Illuminated Coptic sanctuary banner

Psalm 98 (LXX 97) - O Sing Unto the Lord a New Song

10 min read

Jump to chapter (153)
PsalmsSelect a chapter to jump directly
Intro123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566676869707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107108109110111112113114115116117118119120121122123124125126127128129130131132133134135136137138139140141142143144145146147148149150151•
Audio narrationAlso in your podcast app

Psalm 98 is a joyful celebration of salvation. “Sing to the Lord a new song,” it begins, because the Lord has done wonderful works. He has remembered His mercy to Jacob and His truth to the house of Israel, and all the ends of the earth have seen His salvation. The whole earth is called to sing and rejoice before Him.

The spiritual center is the new song of salvation that the whole earth is invited to sing. The “marvellous things” are the mighty acts of God that have brought victory and revealed His righteousness.

Audio note: The existing recording accompanies an earlier version of this study; the text below has since been revised.

Psalm 98 (LXX 97) - O Sing Unto the Lord a New Song

Psalm Metadata

FieldNotes
NKJV / Masoretic numberingPsalm 98
Septuagint / Coptic numberingPsalm 97
Accepted authorNo named author in the NKJV superscription, A Psalm; Brenton LXX attributes it to David.
Period in author’s lifeNot a precise life event; a liturgical celebration of salvation and victory.
Christ prophecy statusStrongly Christological. The new song of salvation, the mighty arm, the revelation of righteousness, and the call to all the earth point toward Christ, the Savior of the world.
Coptic lectionary/service useDated copticchurch.net readings include selected words from this Psalm at Nayrouz Matins, Thomas Sunday Liturgy, and the First Sunday of Toba Liturgy. See the worship connection below.
Numbering issueThis study embeds Brenton LXX Psalm 97. The service references below preserve the printed Psalm 98 references.

Historical and Scriptural Context

The Psalm does not name a specific historical setting. Its celebration of God’s saving power can recall both the Exodus and the return from exile. The LXX attributes it to David, fitting its royal and liturgical character.

The Psalm stands beside Isaiah 52:7-10, where the Lord reveals His holy arm before the nations and the ends of the earth see His salvation. Revelation 15:3-4 also brings together God’s marvelous works, the worship of the nations, and His just judgments in the song of Moses and the Lamb. The Church reads this Psalm as a song of the redeemed in Christ.

Geographical Significance ⛰️

The geography is universal: all the earth, the ends of the earth, the sea, the world, and those who dwell in it. The salvation of the Lord is not hidden but revealed before all nations.

🕯️ Light from the Word

Psalm 98:1-3 (LXX 97:1-3), the new song of salvation

97:1 A Psalm of David. Sing to the Lord a new song; for the Lord has wrought wonderful works, his right hand, and his holy arm, have wrought salvation for him. 97:2 The Lord has made known his salvation, he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations. 97:3 He has remembered his mercy to Jacob, and his truth to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

The Psalm opens with a reason for its new song: the Lord Himself has acted. His right hand and holy arm speak of His power to save. Theodoret of Cyrus, an ancient commentator, understands the salvation God brings to humanity as a victory He claims as His own in love, not as a rescue God Himself needs.1

God’s remembrance does not mean that He had forgotten His people. He acts faithfully toward them. Notice how the Psalm holds its two horizons together: He remembers mercy to Jacob and truth to Israel, and the ends of the earth see His salvation. The invitation to the nations grows out of God’s faithfulness; it does not require us to erase Israel from the song.

St Augustine connects the new song with the new life formed in Christ. He identifies Christ with the Lord’s holy arm and points to Jesus raising the widow’s son as one of His wonderful works.2 As Christians, we also sing of God’s saving work in the Incarnation, Cross, and Resurrection.

Psalm 98:4-6 (LXX 97:4-6), shout and sing before the King

97:4 Shout to God, all the earth; sing, and exult, and sing psalms. 97:5 Sing to the Lord with a harp, with a harp, and the voice of a psalm. 97:6 With trumpets of metal, and the sound of a trumpet of horn make a joyful noise to the Lord before the king.

What the ends of the earth have seen becomes a summons to praise. Voices join the harp and the trumpets of metal and horn before the King. The new song is not private; it is the public praise of the redeemed.

Augustine reads the harp as an invitation to join good works to the voice of praise. He says, “Praise Him not with the voice only; take up works, that ye may not only sing, but work also.”3 A meal shared with someone in need or a truthful word offered without malice can carry that praise into the day.

This joyful summons does not require a grieving or ill person to feel cheerful or sing loudly. We may pray quietly, or listen while the congregation gives voice to praise we cannot yet find for ourselves.

