1 <A Psalm.> O make a new song to the Lord, because he has done works of wonder; with his right hand, and with his holy arm, he has overcome.
Full of glory, O Lord, is the power of your right hand; by your right hand those who came against you are broken.
The Lord has let his holy arm be seen by the eyes of all nations; and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.
Make clear his glory to the nations, and his wonders to all the peoples.
Make a new song to him; playing expertly with a loud noise.
And the angel said, Have no fear; for truly, I give you good news of great joy which will be for all the people: For on this day, in the town of David, a Saviour has come to birth, who is Christ the Lord. And this is the sign to you: you will see a young child folded in linen, in the place where the cattle have their food. And suddenly there was with the angel a great band of spirits from heaven, giving praise to God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on the earth peace among men with whom he is well pleased.
Men of Crete and Arabia, to all of us they are talking in our different languages, of the great works of God.
Having made himself free from the rule of authorities and powers, he put them openly to shame, glorying over them in it.
And because the children are flesh and blood, he took a body himself and became like them; so that by his death he might put an end to him who had the power of death, that is to say, the Evil One; And let those who all their lives were in chains because of their fear of death, go free.
And their voices are sounding in a new song, saying, It is right for you to take the book and to make it open: for you were put to death and have made an offering to God of your blood for men of every tribe, and language, and people, and nation,
And I saw a white horse, and he who was seated on it had a bow; and there was given to him a crown: and he went out with power to overcome.
And they give the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and full of wonder are your works, O Lord God, Ruler of all; true and full of righteousness are your ways, eternal King. What man is there who will not have fear before you, O Lord, and give glory to your name? because you only are holy; for all the nations will come and give worship before you; for your righteousness has been made clear.
These will make war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because he is the Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with him are named, marked out, and true.
And the heaven was open; and I saw a white horse, and he who was seated on it was named Certain and True; and he is judging and making war in righteousness. And his eyes are a flame of fire, and crowns are on his head; and he has a name in writing, of which no man has knowledge but himself. And he is clothed in a robe washed with blood: and his name is The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven went after him on white horses, clothed in delicate linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth comes a sharp sword, with which he overcomes the nations: and he has rule over them with a rod of iron: and he is crushing with his feet the grapes of the strong wrath of God the Ruler of all. And on his robe and on his leg is a name, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. And I saw an angel taking his place in the sun; and he was crying with a loud voice, saying to all the birds in flight in the heavens, Come together to the great feast of God; So that you may take for your food the flesh of kings, and of captains, and of strong men, and of horses and of those who are seated on them, and the flesh of all men, free and unfree, small and great. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, come together to make war against him who was seated on the horse and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who did the signs before him, by which they were turned from the true way who had the mark of the beast, and who gave worship to his image: these two were put living into the sea of ever-burning fire. And the rest were put to death with the sword of him who was on the horse, even the sword which came out of his mouth: and all the birds were made full with their flesh.
I will give you praise, for I am strangely and delicately formed; your works are great wonders, and of this my soul is fully conscious.
Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? who is like you, in holy glory, to be praised with fear, doing wonders?
Put on your sword, make it ready at your side, O strong chief, with your glory and power. And go nobly on in your power, because you are good and true and without pride; and your right hand will be teaching you things of fear. Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's haters; because of them the peoples are falling under you.
You are the God who does works of power: you have made your strength clear to the nations.
Keep in mind the great works which he has done; his wonders, and the decisions of his mouth;
The Lord will send out the rod of your strength from Zion; be king over your haters. Your people give themselves gladly in the day of your power; like the dew of the morning on the holy mountains is the army of your young men. The Lord has made an oath, and will not take it back. You are a priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedek. In the day of his wrath kings will be wounded by the Lord at your right hand. He will be judge among the nations, the valleys will be full of dead bodies; the head over a great country will be wounded by him.
And there will be war between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed: by him will your head be crushed and by you his foot will be wounded.
Let the Lord be praised. Make a new song to the Lord, let his praise be in the meeting of his saints.
