Psalm 98
From this psalm Isaac Watts found the inspiration for his popular hymn "Joy to the World," often classified as a Christmas carol but more accurately identified as a "kingdom hymn." Watts described Christ's second advent and not His first, the messianic kingdom and not the manger. The parallels to 96 are obvious, but the psalms are not identical. This psalm was written to praise the Lord for a great victory over Israel's enemies ("salvation," vv. 1–3), perhaps the victory of the Medes and Persians over Babylon (Dan. 5) that led to the return of the Jewish exiles to their land (Ezra 1). Some of the vocabulary in the psalm reflects the language of Isaiah the prophet, who in chapters 40—66 of his book wrote about the "exodus" of the Jews from Babylon (44:23; 49:13; 51:3; 52:9–10; 59:16; 63:5). But the psalm also speaks of a future judgment (vv. 7–9). The psalmist saw in the destruction of ancient Babylon a picture of God's judgment of end-time Babylon (Rev. 17—18).
A Marvelous Salvation (vv. 1–3) The focus in this section is on the Jewish people and the wonderful new demonstration of God's power they had seen. It was so great it demanded a new song from His people (see 33:3; 96:1). The picture of God as warrior disturbs those who seem to forget that a holy God cannot compromise with sin. (See 68:1–10; 77:16–19; Ex. 15:1–2.) The cross declares not only that God loves sinners (Rom. 5:8), but also that God hates and opposes sin (Matt. 12:22–30; Col. 2:15). Since God is a spirit (John 4:24), He does not have a body, so the references to His hand and arm are metaphorical (17:7; 18:35; 20:6; 44:3; 60:5; 77:10; Ex. 15:6, 11–12; Isa. 52:10; 59:16; 63:5). What God did for Israel was a witness to the Gentile nations and a vivid demonstration of His faithfulness to His covenant and His love for His chosen people. But surely the writer was looking beyond a mere local victory, for he wrote about the witness of this event to the nations (v. 2), the earth (vv.
The Lord Is Exalted among His People (vv. 10–12) God's people are those who love Him and do not turn to idols for help (91:14; 1 Cor. 8:1–3). But if we love Him who is holy, we will hate that which is unholy (34:14; 36:4; 37:27; 119:104; Prov. 8:13; Rom. 12:9). In this paragraph, God's people are called "saints" or "godly ones," "the righteous," "the upright in heart," and all of these names speak of a life devoted to God. We should love Him, obey Him ("hate evil"), rejoice in Him, and give thanks to Him for all His mercies. After all, He protects His people, delivers them, gives them light for their path, and puts gladness into their hearts. What more could they want?
The image in verse 11 is that of the sower; the Lord plants light like seeds so that His people will not always