TITLE AND SUBJECT. This sacred ode, which
bears simply the title of "A Psalm, "follows fitly
upon the last, and is evidently an integral part of the series
of royal psalms. If Ps 97:1-12 described the publication of the
gospel, and so the setting up of the kingdom of heaven, the
present Psalm is a sort of Coronation Hymn, officially
proclaiming the conquering Messiah as Monarch over the nations,
with blast of trumpets, clapping of hands, and celebration of
triumphs. It is a singularly bold and lively song. The critics
have fully established the fact that similar expressions occur
in Isaiah, but we see no force in the inference that therefore
it was written by him; on this principle half the books in the
English language might be attributed to Shakespeare. The fact is
that these associated Psalms make up a mosaic, in which each one
of them has an appropriate place, and is necessary to the
completeness of the whole, and therefore we believe them, to be
each and all the work of one and the same mind. Paul, if we
understand him aright, ascribes Ps 95:1-11 to David, and as we
believe that the same writer must have written the whole group,
we ascribe this also to the son of Jesse. Whoever that may be,
the song is worthy to rank among the most devout and soul
stirring of sacred lyrics.
DIVISION. We have here three stanzas
of three verses each. In the first, Ps 98:1-3, the subject of
praise is announced, in the second, Ps 98:4-6, the manner of
that praise is prescribed; and in the third, Ps 98:7-9, the
universal extent of it is proclaimed.
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he
hath done marvellous things. We had a new song before (Ps
96:1-13) because the Lord was coming, but now we have another
new song because he has come, and seen and conquered. Jesus, our
King, has lived a marvellous life, died a marvellous death,
risen by a marvellous resurrection, and ascended marvellously
into heaven. By his divine power he has sent forth the Holy
Spirit doing marvels, and by that sacred energy his disciples
have also wrought marvellous things and astonished all the
earth. Idols have fallen, superstitions have withered, systems
of error have fled, and empires of cruelty have perished. For
all this he deserves the highest praise. His acts have proved
his Deity, Jesus is Jehovah, and therefore we sing unto him as
the LORD. His right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the
victory; not by the aid of others, but by his own unweaponed
hand his marvellous conquests have been achieved. Sin, death,
and hell fell beneath his solitary prowess, and the idols and
the errors of mankind have been overthrown and smitten by his
hand alone. The victories of Jesus among men are all the more
wonderful because they are accomplished by means to all
appearance most inadequate; they are due not to physical but to
moral power—the energy of goodness, justice, truth; in a word,
to the power of his holy arm. His holy influence has been
the sole cause of success. Jesus never stoops to use policy, or
brute force; his unsullied perfections secure to him a real and
lasting victory over all the powers of evil, and that victory
will lie gained as dexterously and easily as when a warrior
strikes his adversary with his right hand and stretches
him prone upon the earth. Glory be unto the Conqueror, let new
songs be chanted to his praise. Stirred by contemplating his
triumphs, our pen could not forbear to praise him in the
following hymn:
Forth to the battle rides our King;
He climbs his conquering car;
He fits his arrows to the string,
And smites his foes afar.
Convictions pierce the stoutest hearts,
They bleed, they faint, they die;
Slain by Immanuel's well aligned darts,
In helpless heaps they lie.
Behold, he bares his two edged sword,
And deals almighty blows,
His all revealing, killing word
Mixed with joint and marrow goes.
Anon arrayed in robes of grace
He rides the trampled plain,
With pity beaming from his face,
And mercy in his train.
Mighty to save he now appears,
Mighty to raise the dead,
Mighty to stanch the bleeding wound,
And lift the fallen head.
Victor alike in love and arms,
Myriads before him bend:
Such are the Conqueror's matchless charms.
Each foe becomes his friend.
They crown him on the battle field
Of all the nations King;
With trumpets and with cornets loud
They make the welkin ring.
The salvation which Jesus has accomplished is wrought out
with wonderful wisdom, hence it is ascribed to his right hand;
it meets the requirements of justice, hence we read of his holy
arm; it is his own unaided work, hence all the glory is ascribed
to him; and it is marvellous beyond degree, hence it deserves a
new song.
Verse 2. The LORD hath made known his salvation,
—by the coming of Jesus and by the outpouring of the Holy
Ghost, by whose power the gospel was preached among the
Gentiles. The Lord is to be praised not only for effecting human
salvation, but also for making it known, for man would never
have discovered it for himself; nay, not so much as one single
soul would ever have found out for himself the way of mercy
through a Mediator; in every case it is a divine revelation to
the mind and heart. In God's own light his light is seen. He
must reveal his Son in us, or we shall be unable to discern him.
His righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen.
This word "righteousness" is the favourite word of the
apostle of the Gentiles; he loves to dwell on the Lord's method
of making man righteous, and vindicating divine justice by the
atoning blood. What songs ought we to render who belong to a
once heathen race, for that blessed gospel which is the power of
God unto salvation, "for therein is the righteousness of
God revealed from faith to faith." This is no close secret;
it is clearly taught in Scripture, and has been plainly preached
among the nations. What was hidden in the types is "openly
shewed" in the gospel.
Verse 3. He hath remembered his mercy and his truth
toward the house of Israel. To them Jesus came in the flesh,
and to them was the gospel first preached; and though they
counted themselves unworthy of eternal life, yet the covenant
was not broken, for the true Israel were called into fellowship
and still remain so. The mercy which endureth for ever, and the
fidelity which cannot forget a promise, secure to the chosen
seed the salvation long ago guaranteed by the covenant of grace.