Give no thought to the things which are past; let the early times go out of your minds. See, I am doing a new thing; now it is starting; will you not take note of it? I will even make a way in the waste land, and rivers in the dry country. The beasts of the field will give me honour, the jackals and the ostriches: because I send out waters in the waste land, and rivers in the dry country, to give drink to the people whom I have taken for myself:
And he saw that there was no man, and was surprised that there was no one to take up their cause: so his arm gave salvation, and he made righteousness his support.
How long will you go on turning this way and that, O wandering daughter? for the Lord has made a new thing on the earth, a woman changed into a man.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » John Gill's Exposition of the Bible » Commentary on Psalms 98
Commentary on Psalms 98 John Gill's Exposition of the Bible
INTRODUCTION TO Psalm 98
A Psalm. 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.'.
O sing unto the Lord a new song,.... An excellent one unto the Lord Christ, on account of the great work of redemption and salvation wrought out by him; and because of the new and living way opened by him, and because of the new dispensation of the Gospel, which takes place through him, and for the reasons next mentioned; See Gill on Psalm 96:1,
for he hath done marvellous things; by assuming human nature, in that he, being God, became man, took flesh of a virgin, even pure and uncorrupted, a clean thing out of an unclean; which he took into personal union with himself, and that for the sake of sinful creatures: a most marvellous affair this! which calls for a new song from men, as it had from the angels. In this nature he taught wonderful doctrines, at which his hearers were astonished, wondering from whence he had his wisdom; and in it he did many miraculous works, which filled them with amazement above measure; and especially in it he performed the amazing and surprising work of man's redemption, an instance of the marvellous lovingkindness and astonishing wisdom of God; performed in a manner quite stupendous, through Christ's being made under the law both the precept and penalty of it; through his being made sin and a curse for men, even for the ungodly, sinners and enemies; a redemption which is of the souls of men from sin, Satan, and the law; a complete and plenteous one, which includes and secures all the blessings of grace and glory, justification, pardon, adoption, and eternal life. To which may be added the resurrection of himself from the dead, his ascension to heaven, the effusion of the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit on the apostles, the wonderful success of the Gospel in the Gentile world, the support of his interest against all the powers on earth, the destruction of the man of sin, the calling of the Jews, and the bringing in of the fulness of the Gentiles in the latter day; all which marvellous events require a new song of praise: another reason of which follows:
his right hand and his holy arm hath gotten him the victory: over sin, Satan, the world, death, and hell, in which he has made his people sharers, yea, more than conquerors; and therefore may well sing the new triumphant song to him: the words may be rendered, "hath brought salvation to him"F2הושיעה לו "salutem attulit ei", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; so Tigurine version, Munster, Cocceius, Gejerus, Michaelis. ; as in Isaiah 59:16; to him personally, he raising himself from the dead, as a triumphant Conqueror; to him mystically, his body the church, to whom he is the author of salvation; or to him, that is, to his Father, in obedience to whose will he wrought out salvation for his people, and for the honour of his name, and for the glorifying of his perfections. This was done by him alone, by his right hand of power, by the mighty arm of his strength, and which no mere creature could ever have performed: and this he did in a way of holiness; his holy arm did it in a way that maintains and secures the glory of divine holiness and justice.
The Lord hath made known his salvation,.... Which was appointed him, he undertook, came to perform, and has effected; this, though wrought out, is unknown to men, especially to the Gentile world, who had no prophecy, promise, or revelation of the Messiah, and salvation by him; but now this is made known in the everlasting Gospel, called therefore the Gospel of salvation, and by the ministers of it; and, besides this, the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ, and his salvation, is given to some; whereby they come to know their need of it, the suitableness of it to their case, the necessity of going to Christ for it, and their special and particular interest in it; and such have a new song put into their mouths, and are under great obligation to sing it:
his righteousness hath he openly showed in the sight of the Heathen; either the faithfulness of God in fulfilling his promises, particularly in raising up the Saviour Jesus; or the goodness of God to his people, and the strictness of his justice on their surety; goodness towards them, and severity on him, when he spared them and not him, turned his hand of grace and mercy on them, when he awoke the sword of justice against him; or rather his own righteousness, by which he fulfilled the law in the room and stead of his people; and which being brought in is revealed in the gospel, from faith to faith; and that "openly", not in dark shadows, types, and figures; but it is to be seen with open face in the clear glass of the Gospel; and is held up and forth in the ministration of it unto the Gentiles, whom God justifies through faith in it, as well as the believing Jews; see Romans 3:30.
