Another Royal Psalm, like 93, 95, 96, 97 – 100, praises Jesus, Our Lord and Savior! It tells us that He reveals His righteousness to every nation. How does He do that? Let’s dig in…
Psalm 98
Sing a new song to the Lord,
for he has done wonderful deeds.
His right hand has won a mighty victory;
his holy arm has shown his saving power!
2 The Lord has announced his victory
and has revealed his righteousness to every nation!
3 He has remembered his promise to love and be faithful to Israel.
The ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.4 Shout to the Lord, all the earth;
break out in praise and sing for joy!
5 Sing your praise to the Lord with the harp,
with the harp and melodious song,
6 with trumpets and the sound of the ram’s horn.
Make a joyful symphony before the Lord, the King!7 Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise!
Psalm 98 NLT
Let the earth and all living things join in.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands in glee!
Let the hills sing out their songs of joy
9 before the Lord,
for he is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with justice,
and the nations with fairness.
Let’s Break it Down…
We are to sing fresh songs to the Lord in thanksgiving. That means our praise — which doesn’t have to always be in the form of a song — should thank God for all He’s given us. That’s living in an attitude of gratitude. Just thank Him every morning for your home, food, job, car, family, friends, etc. In good times and in bad.
He is Victorious and Revealed His Righteousness
Jesus was victorious over death by rising from the grave. If we believe in His Resurrection and we understand WHY He had to die taking our sins away, we are SAVED!
Furthermore, He revealed His Righteousness because He never sinned! He was perfectly pure. He was innocent of the crime they accused Him of.
25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, 26 for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.
27 Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith.
Romans 3:25-27 NLT (emphasis mine)
A Prophetic Psalm
The tone of this psalm suggests that He will be victorious in the future — and He will! That’s what’s fascinating about Bible Prophecy. About a third of the Bible is prophecy — many were fulfilled! Moreover, He will fulfill even more when He comes back!
With what’s happening in Israel today, this Pslam reassures us that God is faithful and still watches over Israel.
And this will be his name: ‘The Lord Is Our Righteousness.’ In that day Judah will be saved, and Israel will live in safety.
Jeremiah 23:6 NLT
Let All Creation Praise His Righteousness!
Note the psalmist’s figurative language in verses 7 and 8. “Rivers clapping and hills rejoicing”! Pastor Sandy Adams explains…
The Psalms are poetry, and they employ poetic devices. One of which is the personification of nature. Rivers don’t have literal hands that clap – but the idea is that the coming of the Lord will relieve all nature.
Pastor Sandy Adams
However, if you look at a river and sit by it quietly, what do you hear? You hear it rushing over rocks. When you look at the mountains, you see their majesty. Obviously, the psalmist is not that far off.
Ultimately, “He will judge the world with justice, and the nations with fairness.” He is our righteous judge. He is fair and will judge every human being according to his or her actions. We find this prophetic truth in Revelation 19 and 20.
Is God judging the world right now?
I think so. I believe He’s taken His arm of protection away from nations who have dishonored Him and Israel. As God told Abram when He promised Him that he would have many descendants…
I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”
Genesis 12:3 NLT
How are all the families on earth going to be blessed through him? Through his descendant, Jesus.
See, Jesus didn’t suffer torture and die taking all our sins away forever and defeating death by rising 3 days later so we could have RELIGION! No! He died so we could have a RELATIONSHIP with HIM.
Isn’t it about time you let Him in?
