Sing to the Lord a New Song

Continuing a chronological Bible study:

(Psalm 96:1) O sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth!

David had just placed the ark of the covenant of the Lord in the place he had prepared for it in Zion.  The people had offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings before God.  Then David wrote a song for the occasion that they sang at the celebration.  This psalm is evidently taken from that song, but it takes on a greater meaning here.  The people had been encouraged to sing to the Lord in David's song, but now they were called to sing "a new song" which referred not to the removal of the ark but the coming of the Messiah.  All the earth is called to sing the new song to the Lord as He would bring salvation to the whole world.

(2) Sing to the Lord, bless His name; show forth His salvation from day to day. (3) Declare His glory among the heathen, His wonders among all people.

Yes, sing to the Lord and praise His holy name.  The original word "basar" that was translated as "show forth" has a more emphatic meaning more like "preach, publish, tell."  Long before Jesus would send forth His disciples telling them to "Go therefore, and teach all nations..." the psalmist was calling upon people to preach the good news of the coming Messiah to a heathen world.

(4) For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods, (5) For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.

The Lord is infinitely great and should be praised as so.  I like the words of C. H. Spurgeon in his The Treasury of David, "Praise should be proportionate to its object, therefore let it be infinite when rendered unto the Lord. We cannot praise him too much, too often, too zealously, too carefully, too joyfully. He deserves that nothing in his worship should be little, but all the honour rendered unto him should be given in largeness of heart, with the utmost zeal for his glory." 

The Lord is to be feared above all gods because all the gods of the world are but mere idols.  It was the one true Lord God of the universe who made the heavens and the earth and everything in them that created those false idols, whatever they may be.  That Creator, that Word who spoke creation into being, was Jesus Christ (John 1:3).

(6) Honor and majesty are before Him; strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.

There is inconceivable glory and majesty in the Lord's presence.  Literal rays of light and glory emanate from Him.  Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary, wherever He dwells, in His church.  There is nothing stronger or more beautiful than Christ Jesus overcoming death itself.

(7) Give to the Lord, O you kindreds of the people, give to the Lord glory and strength.

All families of people all over the world should recognize and ascribe to the Lord the glory and strength due Him, that only He possesses.  I can't help but apply it to ourselves giving glory to God and giving our very bodies (our strength) over to Him, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service." (Romans 12:1)

(8) Give to the Lord the glory due His name; bring an offering and come into His courts.

Give to the Lord all honor and glory that is due Him.  We mere humans could never give all that is due Him, but we can give all that we have, ourselves, offered up wholly to God for His purposes.

(9) O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness; fear before Him, all the earth.

The beauty of holiness is the beauty that matters most, being beautiful on the inside.  God judges the heart of man:  "...the Lord does not see as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7)  The original word "chul" that was translated as "fear" actually encompasses so many meanings as the Brown-Driver-Briggs' Hebrew Definitions tells us:  "to twist, whirl, dance, writhe, fear, tremble, travail, be in anguish, be pained."  I find that so interesting, and true!  Reverential fear of the Lord brings us to our knees and the end of ourselves in repentance when we realize that He is the one who holds our very lives in His hands.  So yes, there may be pain and fear in the beginning, but then there is incredible joy in His salvation, love, mercy, provision, protection, and guidance.  Oh, that all the earth could come to that salvation and ultimate joy!  It's a joy one cannot fully understand until he has experienced it.

(10) Say among the heathen the Lord reigns; the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved; He shall judge the people righteously.

Proclaim to all pagan nations of the world that the Lord reigns!  Because of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus and His ascension to His throne, the good news of the gospel is available to all the world.  The government of God is fixed and stable. It is not temporary, changing, vacillating, like the governments of the earth, but is steadfast and unchanging, and established like the earth, so fixed and firm that nothing can move it from its place.  His righteous judgment is steadfast, as well.  He will impartially rule over Jew and Gentile, prince and peasant, rich and poor, and that brings joy to those who are victims of an oppressive dictator's arbitrary will.