He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel,.... His mercy promised them, in raising up a Saviour to them, one that should be the glory of them; and his truth, in fulfilling that and every other promise concerning him; see Luke 1:72,
all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God; either Christ himself, who is the salvation or Saviour of God's appointing, providing, and sending; or the salvation which he has wrought out, the Gospel declaring it; which has been sent throughout the world; and many in all parts of it, even in the most distant parts of it, in the very ends of it, have been made to see the nature, want, worth, and value of it; not every individual person in the world, but some in the several parts, and in the remote corners of it, whither the Gospel has been or will be sent; see Isaiah 52:10.
Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth,.... That is, all the inhabitants of the earth, as the Targum, to whom the joyful sound of the Gospel comes; See Gill on Psalm 95:1,
make a loud noise, rejoice, and sing praise; exalt and extend the voice to the highest pitch, in the most musical and melodious strains; this heap of words is used to express the intenseness of mind, vehemency of affection, and strength of spirit and exceeding greatness of joy, with which the Lord should be praised for his great and marvellous works.
Sing unto the Lord with the harp,.... Playing upon that at the same time: here and in the following verse is an allusion to Old Testament worship, and the manner of performing that; not that this should be done in New Testament times, only New Testament worship is expressed in Old Testament language, which is no unusual thing; hence in Gospel times, and Gospel churches, the saints, especially when singing the new song of redeeming grace, are said to have harps in their hands, expressive only of their spiritual melody in their hearts, Revelation 5:8,
with the harp, and the voice of the psalm; with the harp alone first, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi interpret it, and then with the harp, and together with the words of a psalm, sung in a psalm tune. Gospel churches are to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, Ephesians 5:19.
With trumpet and sound of cornet,.... The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Ethiopic versions, render it
with ductile trumpets, such as were made of silver, as the two trumpets for the calling of the assembly, Numbers 10:2 to which the allusion seems to be here, called "asosra" by JosephusF3Antique. Jud. l. 3. c. 12. sect. 6. according to the Hebrew language חצוצרות; which he says were in length a little less than a cubit, but the pipe narrow, somewhat thicker than a flute, having a sufficient breadth at the mouth to blow with, ending after the manner of a bell. The cornet was a trumpet or pipe, made of horn, from whence it has its name; such were those, made of rams' horns, the priests blew with when they encompassed Jericho, Joshua 6:4,
make a joyful noise before the Lord, the King; or rather "before the King, the Lord"F4לפני המלך יהוה "coram rege Domino", Pagninus, Tigurine version; so Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius. ; before the King, who is Jehovah, who is the King of kings, and Lord of lords; let this shout be made before him, in his presence, and on account of his kingly office, and because of some eminent appearance of his kingdom and glory; see Revelation 19:6.
Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof,.... See Gill on Psalm 96:11,
the world, and they that dwell therein; men, the inhabitants of the world; that is, let them rejoice because this glorious King has taken to himself his great power, and reigns, Revelation 11:15.
Let the floods clap their hands,.... Or "rivers"F5נהרות "fluvii", Cocceius, Gejerus, so Ainsworth. , dashing against their banks, as they pass along; a prosopopoeia, as the preceding and following, expressing great joy on account of the Messiah, the reigning King. Aben Ezra interprets this of men that are in rivers, as the sea; in the preceding verse of such that are in ships at sea; and the hills in the next clause of such that dwell on them;
let the hills be joyful together; see Isaiah 55:12.
Before the Lord, for he cometh to judge the earth,.... See Gill on Psalm 96:13,
with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity; both at his first and second coming, and during the intermediate time; see the note as before. The only difference is, that in Psalm 96:13, it is said that he shall judge the people "with his truth", here "with equity", or "uprightnesses"F6במשרים "in rectitudinibus", Montanus, Michaelis. ; in the most upright manner, according to the strictest rules of justice and judgment; see Isaiah 11:3.