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Not to Abraham's seed alone after the flesh, but to the elect
among all nations, has grace been given; therefore, let the
whole church of God sing unto him a new song. It was no small
blessing, or little miracle, that throughout all lands the
gospel should be published in so short a time, with such
singular success and such abiding results. Pentecost deserves a
new song as well as the Passion and the Resurrection; let out
hearts exult as we remember it. Our God, our own for ever
blessed God, has been honoured by those who once bowed down
before dumb idols; his salvation has not only been heard of but
seen among all people, it has been experienced as well as
explained; his Son is the actual Redeemer of a multitude out of
all nations. In these three verses we are taught how to praise
the Lord.
Verse 4. Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the
earth. Every tongue must applaud, and that with the rigour
which joy of heart alone can arouse to action. As men shout when
they welcome a king, so must we. Loud hosannas, full of
happiness, must be lifted up. If ever men shout for joy it
should be when the Lord comes among them in the proclamation of
his gospel reign. John Wesley said to his people, "Sing
lustily, and with a good courage. Beware of singing as if you
were half dead or half asleep; but lift up your voice with
strength. Be no more afraid of your voice now, nor more ashamed
of its being heard, than when you sung the songs of Satan."
Make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise; or Burst
forth, and sing, and play. Let every form of exultation be
used, every kind of music pressed into the service till the
accumulated praise causes the skies to echo the joyful tumult.
There is no fear of our being too hearty in magnifying the God
of our salvation, only we must take care the song comes from the
heart, otherwise the music is nothing but a noise in his ears,
whether it be caused by human throats, or organ pipes, or far
resounding trumpets. Loud let our hearts ring out the honours of
our conquering Saviour; with all our might let us extol the Lord
who has vanquished all our enemies, and led our captivity
captive: He will do this best who is most in love with Jesus:
"I have found the pearl of greatest price,
My heart doth sing for joy;
And sing I must, a Christ I have.
Oh, what a Christ have I!"
Verse 5. Sing unto the LORD with the harp.
Skill in music should not be desecrated to the world's evil
mirth, it should aid the private devotions of the saint, and
then, like George Herbert, he will sing,
"My God, my God,
My music shall find thee,
And every string
Shall have his attribute to sing."
Martin Luther was thus wont to praise the Lord, whom he loved
so well. God's praises should be performed in the best possible
manner, but their sweetness mainly lies in spiritual qualities.
The concords of faith and repentance, the harmonies of obedience
and love are true music in the ear of the Most High, and better
please him than "heaving bellows taught to blow,
"though managed by the noblest master of human minstrelsy.
With the harp. A very sweet instrument of music, and capable of
great expression. The repetition of the word is highly poetical,
and shows that the daintiest expressions of poetry are none too
rich for the praise of God. His worship should be plain, but not
uncouth, if we can compass elegancies of expression there are
occasions upon which they will be most appropriate; God, who
accepts the unlettered ditty of a ploughman, does not reject the
smooth verse of a Cowper, or the sublime strains of a Milton.
All repetitions are not vain repetitions, in sacred song there
should be graceful repeats, they render the sense emphatic, and
help to fire the soul; even preachers do not amiss when they
dwell on a word and sound it out again and again, till dull ears
feel its emphasis.
And the voice of a Psalm, or with a musical voice, as
distinguished from common speech. Our voice has in it many
modulations; there is the voice of conversation, the voice of
complaint, the voice of pleading, the voice of command, and
there ought to be with each of us the voice of a Psalm. Man's
voice is at its best when it sings the best words in the best
spirit to the best of Beings. Love and war must not monopolise
the lyric muse; the love of God and the conquests of Immanuel
should win to themselves man's sweetest strains. Do we sing
enough unto the Lord? May not the birds of the air rebuke our
sullen and ungrateful silence? in their brave struggles to
achieve their country's independence, and were the repeated
expression of their thanksgivings. The Lord of Psalmists and the
Son of David, by the words of a Psalm proved himself to be
higher than David; and sang Psalms with his apostles on the
night before he suffered, when he instituted the holy supper of
his love. With Psalms Paul and Silas praised God in the prison
at midnight when their feet were made fast in the stocks, and
sang so loud that the prisoners heard them. And after his own
example the apostle exhorts the Christians at Ephesus and
Colossae to teach and admonish one another with Psalms anti
hymns and spiritual songs. Jerome tells us that in his day the
Psalms were to be heard in the fields and vineyards of
Palestine, and that they fell sweetly on the ear, mingling with
the songs of birds, and the scent of flowers in spring. The
ploughman as he guided his plough chanted the hallelujah, and
the reaper, the vine dresser, and the shepherd sang the songs of
David. "These, "he says, "are our love songs,
these the instruments of our agriculture." Sidonins
Apollinaris makes his boatmen, as they urge their heavily laden
barge up stream, sing Psalms, till the river banks echo again
with the hallelujah, and beautifully applies the custom, in a
figure, to the voyage of the Christian life. J.J.S. Perowne.
Verse 5. The voice of a Psalm. In D'Israeli's
"Curiosities of Literature" there is a very curious
piece upon Psalm singing, in which he mentions the spread of the
singing of Psalms in France, which was first started among the
Romanists by the version of Clement Marot, the favoured bard of
Francis the First. In Marot's dedication occur the following
lines:
"Thrice happy they, who may behold,
And listen in that age of gold!