St Athanasius, in his Letter to Marcellinus, passes on an elder’s account of the Psalms as words for the soul’s own prayer.4 St Gregory of Nyssa describes the Psalter’s song as carrying teaching about virtue, whose end is blessedness.5 Their counsel concerns the Psalter as a whole; here it invites us not only to explain the praise, but to pray it.

Psalm 98:7-9 (LXX 97:7-9), let the sea roar and the fulness thereof

97:7 Let the sea be moved, and the fulness of it; the world, and they that dwell in it. 97:8 The rivers shall clap their hands together; the mountains shall exult. 97:9 For he is come to judge the earth; he shall judge the world in righteousness, and the nations in uprightness.

The Psalm gives creation a voice: the sea is moved, the rivers clap, and the mountains exult. The reason is the coming of the Judge. His judgment is good news for a world that knows injustice, because He judges in righteousness and uprightness.

Augustine observes that human judges can be deceived, but the Lord cannot. His fair judgment gives cause for joy, while calling the proud to turn from their ways.6 The Psalm does not promise the absence of judgment or invite us to pronounce a final sentence on our neighbor. It calls us to repentance and hope before Christ, the righteous Judge.

The Church’s Voice in Worship 📖

In the copticchurch.net readings for Thomas Sunday Liturgy on April 26, 2020, the Psalm selects the new-song summons and the call for all the earth to shout joyfully, printed as Psalm 98:1 and 98:4 (LXX Ps 97:1 and 97:4). The Gospel of the same Liturgy is John 20:19-31.7 The risen Lord shows His hands and side to the disciples, and Thomas confesses Him as his Lord and his God. Heard beside that Gospel, the new song becomes praise for the victory of the crucified and risen Christ. The service selects verses; it does not present the whole Psalm at that point.

The same readings source prints Psalm 98:1 (LXX Ps 97:1) at Nayrouz Matins on September 12, 2027, alongside Mark 2:18-22.8 For the First Sunday of Toba Liturgy on January 15, 2023, it selects Psalm 98:2-3 (LXX Ps 97:2-3), proclaiming God’s salvation before the nations and His remembrance of mercy and faithfulness to Israel.9

Iconography Connection 🖼️

Icons of heavenly worship and of the Second Coming can help us contemplate this Psalm. They turn our attention to the Lamb who receives praise and to the Lord whose coming brings righteous judgment. Revelation 5:9-13 gives a picture of praise reaching from the redeemed to every creature.

Spiritual Fruit 🍇

  1. Sing the new song of salvation. Let your life declare the marvellous things that God has done in Christ. Thank Him for His saving work, and let that thanksgiving shape one act of mercy today.

  2. Make a joyful noise before the Lord. When you can, join the congregation’s praise. If grief or illness leaves you quiet, let the Church’s song carry the words with you.

  3. Let all creation join the praise. The sea, the rivers, and the mountains are called to rejoice in the coming of the Lord. Receive the created world with gratitude as His handiwork.

  4. Rejoice that the Lord comes to judge. The judgment is the establishment of righteousness for which the creation longs. Bring your own life before the just and merciful Judge in repentance.

  5. Worship with the harp and the voice of a psalm. Let the song of the Church become the song of your heart, and let your deeds agree with your praise.

Footnotes

  1. Theodoret of Cyrus, Commentary on the Psalms, Psalm 98, sections 1-2, translated by Robert C. Hill, The Fathers of the Church 102 (2001), pp. 136-137. ↩

  2. Augustine, Expositions on the Psalms, Psalm XCVIII, section 1, corresponding to LXX Psalm 97; Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, first series, vol. 8, general editor Philip Schaff, condensed and annotated by A. Cleveland Coxe. ↩

  3. Augustine, Expositions on the Psalms, Psalm XCVIII, section 5, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, first series, vol. 8. ↩

  4. Athanasius, Letter to Marcellinus on the Interpretation of the Psalms, the elder’s discussion of the Psalter as a mirror and a source of words for prayer. ↩

  5. Gregory of Nyssa, On the Inscriptions of the Psalms, Book I, chapters 1 and 3, translated by Richard McCambly. ↩

  6. Augustine, Expositions on the Psalms, Psalm XCVIII, section 8, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, first series, vol. 8. ↩

  7. Coptic Orthodox readings for April 26, 2020, Thomas Sunday Liturgy, Psalm and Gospel. ↩

  8. Coptic Orthodox readings for September 12, 2027, Nayrouz Matins, Psalm and Gospel. ↩

  9. Coptic Orthodox readings for January 15, 2023, First Sunday of Toba Liturgy, Psalm. ↩

Reading statusLoading your browser-local progress
Saved only in this browser
Referenced Fathers:

Created: | Updated:

Related Studies & References

Referenced in Other Studies