☰ Psalms 98
98
1  A psalm.
Sing to the Lord a new song,1
for he performs2 amazing deeds!
His right hand and his mighty arm
accomplish deliverance.3
2  The Lord demonstrates his power to deliver;4
in the sight of the nations he reveals his justice.
3  He remains loyal and faithful to the family of Israel.5
All the ends of the earth see our God deliver us.6
4  Shout out praises to the Lord, all the earth!
Break out in a joyful shout and sing!
5  Sing to the Lord accompanied by a harp,
accompanied by a harp and the sound of music!
6  With trumpets and the blaring of the ram’s horn,
shout out praises before the king, the Lord!
7  Let the sea and everything in it shout,
along with the world and those who live in it!
8  Let the rivers clap their hands!
Let the mountains sing in unison
9  before the Lord!
For he comes to judge the earth!
He judges the world fairly,7
and the nations in a just manner. 8
1 98:1 sn: Psalm 98. The psalmist summons the whole earth to praise God because he reveals his justice and delivers Israel. 2 98:1 sn: A new song is appropriate because the Lord is constantly intervening in the world as its just king. See Ps 96:1. 3 98:1 tn: The perfect verbal forms in vv. 1-3 are understood here as describing characteristic divine activities. Another option is to translate them as present perfects, “has performed…has accomplished deliverance, etc.” referring to completed actions that have continuing results. 4 98:2 tn: Heb “his right hand delivers for him and his holy arm.” The right hand and arm symbolize his power as a warrior-king (see Isa 52:10). His arm is “holy” in the sense that it is in a category of its own; God’s power is incomparable. 5 98:3 tn: Heb “makes known his deliverance.” 6 98:3 tn: Heb “he remembers his loyal love and his faithfulness to the house of Israel.” 7 98:9 tn: Heb “the deliverance of our God,” with “God” being a subjective genitive (= God delivers). 8 98:9 tn: The verbal forms in v. 9 probably describe God’s typical, characteristic behavior, though they may depict in dramatic fashion the outworking of divine judgment or anticipate a future judgment of worldwide proportions (“will judge…”).
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