As by the plough the labourer strays,
And carman 'mid the public ways,
And tradesman in his shop shall swell
Their voice in Psalm or canticle,
Singing to solace toil; again
From woods shall come a sweeter strain!
Shepherd and shepherdess shall vie
In many a tender Psalmody;
And the Creator's name prolong,
As rock and stream return their song!
Begin then, ladies fair! begin
The age renew'd that knows no sin!
And with light heart, that wants no wing,
Sing! from this holy songbook, sing!"
The singing of these Psalms became so popular that D'lsraeli
suggests that "it first conveyed to the sullen fancy of the
austere Calvin the project" of introducing the singing of
Psalms into his Genevan discipline. "This infectious frenzy
of Psalm singing, "as Warton almost blasphemously describes
it, rapidly propagated itself through Germany as well as France,
and passed over to England. D'Israeli says, with a sneer, that
in the time of the Commonwealth, "Psalms were now sung at
Lord Mayor's dinners and city feasts; soldiers sang them on
their march and at parade; and few houses which had windows
fronting the streets, but had their evening Psalms." We can
only add, would to God it were so again. C.H.S.
Verses 5-6. These were, literally, the instruments
most in use among the Jews, and a spiritual signification has
been attached to each instrument. They seem to me to represent
the cardinal virtues, the harp implying prudence; the psaltery,
justice; the trumpet, fortitude; and the cornet,
temperance. Bellarmine.
Verses 5-6. It is evident that the Psalmist here
expresses the vehement and ardent affection which the faithful
ought to have in praising God, when he enjoins musical
instruments to be employed for this purpose. He would have
nothing omitted by believers which tends to animate the minds
and feelings of men in singing God's praises. The name of God,
no doubt, can, properly speaking, be celebrated only by the
articulate voice; but it is not without reason that David adds
to this those aids by which believers were wont to stimulate
themselves the more to this exercise; especially considering
that he was speaking to God's ancient people. There is a
distinction, however, to be observed here, that we may not
indiscriminately consider as applicable to ourselves everything
which was formerly enjoined upon the Jews. I have no doubt that
playing upon cymbals, touching the harp and the viol, and all
that kind of music which is so frequently mentioned in the
Psalms, was a part of the education; that is to say, the puerile
instruction of the law: I speak of the stated service of the
temple. For even now, if believers choose to cheer themselves
with musical instruments, they should, I think, make it their
object not to dissever their cheerfulness from the praises of
God. But when they frequent their sacred assemblies, musical
instruments in celebrating the praises of God would be no more
suitable than the burning of incense, the lighting up of lamps,
and the restoration of the other shadows of the law. The
Papists, therefore, have foolishly borrowed this, as well as
many other things from the Jews. Men who are fond of outward
pomp may delight in that noise; but the simplicity which God
recommends to us by the apostle is far more pleasing to him.
Paul allows us to bless God in the public assembly of the saints
only in a known tongue, 1Co 14:16. The voice of man, although
not understood by the generality, assuredly excels all inanimate
instruments of music; and yet we see what Paul determines
concerning speaking in an unknown tongue. What shall we then say
of chanting, which fills the ears with nothing but an empty
sound? Does any one object that music is very useful for
awakening the minds of men and moving their hearts?, I own it;
but we should always take care that no corruption creep in,
which might both defile the pure worship of God and involve men
in superstition. Moreover, since the Holy Spirit expressly warns
us of this danger by the mouth of Paul, to proceed beyond what
we are there warranted by him, is not only, I must say,
unadvised zeal, but wicked and perverse obstinacy. John
Calvin.
Verses 5-6. The song and the stringed instruments
belonged to the Levites, and the trumpets to the priests alone.
Kitto says the trumpets did not join in the concert, but were
sounded during certain regulated pauses in the vocal and
instrumental music. The harps and voices made the sweetness,
while the trumpets and horns added the strength; melody and
energy should combine in the worship of God. C.H.S.
Verse 6. With trumpets and sound of cornet make a
joyful noise. God's worship should be heartily loud. The far
resounding trump and horn well symbolise the power which should
be put forth in praise.
Before the LORD, the King. On coronation days, and when
beloved monarchs ride abroad, the people shout and the trumpets
sound till the walls ring again. Shall men be more enthusiastic
for their earthly princes than for the divine King? Is there no
loyalty left among the subjects of the blessed and only
Potentate? King Jehovah is his name; and there is none
like it, have we no joyful noise for him? Let but the reigning
power of Jesus be felt in the soul and we shall cast aside that
chill mutter, drowned by the pealing organ, which is now so
commonly the substitute for earnest congregational singing.
Say, if your hearts are tuned to sing,
Is there a subject greater?
Harmony all its strains may bring,
But Jesus' name is sweeter.
Who of his love doth once partake,
He evermore rejoices;
Melody in our hearts we make,
Melody with our voices.
Verse 7. Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof.
