The Righteousness of God in Psalm 98

The Righteousness of God in Psalm 98

Pastor’s Study
July 15, 2009
…holding forth the word of life (Philippians 2:16a)

Psalm 98

1 Oh, sing to the LORD a new song!
For He has done marvelous things;
His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory.
2 The LORD has made known His salvation;
His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations.
3 He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

4 Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth;
Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.
5 Sing to the LORD with the harp,
With the harp and the sound of a psalm,
6 With trumpets and the sound of a horn;
Shout joyfully before the LORD, the King.

7 Let the sea roar, and all its fullness,
The world and those who dwell in it;
8 Let the rivers clap their hands;
Let the hills be joyful together
9 before the LORD,
For He is coming to judge the earth.
With righteousness He shall judge the world,
And the peoples with equity.


Let us consider Psalm 98. In order to ascertain how the righteousness of God is used in Psalm 98, I will first analyze the text in order to determine the genre. This approach is based on the notion that the genre of a text and its meaning and purpose are inexorably linked.


Psalm 98 may be divided into three stanzas on the basis of content and time reference: (1) Praise Yahweh who has delivered Israel in the past (vv 1-3); (2) praise Yahweh who rules over the world in the present (vv 4-6); (3) praise Yahweh who will judge the universe in the future (vv 7-9).[1]


In stanza one, the writer celebrates Yahweh’s awesome deliverance of Israel in the past. The preponderance of divine warrior[2] imagery and language in this section provides the interpretative key to understanding the entire composition. References to the Lord’s “right hand” and “holy arm” suggest his military activity as is attested in other Old Testament passages.[3] The theme, “new song,” appears seven times in the Old Testament (Psalms 33:3; 40:3; 96:1; 98:1; 144:9; 149:1; Isaiah 42:10) and two times in the New Testament (Revelation 5:9; 14:3), always in a context of holy war.[4] The reference to Yahweh’s “salvation” has connotations of “victory in battle” (I Samuel 14:45).[5] Which victory is alluded to in this psalm, however, is doubtful. Many commentators, though, believe that the exodus is the salvific event referred to in stanza one.[6]


The psalmist, in the second stanza, extols Yahweh’s present sovereign reign over all the earth.[7] The Lord’s kingship is integrally related to his military activity. The celebration of Yahweh’s universal reign usually follows the successful conclusion of a holy war. In the Song of the Sea (Exodus 15), for example, the enduring kingship of Yahweh the warrior is extolled (vv 3, 18).[8]


In the final stanza, all of creation – in anticipation of Yahweh’s saving justice – is enjoined to praise the divine warrior who comes to vindicate His name. Yahweh’s eschatological vindication becomes the occasion for an ever-expanding doxology to the Lord, beginning with Israel in stanza one and continuing with “all the earth” in stanza two and with even the inanimate creation in stanza three. The implication is that Yahweh’s saving justice, beginning with Israel, extends to the nations (goyim) throughout the world and finally effects deliverance for the entire creation. The divine warrior, in effecting deliverance for his entire creation exercises his divine prerogative as Savior, King, and Judge.[9]


My brief analysis of Psalm 98 suggests that this psalm is an eschatological hymn that celebrates Yahweh’s victory over His enemies and the vindication of His name and His people.[10] In the momentous salvific act described in verse 9, the God of Israel comes to the whole world. Creation is transferred back to the power and grace of its Creator. Praise be to God!


No other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ (I Corinthians 3:11).


[1]Tremper Longman III, “Psalm 98: A Divine Warrior Victory Song,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 27.3 (September 1984): 268-69.
[2]The literature on the divine warrior motif is extensive, beginning with Schwally’s work in 1901. See Friedrich Schwally, Der Heilige Krieg im alten Israel (Leipzig: Dieterich’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Theodor Weicher, 1901).
[3]E.g., Exod 6:6; 15:6, 12, 16; Deut 4:34; 26:8; Pss 18:35; 21:8; 89:13; 118:15b-16; 138:7; Jer 21:5.
[4]Tremper Longman, III, “The Divine Warrior: The New Testament Use of an Old Testament Motif,” Westminster Theological Journal 44 (1982): 300-02.
[5]Alan Richardson, A Theological Word Book of the Bible (London: SCM Press, 1956), 219.
[6]Longman, “Psalm 98,” 269.
[7]See Longman, “Psalm 98,” 267-70; A. G. Herbert, “The Idea of Kingship in the OT,” Reformed Theological Review 18 (1959): 34-45.
[8]Longman, “Psalm 98,” 270.
[9]Ibid., 271.
[10]Hans-Joachim Kraus, Worship in Israel, trans. G. Buswell (Richmond: John Knox, 1966), 205ff.