus 19:13
  • 6. Psalms 20:5; Psalms 100:1; Isaiah 12:6
  • 7. Psalms 2:6; Psalms 47:7
  • 8. S Psalms 93:3
  • 9. S Psalms 24:1
  • 10. S 2 Kings 11:12
  • 11. Psalms 148:9; Isaiah 44:23; Isaiah 55:12
  • 12. S Psalms 96:10
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