Even its thunders will not be too grand for such a theme. Handel,
in some of his sublime choruses, would have been glad of its aid
to express his lofty conceptions, and assuredly the inspired
psalmist did well to call in such infinite uproar. The sea is
his, let it praise its Maker. Within and upon its bosom it bears
a wealth of goodness, why should it be denied a place in the
orchestra of nature? Its deep bass will excellently suit the
mystery of the divine glory. The world, and they that dwell
therein. The land should be in harmony with the ocean. Its
mountains and plains, cities and villages, should prolong the
voice of jubilee which welcomes the Lord of all. Nothing can be
more sublime than this verse; the muses of Parnassus cannot
rival the muse of Zion, the Castallan fount never sparkled like
that "fount of every blessing" to which sacred bands
are wont to ascribe their inspiration. Yet no song is equal to
the majesty of the theme when Jehovah, the King, is to be
extolled.
Verse 8. Let the floods clap their hands. The
rolling rivers, the tidal estuaries, the roaring cataracts, are
here summoned to pay their homage, and to clap their hands, as
men do when they greet their sovereigns with acclamation. Let
the hills be joyful together, or in concert with the floods.
Silent as are the mighty mountains, let them forget themselves,
and burst forth into a sublime uproariousness of mirth, such as
the poet described when he wrote those vivid lines—
"Far along,
From peak to peak, the rattling crags among,
Leaps the live thunder! Not from one lone cloud,
But every mountain now hath found a tongue,
And Jura answers, through her misty shroud,
Back to the joyous Alps, who call to her aloud."
Verse 9. Before the Lord; for he cometh to judge
the earth. Stiller music such as made the stars twinkle with
their soft kind eyes suited his first coming at Bethlehem, but
his second advent calls for trumpets, for he is a judge; and for
all earth's acclamations, for he has put on his royal splendour.
The rule of Christ is the joy of nature. All things bless his
throne, yea, and the very coming of it. As the dawn sets the
earth weeping for joy at the rising of the sun, till the
dewdrops stand in her eyes, so should the approach of Jesus'
universal reign make all creation glad. With righteousness shall
he judge the world, and the people with equity. This is
the joy of it. No tyrant and no weakling is he, to oppress the
good or to indulge the vain, his law is good, his action right,
his government the embodiment of justice. If ever there was a
thing to rejoice in upon this poor, travailing earth, it is the
coming of such a deliverer, the ascension to the universal
throne of such a governor. All hail, Jesus! all hail! Our soul
faints with delight at the sound of thins approaching chariots,
and can only cry, "Come quickly. Even so, come quickly,
Lord Jesus!" Keble's version of the last four verses is so
truly beautiful that we cannot deny our readers the luxury of
perusing it:
"Ring out, with horn and trumpet ring,
In shouts before the Lord the King:
Let ocean with his fulness swing
In restless unison:"
"Earth's round and all the dwellers there,
The mighty floods the burden bear,
And clap the hand: in choral air,
Join every mountain lone."
"Tell out before the Lord, that he
Is come, the Judge of earth to be,
To judge the world in equity,
Do right to realm and throne."
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
TITLE. The inscription of the psalm in Hebrew is only
the single word rwmzm Mizmor, "Psalm" (whence
probably the title "orphan Mizmor" in the Talmudic
treatise Avodah Zara). J.J.S. Perowne.
Title. Hengstenberg remarks, "This is the only
psalm which is entitled simply `a psalm.' This common name of
all the psalms cannot be employed here in its general sense, but
must have a peculiar meaning." He considers that it
indicates that this is the lyric accompaniment of the more
decidedly prophetical psalm which precedes it,—in fact, the
psalm of that prophecy. He also notes that in the original we
have in Ps 98:5-6 words akin to the title brought into great
prominence, and perhaps this may have suggested it.
Title. It is at least interesting to notice that a
song Of Zion which so exults in the king's arrival should be
called preeminently rwmzm, Mizrnor; as if the Psalm of Psalms
were that which celebrates Israel, and the earth at large,
blessed in Messiah's Advent. Andrew A. Bonar.
Whole Psalm. A noble, spirit stirring psalm. It may
have been written on the occasion of a great national triumph at
the time; but may, perhaps, afterwards be taken up at the period
of the great millennial restoration of all things. The victory
here celebrated may be in prophetic vision, and that at
Armageddon. Then will salvation and righteousness be openly
manifested in the sight of the hostile nations. Israel will be
exalted; and the blessed conjunction of mercy and truth will
gladden and assure the hearts of all who at that time are
Israelites indeed. Godliness will form the reigning
characteristic of the whole earth. Thomas Chalmers.
Whole Psalm. The subject of the Psalm is the praise of
Jehovah. It consists of three strophes of three verses each. The
first strophe shows why, the second how Jehovah is
to be praised; and the third who are to praise him. Frederick
Fysh.
Whole Psalm. This psalm is an evident prophecy of
Christ's coming to save the world; and what is here foretold
by David is, in the Blessed Virgin's Song chanted forth as being
accomplished. David is the Voice, and Mary is the Echo.
1. DAVID. "O sing unto the Lord a new song." (The Voice.)
MARY. "My soul doth magnify the Lord." (The Echo.)
2. DAVID. "He hath done marvellous things." (The Voice.)
MARY. "He that is mighty hath done great things." (The
Echo.)
3. DAVID. "With his own right hand and holy arm hath he
gotten himself the victory." (The Voice.) MARY.
"He hath showed strength with his arm, and scattered the
proud in the imagination of their hearts." (The Echo.)
4. DAVID. "The Lord hath made known his salvation; his
righteousness hath he openly showed, "&c. (The Voice.)