(11) Let the heavens rejoice and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar and all its fullness. (12) Let the field be joyful and all that is in it; then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice (13) Before the Lord for He comes to judge the earth; He shall judge the world with righteousness and the people with His truth.

The earth has much reason to be glad because the Lord has overcome death, but the angels in heaven also rejoice when even just one sinner is saved (Luke 15:7,10).  All God's creation testifies of His beauty, power, and majesty, and Jesus said in Luke 19:40 that if people failed to glorify the Lord, the very rocks would cry out.  Everything in creation was made to glorify God, but we humans, made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), with our voices, our hands, and our Spirit, have a unique responsibility to praise and honor God in all that we do.  It will be an especially joyful event when Jesus returns to judge the world.  Because of His righteous judgment, and the fact that He can be nothing but righteous, we have assurance that all the world will be judged rightly according to His truth, whether rich or poor, whether in authority or in oppression, whether black, white, or purple, righteous or wicked, even alive or dead.  He will set everything right and for that, we rejoice! 

(Psalm 98:1) (A Psalm) O sing to the Lord a new song! For He has done marvelous things; His right hand and His holy arm has gotten Him the victory.

This psalm is similar to Psalm 96 in that it appears to be prophecy about the coming Messiah.  People were encouraged to sing to the Lord "a new song."  And that was because of the marvelous things He had done as His power had gotten Him victories in the past.  However, this appears to speak of the Lord's victory over death fulfilled in Jesus Christ the Messiah.  The original word "yasha" that was translated as "has gotten Him the victory" was most of the time translated in scripture as "save(d)" and in this context means more precisely "has worked salvation for Him."  The salvation the Lord accomplished through Jesus Christ was worked through the wisdom and works of Jesus, represented by His hand, and met the requirements of holy justice, represented by His holy arm.  Only through Him was salvation brought to His people, and for that, they were encouraged to sing a new song.

(2) The Lord has made known His salvation; His righteousness has He openly showed in the sight of the heathen.

Jesus Christ came to save the world, and He made known the way to salvation was only through Him.  He showed the path to salvation not only to His people Israel but to the whole Gentile world.

(3) He has remembered His mercy and His truth toward the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

God has and always will have mercy on His chosen people Israel.  It is only because they rejected Christ that His salvation was then offered to the rest of the world.  Romans 11 explains this beautiful plan of the Lord's that Israel has been blinded so that the rest of the world could be saved.  It also warns us not to be conceited in our beliefs that we know so much better than the Jews.  It's only because of their denial of Jesus as their Messiah that we are allowed to partake in the salvation that had been designed just for them.

(4) Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; make a loud noise and rejoice and sing praise.

Because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, all nations of the earth have reason to shout, rejoice, and sing praise to the Lord for His salvation.

(5) Sing to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the voice of a psalm.

At first glance, this seems to be a call to sing to the Lord accompanied by musical instruments.  However, interestingly, the original word "zimrah" that was translated as "psalm" here is not the same word translated as psalm in verse 1.  That word "mizmor" does refer to a poem set to music, or a song.  Zimrah is more about the music than the song.  One can sing to the Lord with beautiful music of the heart, similar to those groanings of the Holy Spirit when we don't have the words to express what we feel or what we ought (Romans 8:26). 

(6) With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the Lord, the King.

While the harp may sing to the Lord in a graceful, ethereal, and tranquil way, trumpets and cornets sing loud, joyful, and triumphant notes, and the Holy Spirit may work in those, as well.

(7) Let the sea roar and all its fullness, the world and they who dwell in it.

The majestic creations of God in the world cry out, displaying the awesome power of the Lord, including the people He created, whose very existence shouts of the Lord's miraculous creation, but also with their own voices and actions they proclaim praise and glory to the Lord.

(8) Let the floods clap hands; let the hills be joyful together (9) Before the Lord, for He comes to judge the earth; with righteousness shall He judge the world, and the people with equity.

Just as Psalm 96 expressed the joy the world would have when Jesus returned to judge it, so it is expressed here.  All of God's creation will rejoice because the completely righteous and just Judge will judge fairly with no regard to one's position in life.  Everything is under His control, and He will set everything right!