Easter should still be fresh in our memory, as it was just over two weeks ago. It is a holy day of great rejoicing for Christians, and our psalm for this week is one of great rejoicing, as well. Believers and followers of the Lord Jesus should be people of joy. Let’s take a quick, brief look at this short psalm of praise.
As Psalm 98 opens, the author calls on us to sing a new song to the Lord. There are so many things to praise the Lord for, so many blessings we have received. There is always something new to praise Him for. And with so many songs and hymns of praise, whether we prefer traditional or more contemporary worship music, we could sing a different one every day for quite a while!
Our psalmist gives us some reasons for praising the Lord. One is quite obvious, and that is because God has done marvelous things (vs. 1). Look around the world, especially with springtime upon us, and we can find so many marvelous things that God has done. He doesn’t do mediocre things, or sloppy things. When we look at the workmanship of so many things today, that is frequently what we find - mediocre and even sloppy quality. But not with what God does, for our God does marvelous things!
When we look back at the events that led up to the crucifixion of Jesus, we know that He was in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, which He did every year. All faithful Jewish people would try to go to Jerusalem for that celebration. What was that holy festival, what did it commemorate? That celebration was to commemorate the last of the ten plagues God had brought on the Egyptians, when God “passed over” the houses marked with the blood of a lamb, but striking down the first born of those who weren’t marked. Immediately following that, the people of Israel fled Egypt, and the Lord parted the water of the Red Sea for them to cross on dry ground. God’s right hand and His holy arm got the victory over His enemies (vs. 1).
Again, after Jesus was crucified and buried, His enemies thought that they had succeeded in stopping Him for good. But on the third day, that Sunday morning, Jesus rose from the dead His right hand and His holy arm gained Him the victory over Satan and over death! There are so many instances all throughout both the Old and New Testament where we see that God gets the victory over Satan and His enemies. As one reads through the final book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation, we see very clearly that Jesus gets the final victory!
Another thing to praise God for, quite an important thing, is His salvation, which He has brought to us through the shed Blood of His Son Jesus upon the cross (vs. 2-3). Salvation wasn’t, and isn’t for just a select few. It is for all people at all times. His parting words to the disciples was that they were to go into all the world, telling anyone and everyone the Gospel message of salvation. God has made it known. It isn’t kept secret for just a select few. We can, and should, be a part of that, making salvation through Jesus known to all the ends of the earth, as well.
Next we see the psalmist instruct us to sing God’s praises with all sorts of musical instruments, a whole orchestra full (vs. 4-6). The people are to shout and sing with music before the Lord, the King. One favorite subject of mine is studying royalty, particularly the British royalty, from the present day to going all the way back to the days of the Anglo-Saxon kings. Though not so much today, but there were several periods of time when the monarchs really went all out with pomp and ceremony. The king would enter a great hall, and the trumpets and horns would ring out, announcing his arrival. The composer Handel wrote some very celebratory music for both King George I and II, music that was to be played when the former rode his royal barge down the Thames, and when the latter hosted celebratory royal fireworks. If grand music can accompany earthly royalty, then certainly we should play joyful and triumphant music for the Lord God!
As our psalm closes, the psalmist proclaims that all of nature will rejoice and sing their praises to the Lord (vs. 7-9). The sea, the rivers, and the hills will all join together with creation to praise the Lord. He will be coming to judge the earth, and when He enters He deserves an even grander celebratory praise than any earthly king!
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