MARY. "His mercy is on them that fear him, from generation
to generation." (The Echo.)
5. DAVID. "He hath remembered his mercy and his truth
toward the house of Israel." (The Voice.) MARY.
"He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his
mercy." (The Echo.)
These parallels are very striking; and it seems as if Mary
had this psalm in her eye when she composed her song of triumph.
And this is a farther argument that the whole psalm, whether it
record the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, or the Jews from
the Babylonish captivity, is yet to be ultimately understood of
the redemption of the world by Jesus Christ, and the
proclamation of his gospel through all the nations of the earth:
and taken in this view, no language can be too strong, nor
poetic imagery too high, to point out the unsearchable riches of
Christ. Adam Clarke.
Verse 1. O sing unto the LORD a new song. This
is man's end, to seek God in this life, to see God in the next;
to be a subjection the kingdom of grace, and a saint in the
kingdom of glory. Whatsoever in this world befalleth us, we must
sing: be thankful for weal, for woe: songs ought always to be in
our mouth, and sometimes a new song: for so David here, "sing
a new song:" that is, let us put off the old man, and
become new men, new creatures in Christ: for the old man sings
old songs: only the new man sings a new song; he speaketh with a
new tongue, and walks in new ways, and therefore doth new
things, and sings new songs; his language is not of Babylon or
Egypt, but of Canaan; his communication doth edify men, his song
glorify God. Or a new song, that is, a fresh song, nova
res, novum canticum, new for a new benefit. Eph 5:20: "Give
thanks always for all things." It is very gross to
think God only in gross, and not in parcel. Hast thou been sick
and now made whole? praise God with the leper, Lu
17:11-19: sing a new song for this new salve. Dost thou hunger
and thirst after righteousness, whereas heretofore thou couldest
not endure the words of exhortation and doctrine? sing a new
song for this new grace. Doth Almighty God give thee a true
sense of thy sin, whereas heretofore thou didst draw iniquity
with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with cart ropes, and
wast given over to work all uncleanness with greediness? 0
sing, sing, sing, a new song for this new mercy.
Or new, that is, no common or ordinary song; but as
God's mercy toward us is exceeding marvellous and extraordinary,
so our thanks ought to be most exquisite, and more than
ordinary: not new in regard of the matter, for we may not pray
to God or praise God otherwise than he hath prescribed in his
word, which is the old way, but new in respect of the manner and
making, that as occasion is offered, we may bear our wits after
the best fashion to be thankful.
Or, because this Psalm is prophetical, a new song, that is,
the song of the glorious angels at Christ's birth, "Glory
to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men,
"(Lu 2:14); a song which the world never heard before: that
the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head is an old
song, the first that ever was sung; but this was no plain
song, till Christ did manifest himself in the flesh. In the
Old Testament there were many old songs, but in the New
Testament, a new song. That "unto us is born a Saviour,
which is Christ the Lord, "is in many respects a new
song;for whereas Christ was but shadowed in the Law, he is
showed in the Gospel; and new, because sung of new men,
of all men. For the sound of the Gospel is gone through all the
earth, unto the ends of the world (Ro 10:18); whereas in old
time God's old songs were sung in Jewry: "His name is great
in Israel. In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling
place in Zion, "Ps 76:1-2. John Boys.
Verse 1. A new song. O ye who are new in
Christ, though formerly old in the Old Adam, sing ye to the
Lord. Psalter of Peter Lombard, 1474.
Verse 1. He hath done marvellous things. He has
opened his greatness and goodness in the work of redemption.
What marvels has not Christ done?
1. He was conceived by the Holy Ghost.
2. Born of a virgin.
3. Healed all manner of diseases.
4. Fed thousands with a few loaves and fishes.
5. Raised the dead.
6. And what was more marvellous, died himself.
7. Rose again by his own power.
8. Ascended to heaven.
9. Sent down the Holy Ghost.
10. And made his apostles and their testimony the instruments of
enlightening, and ultimately converting, the world.
—Adam Clarke.
Verse 1. His right hand. Since the Psalmist
says, that Christ hath gotten him the victory by his right hand
and his arm, it is not only a demonstration of his divine and
infinite power, but also excludes all other means, as the merits
of saints and their meretricious works. Martin Luther.
Verse 1. Holy arm. The creation was the work of
God's fingers: "When I consider thy heavens, the work of
thy fingers, "Ps 8:3; redemption a work of his arm; "His
holy arm hath gotten him the victory"; yea, it was a
work of his heart, even that bled to death to accomplish it. Thomas
Adams.
Verse 1. A clergyman in the county of Tyrone had, for
some weeks, observed a little ragged boy come every Sunday, and
place himself in the centre of the aisle, directly opposite the
pulpit, where he seemed exceedingly attentive to the services.
He was desirous of knowing who the child was, and for this
purpose hastened out, after the sermon, several times, but never
could see him, as he vanished the moment service was over, and
no one knew whence he came or anything about him. At length the
boy was missed from his usual situation in the church for some
weeks. At this time a man called on the minister, and told him a
person very ill was desirous of seeing him; but added, "I
am really ashamed to ask you to go so far; but it is a child of
mine, and he refuses to have any one but you; he is altogether
an extraordinary boy, and talks a great deal about things that I
do not understand." The clergyman promised to go, and went,
though the rain poured down in torrents, and he had six miles of
rugged mountain country to pass. On arriving where he was
directed, he saw a most wretched cabin indeed, and the man he
had seen in the morning was waiting at the door. He was shown
in, and found the inside of the hovel as miserable as the
outside. In a corner, on a little straw, he beheld a person
stretched out, whom he recognised as the little boy who had so
regularly attended his church. As he approached the wretched bed
the child raised himself up, and, stretching forth his arms,
said, "His own right hand and his holy arm hath gotten
him the victory," and immediately he expired. K.
