1 O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty. And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies; whereby the people fall under thee.
The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath. He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries.
Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 98
Commentary on Psalms 98 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Greeting to Him Who Is Become Known in Righteousness and Salvation
This is the only Psalm which is inscribed מזמור without further addition, whence it is called in B. Aboda Zara , 24 b , מזמורא יתומא (the orphan Psalm). The Peshîto Syriac inscribes it De redemtione populi ex Aegypto ; the “new song,” however, is not the song of Moses, but the counterpart of this, cf. Revelation 15:3. There “the Lord reigneth” resounded for the first time, at the sea; here the completion of the beginning there commenced is sung, viz., the final glory of the divine kingdom, which through judgment breaks through to its full reality. The beginning and end are taken from Psalms 96:1-13. Almost all that lies between is taken from the second part of Isaiah. This book of consolation for the exiles is become as it were a Castalian spring for the religious lyric.
Psalms 98:1 we have already read in Psalms 96:1. What follows in Psalms 98:1 is taken from Isaiah 52:10; Isaiah 63:5, cf. Psalms 98:7, Psalms 59:16, cf. Psalms 40:10. The primary passage, Isaiah 52:10, shows that the Athnach of Psalms 98:2 is correctly placed. לעיני is the opposite of hearsay (cf. Arab. l - l - ‛yn , from one's own observation, opp . Arab. l - l - chbr , from the narrative of another person). The dative לבית ישראל depends upon ויּזכּר , according to Psalms 106:45, cf. Luke 1:54.
The call in Psalms 98:4 demands some joyful manifestation of the mouth, which can be done in many ways; in Psalms 98:5 the union of song and the music of stringed instruments, as of the Levites; and in Psalms 98:6 the sound of wind instruments, as of the priests. On Psalms 98:4 cf. Isaiah 44:23; Isaiah 49:13; Isaiah 52:9, together with Isaiah 14:7 (inasmuch as פּצחוּ ורננוּ is equivalent to פּצחוּ רנּה ). קול זמרה is found also in Isaiah 51:3.
Here, too, it is all an echo of the earlier language of Psalms and prophets: Psalms 98:7 = Psalms 96:11; Psalms 98:7 like Psalms 24:1; Psalms 98:8 after Isaiah 55:12 (where we find מחא כּף instead of the otherwise customary תּקע כּף , Psalms 47:2; or הכּה כּף , 2 Kings 11:12, is said of the trees of the field); Psalms 98:9 - Psalms 96:13, cf. Psalms 36:10 . In the bringing in of nature to participate in the joy of mankind, the clapping rivers ( נהרות ) are original to this Psalm: the rivers cast up high waves, which flow into one another like clapping hands;
(Note: Luther renders: “the water-floods exult” ( frohlocken ); and Eychman's Vocabularius predicantium explains plaudere by “to exult ( frohlocken ) for joy, to smite the hands together prae gaudio ;” cf. Luther's version of Ezekiel 21:17.)
cf. Habakkuk 3:10, where the abyss of the sea lifts up its hands on high, i.e., causes its waves to run mountain-high.