1 A Psalm. Sing ye to Jehovah a new song, For wonders He hath done, Given salvation to Him hath His right hand and His holy arm.
Thy right hand, O Jehovah, Is become honourable in power; Thy right hand, O Jehovah, Doth crush an enemy.
Jehovah hath made bare His holy arm Before the eyes of all the nations, And seen have all the ends of the earth, The salvation of our God.
Declare among nations His honour, Among all the peoples His wonders.
Sing ye to Him a new song, Play skilfully with shouting.
And the messenger said to them, `Fear not, for lo, I bring you good news of great joy, that shall be to all the people -- because there was born to you to-day a Saviour -- who is Christ the Lord -- in the city of David, and this `is' to you the sign: Ye shall find a babe wrapped up, lying in the manger.' And suddenly there came with the messenger a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, `Glory in the highest to God, and upon earth peace, among men -- good will.'
Cretes and Arabians, we did hear them speaking in our tongues the great things of God.'
having stripped the principalities and the authorities, he made a shew of them openly -- having triumphed over them in it.
Seeing, then, the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself also in like manner did take part of the same, that through death he might destroy him having the power of death -- that is, the devil -- and might deliver those, whoever, with fear of death, throughout all their life, were subjects of bondage,
and they sing a new song, saying, `Worthy art thou to take the scroll, and to open the seals of it, because thou wast slain, and didst redeem us to God in thy blood, out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation,
and I saw, and lo, a white horse, and he who is sitting upon it is having a bow, and there was given to him a crown, and he went forth overcoming, and that he may overcome.
and they sing the song of Moses, servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, `Great and wonderful `are' Thy works, O Lord God, the Almighty, righteous and true `are' Thy ways, O King of saints, who may not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? because Thou alone `art' kind, because all the nations shall come and bow before Thee, because Thy righteous acts were manifested.'
these with the Lamb shall make war, and the Lamb shall overcome them, because Lord of lords he is, and King of kings, and those with him are called, and choice, and stedfast.'
And I saw the heaven having been opened, and lo, a white horse, and he who is sitting upon it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness doth he judge and war, and his eyes `are' as a flame of fire, and upon his head `are' many diadems -- having a name written that no one hath known, except himself, and he is arrayed with a garment covered with blood, and his name is called, The Word of God. And the armies in the heaven were following him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen -- white and pure; and out of his mouth doth proceed a sharp sword, that with it he may smite the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, and he doth tread the press of the wine of the wrath and the anger of God the Almighty, and he hath upon the garment and upon his thigh the name written, `King of kings, and Lord of lords.' And I saw one messenger standing in the sun, and he cried, a great voice, saying to all the birds that are flying in mid-heaven, `Come and be gathered together to the supper of the great God, that ye may eat flesh of kings, and flesh of chiefs of thousands, and flesh of strong men, and flesh of horses, and of those sitting on them, and the flesh of all -- freemen and servants -- both small and great.' And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, having been gathered together to make war with him who is sitting upon the horse, and with his army; and the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who did the signs before him, in which he led astray those who did receive the mark of the beast, and those who did bow before his image; living they were cast -- the two -- to the lake of the fire, that is burning with brimstone; and the rest were killed with the sword of him who is sitting on the horse, which `sword' is proceeding out of his mouth, and all the birds were filled out of their flesh.
I confess Thee, because that `with' wonders I have been distinguished. Wonderful `are' Thy works, And my soul is knowing `it' well.
Who `is' like Thee among the gods, O Jehovah? Who `is' like Thee -- honourable in holiness -- Fearful in praises -- doing wonders?
Gird Thy sword upon the thigh, O mighty, Thy glory and Thy majesty! As to Thy majesty -- prosper! -- ride! Because of truth, and meekness -- righteousness, And Thy right hand showeth Thee fearful things. Thine arrows `are' sharp, -- Peoples fall under Thee -- In the heart of the enemies of the king.
Thou `art' the God doing wonders. Thou hast made known among the peoples Thy strength,
Remember His wonders that He did, His signs and the judgments of His mouth.
The rod of thy strength doth Jehovah send from Zion, Rule in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people `are' free-will gifts in the day of Thy strength, in the honours of holiness, From the womb, from the morning, Thou hast the dew of thy youth. Jehovah hath sworn, and doth not repent, `Thou `art' a priest to the age, According to the order of Melchizedek.' The Lord on thy right hand smote kings In the day of His anger. He doth judge among the nations, He hath completed the carcases, Hath smitten the head over the mighty earth.
and enmity I put between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; he doth bruise thee -- the head, and thou dost bruise him -- the heel.'
Praise ye Jah! Sing ye to Jehovah a new song, His praise in an assembly of saints.
Remember not former things, And ancient things consider not. Lo, I am doing a new thing, now it springeth up, Do ye not know it? Yea, I put in a wilderness a way, In a desolate place -- floods. Honour me doth the beast of the field, Dragons and daughters of an ostrich, For I have given in a wilderness waters, Floods in a desolate place, To give drink to My people -- My chosen.
And He seeth that there is no man, And is astonished that there is no intercessor, And His own arm giveth salvation to Him, And His righteousness -- it sustained Him.
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.