Arvine.
Verse 2. The LORD hath made known his salvation.
By the appearance of his Son in the flesh, and the wonders which
he did. His righteousness hath he openly shewed, etc., in
the gospel, to all men; that righteousness which is called the
"righteousness of God, " and which is enjoyed by faith
of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all them that believe: for
there is no difference. Ro 3:22. B. Boothroyd.
Verse 2. The LORD hath made known, etc. The
word uydx denotes not only a publication and
promulgation, but also a clear and certain demonstration which
produces conviction and causes the matter to be laid up
in the mind and memory and preserved: for the proper
signification of the root ydy is to lay up what is to be
preserved. The word hlg is added, which properly means to uncover,
to be uncovered, hence he revealed or uncovered,
that it might be both naked and clear, for the purpose of more
fully illustrating the character of the manifestation of the
Gospel, opposed to what is obscure, involved in shadows and
types, and veiled in legal ceremonies. Of which the apostle
treats expressly in 2Co 3:7-18. Lastly, when it is added, that in
the sight of the nations this uncovering is done, it
signifies that this salvation pertains to them also, that it
comes to them without distinction, since the Gospel is nakedly
and clearly announced. From which it also clearly appears, that
the matter reason of the new song are found in such a
singular event, since God who formerly permitted the nations to
walk in their own ways, now under Messiah calls all without
distraction to salvation through faith and newness of life. Venema.
Verse 2. Made known: He says not, He shewed,
but He made known. Adam knew him, and predicted
concerning him, "A man shall leave father and mother, and
shall cleave to his wife, and they twain shall be one
flesh." Abel knew him, who offered the lamb; Seth knew him,
and called upon him; Noah knew him, and saved all the race in
the ark; Abraham knew him, and offered up his son to him. But
because the world had forgotten him and worshipped idols, the
Lord made his Jesus known, when he sent the Word in flesh
to the Jews, and revealed his righteousness to the
nations, when he justified them through faith. Wherefore did he
reveal him to the nations? Because of his mercy. Wherefore old
he make him known to the Jews? Because of his truth, that is,
his promise. Honorius, the Continuator of Gerhohus.
Verse 3. He hath remembered his mercy and his
truth. The psalmist very properly observes, that God in
redeeming the world "remembered his truth, "which
he had given to Israel his people—language, too, which implies
that he was influenced by no other motive than that of
faithfully performing what he had himself promised. The more
clearly to show that the promise was not grounded at all on the
merit or righteousness of man, he mentions the "mercy"
of God first, and afterwards his "faithfulness"
which stood connected with it. The cause, in short, was not to
be found out of God himself, (to use a common expression,)but in
his mere good pleasure, which had been testified long before to
Abraham and his posterity. The word "remembered"
is used in accommodation to man's apprehension; for what has
been long suspended seems to have been forgotten. Upwards of two
thousand years elapsed from the time of giving the promise to
the appearance of Christ, and as the people of God were
subjected to many afflictions and calamities, we need not wonder
that they should have sighed, and given way to ominous fears
regarding the fulfilment of this redemption. John Calvin.
Verse 3. He hath remembered his mercy and his
truth. His mercy moved him to make his promise, and
his truth hath engaged him to perform it; and he hath
been mindful of both, by scattering the blessed influences of
his light and bounty over the face of the whole earth, and
causing all nations to set and partake of the salvation of God. Matthew
Hole(-1730).
Verse 3. All the ends of the earth have seen,
etc. O unhappy Judea. The ends of the earth have seen, the
salvation of God, every land is moved to joy, the whole
globe is glad, the floods clap their hands, the hills rejoice;
yet the evil hearts of the Jews believe not, but are smitten
with the penalty of unbelief in the darkness of their blindness.
Gregory, in Lorinus.
Verse 3. Have seen. There is a degree of point
in the expression have seen; it implies actual faith,
united with knowledge, that moves the will to love and to
desire; for they cannot be said to have seen God's salvation,
who, content with nominal faith never bestow a thought on the
Saviour. Bellarmine.
Verse 4. Make a joyful noise. Bless God for a
Christ. The Argives when delivered by the Romans from the
tyranny of the Macedonians and Spartans, Quae guadia, quae
vociferationes fuerunt! quid florum in Consulem profuderunt!
what great joys expressed they! what loud outcries made they!
The very birds that flew over them fell to the ground, astonied
at their noises. The crier at the Nemean games was forced to
pronounce the word Liberty, iterumque, iterumque, again,
and again. John Trapp.
Verses 4-6. Wherewith is God to be praised? In a literal
sense with all kind of music: vocal, sing unto the Lord:
chordal, Praise him upon the harp: pneumatical, with
trumpets, etc. In an allegorical exposition (as Euthymius
interprets it) we must praise God in our actions, and praise him
in our contemplation; praise him in our words, praise him in our
works; praise him in our life, praise him at our death; being
not only temples (as Paul), but (as Clemens Alexaudrinus
calls us) timbrels also of the Holy Ghost. John Boys.
