Embrace the Word for Monday, August 3, 2026
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Psalm 98 is a call to give praise to the LORD for the salvation He has accomplished. While there is a superscription for Psalm 98, it is short and offers no historical context: “A Psalm.” However, its placement in Book 4 of the Psalter suggests that Psalm 98 is a word to Israel in the context of their Babylonian captivity. Set while they were in exile, Book 4 follows a progression of Psalms that highlight the certainty of the LORD’s reign. Therefore, Israel is directed to have great hope in the promised salvation from the LORD. Psalm 98 has several links with Psalm 97 and Psalm 96. Psalm 98 and 96 begin in exactly the same way, “Oh sing to the LORD a new song” (96:1a, 98:1a), each use the phrase, “Let the sea roar, and all that fills it” (98:7a; 96:11b), and each have very similar endings (96:13; 98:9). Psalm 98 and 97 share several common terms, such as “righteousness” (97:2,6; 98:2), “holy” (97:12; 98: 1), as well as the terms “nations,” “peoples,” and/or “earth” (97:1,4,5,6,9; 98:3,4,7,9). Psalm 98 issues a call for Israel to praise the LORD (98:1-3), all the nations to praise the LORD (98:4-6), and for all of creation to praise the LORD (98:7-9).
Psalm 98 begins with a summons for Israel to sing praise to the LORD: “Oh sing to the LORD a new song” (98:1a). Further assurances as stated in Psalm 97 that the LORD, who reigns over all the earth, will return for His people, the fitting response to the surety of this promise is to sing a new song to the LORD. Just as Israel sang to the LORD in response to their release from Egyptian captivity (See Exodus 15), so now a new deliverance solicits a new song. A great victory over Pharaoh prompted a song fitting for that occasion, so now the anticipation of a fresh victory should prompt a song fitting for this new occasion. Singing praise is rooted in seeing what the LORD has done: “for he has done marvelous things!” (98:1b).
To support the summons to sing praise to the LORD, the Psalmist gives additional facts to specify the “marvelous things” that the LORD has done. First, He has achieved salvation for His people: “His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him” (98:1c). Just as Moses highlighted the right hand of the LORD as Israel was delivered from Egypt (See Exodus 15:6), so now the LORD’s right hand will be displayed once again through a new deliverance. The prophet Isaiah also invokes the mighty hand of the LORD as he assures Israel of a new deliverance (See Isaiah 52:10). Essentially, the “salvation” that the Psalmist is speaking of pertains to victory, which involves two aspects: Israel will be rescued, and their enemies will be defeated. This victory will be for Israel, but will be seen by all: “The LORD has made known his salvation; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations” (98:2). The paralleling of “salvation” with “righteousness” underscores that the victory that Israel will experience will come about because the LORD always does the right thing, which in this case, involves keeping His word. The word that the LORD kept is His covenantal promises made to the nation, which the LORD does not forget: “He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God” (98:3). Once again, what the LORD does for Israel is seen throughout all the earth. The LORD always remembers His promises to His people, and He keeps them in such a fashion that others can notice the love and faithfulness of the LORD.
The realization that all the world notices what the LORD does for His people results in a call for all the world to join in singing praise to the LORD: “Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises! Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody! With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD!” (98:4-6). The implication of this call to the nations is that in light of what they have seen the LORD do for His people—“marvelous things”—they are summoned to come to the LORD and experience the LORD’s “steadfast love and faithfulness” for themselves. For in so doing, they too will be prompted to sing. Verse 4 and verse 6 direct the nations to “make a joyful noise.” This is no subdued directive; it calls for a loud cheerful shout. The Psalmist is not attempting to manipulate by humanly manufacturing excitement, he is confirming the appropriateness of what the heart feels the inner compulsion to do when the LORD’s salvation is experienced. The Psalmist stacks up the words in between “make a joyful noise,” as he adds, “break forth into joyous song,” “sing praises,” as well as accompany such loud singing with a full range of instrumentation: “the lyre,” “the sound of the melody,” “the trumpet,” and the “horn.” Borrowing from surrounding Psalms, it seems fitting to suggest that the enthusiastic singing called for, would entail the acclamation: “The LORD reigns” (See Psalm 93:1; 96:10; 97:1; 99:1); and perhaps even a rip-roaring rendition of “For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods” (See Psalm 95:3).
But the extension of the summon to worship does not end with the peoples of the nations; all of creation itself is called to give praise to the LORD: “Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; the world and those who dwell in it! Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together before the LORD” (98:7-9a). Not only do the nations see the salvation that the LORD achieves for His people, but creation itself “sees” the “marvelous things” that the LORD does, and it also will be a beneficiary of such things. When the LORD fully reigns on the earth, even creation will be blessed. Thus, creation is given a directive not to sing and play their praise to the LORD as mankind does; yet, they are to fittingly express praise by roaring and clapping, and joyfully crying out. Creation will experience a full renewal and a complete makeover when the LORD returns: “for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity” (98:9b).
As we reflect on Psalm 98, we can consider how the return of the Lord Jesus Christ will effect creation. The blessings on creation that are tied to a passage such as Psalm 98, speak of the reversal that creation will experience at Christ’s Second Coming. Until Christ returns, creation still suffers from the curse put upon it at the fall: “cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (See Genesis 3:17b-19). This curse still remains on creation even after Christ’s first coming: “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (See Romans 8:19-22). The long-awaited new creation awaits the return of Christ, which will issue a new heavens and a new earth that will be completely curse-free (See Revelation 21:1-4). However, Christ has already started the first stage of His new creation work through the regenerating activity of the Spirit of God in creating Christians: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (See 2 Corinthians 5:17). All who have been born again can begin singing a new song to the Lord, “for he has done marvelous things!”
That’s all for Embrace the Word for Monday, August 3, 2026. I look forward to being back with you for the Wednesday, August 5, 2026 episode of Embrace the Word as we take a look at Psalm 99.