Verse 5. With the harp, with the harp. The
repetition made use of is emphatic, and implies that the most
ardent attempts men might make to celebrate the great work of
the world's redemption would fall short of the riches of the
grace of God. John Calvin.
Verse 5. The voice of a psalm. The sound of the
Zimrah, hrmz, here, as in Ps 81:2, is certainly the name of some
musical instrument. But what the particular instrument might be,
which went by that name, is quite uncertain. Samuel Horsley.
Verse 5. The voice of a Psalm. With psalms
Jehoshaphat and Hezekiah celebrated their victories. Psalms made
glad the heart of the exiles who returned from Babylon. Psalms
gave courage and strength to the Maccabees
Verse 6. Trumpets. tlruux, Chatsotseroth:here
only in the Psalter. These were the straight trumpets (such as
are seen on the Arch of Titus) used by the priests for giving
signals. Nu 10:2-10; 1Ch 15:24,28, etc. The shofar, rmwv
(cornet), was the ordinary curved trumpet, cornet, or
horn. William Kay.
Verse 6. Trumpets. The word here used is
uniformly rendered trumpets in the Scriptures, Nu 10:2,8-10
31:6; et al. The trumpet was mainly employed for
convening a public assembly for worship, or for assembling the
hosts for battle. The original word, xruux chatsotserah,
is supposed to have been designed to imitate "the broken
pulse like sound of the trumpet, like the Latin, taratantara."
So the German trarara, and the Arabic, hadadera.
The word here used was given to the long, straight trumpet. Albert
Barnes.
Verse 6. Trumpets. The trumpet served the same
purpose, in a religious and civil sense, as bells among
Christians, and the voice among Mohammedans. Indeed, it is
understood that Mohammed directed the voice to be employed, in
order to mark a distinction between his own sect and the Jews
with their trumpets and the Christians with their bells. Kitto's
Pictorial Bible.
Verse 6. With trumpets. Origen calls the
writings of the evangelists and the apostles trumpets, at
whose blast all the structures of idolatry and the dogmas of the
philosophers were utterly overthrown. He teaches likewise that
by the sound of the trumpets is prefigured the trumpet of
the universal judgment, at which the world shall fall in ruin,
and whose sound shall be joy to the just, and lamentation to the
unjust. Lorinus.
Verse 6. Before the Lord, the King. Since it is
distinctly added before Jehovah the King, and the words, with
trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise, are used,
there seems to be a reference to that public rejoicing commonly
manifested at the coronation of kings, or the celebration of
undertakings for the public safety. This idea is not foreign to
the present passage, since Jehovah is represented as King and
Saviour of the people. Venema.
Verses 7-8. Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof;
the world, and they that dwell therein. Let the floods clap
their hands.
And thou, majestic main!
A secret world of wonders in thyself,
Sound his stupendous praise, whose greater voice
Or bids you roar, or bids your roarings fall.
—James Thomson.
Verses 7-8. These appeals to nature in her great
departments—of the sea in its mighty amplitude, and the earth
with its floods and hills—form, not a warrant, but a call on
Christian ministers to recognise God more in their prayers and
sermons as the God of Creation, instead of restricting
themselves so exclusively to the peculiar doctrines of
Christianity. Do the one, and not leave the other undone. Thomas
Chalmers.
Verses 7-8. The setting forth the praise of Christ for
the redemption of sinners, may not only furnish work to all
reasonable creatures; but also if every drop of water in the
sea, and in every river and flood, every fish in the sea, every
fowl of the air, every living creature on the earth, and
whatsoever else is in the world: if they all had reason and
ability to express themselves; yea, and if all the hills were
able by motion and gesticulation to communicate their joy one to
another; there is work for them all to set out the praise of
Christ. David Dickson.
Verses 7-9. Matthew Henry on these verses quotes from
Virgil's 4th Eclogue the verses (of which we subjoin Dryden's
translation) in which the poet, he says, "either ignorantly
or basely applies to Asinius Pollio the ancient prophecies which
at that time were expected to be fulfilled; "adding that
Ludovicus Vives thinks that these and many other things which
Virgil says of this long looked for child "are applicable
to Christ."
O of celestial seed! O foster son of Jove!
See, lab'ring Nature calls thee to sustain
The nodding frame of heaven, and earth, and main!
See to their base restored, earth, seas, and air;
And joyful ages, from behind, in crowding ranks appear.
Verse 8. Let the floods clap their hands. The
clapping of the hands being a token of delight and approbation,
and the striking or dashing of the water in a river being, for
the noise of it, a resemblance of that, the rivers are
here said to clap their hands. Henry Hammond.
Verse 8. Though the language be figurative, so far as
it gives a voice to the inanimate creation in its various
departments, yet, like all the figurative language of Scripture,
it expresses a truth—that which the Apostle has stated without
a metaphor in the express revelation that the "creation
shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the
glorious liberty of the children of God." And this because
the reason of that bondage will no more exist. It is the
consequence of sin: but when the world shall be subjected to the
righteous rule of its coming King (as predicted in the last
verse of this psalm), then earth and all creation shall own its
present Lord, and join its tribute of praise to that of Israel
and the nations, and the redeemed and glorified chinch. William
De Burgh.
Verse 9. The Psalter is much occupied in celebrating the
benign fruits which Christ's reign is to yield in all the
earth. It will be a reign of HOLINESS. This is its proper and
distinctive nature. Under it, the ends of the earth will fear
God, and rejoice in his salvation. It will be a reign of
JUSTICE. Under it, the wars and oppressions and cruelties, the
unequal laws and iniquitous institutions that have so long vexed
and cursed the world, shall find a place no more. This happy
reformation is usually foretold in the form of a proclamation
that the Lord is coming "to judge the earth."
It is important, therefore, to keep in mind the true sense and
intention of that oft repeated proclamation. It does not refer,
as an unwary reader might suppose, to the Judgment of the Great
Day. There is no terror in it. The Psalms that have it for their
principal burden are jubilant in the highest degree. The design
of the proclamation is to announce Christ in the character of a
Peaceful Prince coming to administer equal laws with an
impartial hand, and so to cause wrong and contention to cease in
the earth. This is Christ's manner of judging the earth. What he
has already done in this direction enables us to form a clear
conception of what he will yet set himself to do. When he
designs to accomplish great and salutary reforms in the
political and social institutions of a people, he begins by
dislodging bad principles from men's minds and planting
Scriptural principles in their stead; by purging evil passions
from men's hearts, and baptising them with the Spirit of truth
and justice, godliness and lovingkindness. A sure foundation
having been thus laid for a better order of things, he will by
some storm of controversy or of revolution sweep away the
institutions in which injustice has entrenched itself, and will
thus make it possible for righteousness to have free course. Oh
what a store of comfort for the down trodden, the enslaved, the
needy, is laid up in the announcement that the Lord is coming to
be the avenger of all such! Well may all the creatures be
invited to clap their hands for joy at the thought that he has
taken this work in hand; that he sitteth upon the floods; and
that the storms that agitate the nations are the chariot in
which he rides to take possession of the earth, and make it an
abode of righteousness and peace. William Binnie.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse 1. A new song. The duty, beauty, and
benefit of maintaining freshness in piety, service, and worship.
Verse 1. He hath done marvellous things.
1. He hath created a marvellous universe.
2. He has established a marvellous government.
3. He hath bestowed a marvellous gift.
4. He hath provided a marvellous redemption.
5. He hath inspired a marvellous book.
6. He hath opened a marvellous fulness.
7. He hath effected a marvellous transformation.
—W. Jackson.
Verse 1. The victory. The victories of God in
judgment, and in mercy: especially the triumphs of Christ on the
cross, and by his Spirit in the heart, and in and by the church
at large.
Verse 2. The Lord hath made known his salvation.
1. The contents of which it is composed.
2. The reasons for which it has been provided.
3. The price at which it has been procured.
4. The terms on which it shall be imparted.
5. The way in which it must be propagated.
6. The manner in which its neglect will be punished. W. J.
Verse 2. (first clause).
1. What is salvation?
2. Why it is called the Lord's: "Salvation is of the
Lord."
3. How he has made it known.
4. For what purpose.
5. With what results. E.G. Gange.
Verse 2. The great privilege of knowing the gospel.
1. In what it consists. (a) Revelation by the Bible.
(b) Declaration by the minister. (c) Illumination by the Spirit.
(d) Illustration in daily providence.
2. To what it has led. (a) We have believed it. (b) We
have so far understood it as to growingly rejoice in it. (c) We
are able to tell it to others. (d) We abhor those who mystify
it.
Verse 2. Salvation's glory.
1. It is divine—"his salvation."
2. It is consistent with justice—"his
righteousness."
3. It is plain and simple—"openly showed."
4. It is meant for all sorts of men—"heathen."
Verse 3. (first clause). The Lord's memory of
his covenant. Times in which he seems to forget it; ways in
which even in those times he proves his faithfulness; great
deeds of grace by which at other times he shows his memory of
his promises; and reasons why he must ever be mindful of his
covenant.
Verse 3. (last clause). All the ends of the
earth.
1. Literally. Missionaries have visited every land.
2. Spiritually. Men ready to despair, to perish.
3. Prophetically. Dwell on the grand promises concerning the
future, and the triumphs of the church. E.G.G.
Verse 3. All the ends of the earth have seen,
&c.
1. The greatest foreigners have seen it; many have "come
from the east and the west; "Greeks, Peter's hearers, the
Eunuch, Greenlanders, South Sea Islanders, Negroes, Red Indians,
&c., &c.
2. The ripest saints have seen it; they are at the light end
of the earth, stepping out of the wilderness into Canaan,
&c.
3. The vilest sinners have seen it; those who have wandered
so far that they could get no farther without stepping into
hell. The dying thief. The woman who was a sinner. Those whom
Whitefield called "the devil's castaways." W. J.
Verse 4. The right use of noise.
1. "Make a noise." Awake, O sleeper. Speak, O dumb.
2. "Make a joyful noise." The shout of deliverance,
of gratitude, of gladness.
3. "Make a loud noise, all the earth." Nature with
her ten thousand voices. The church with myriad saints.
4. "Make a joyful noise unto God." Praise him
alone. Praise him for ever. E.G.G.
Verse 6. Joy a needful ingredient of praise. The Lord
as King, an essential idea in adoration. Expression in various
ways incumbent upon us, when praising joyfully such a King.
Verses 7-8. Nature at worship. The congregation is
1. Vast. Sea, earth, rivers, hills.
2. Varied. Diverse in character, word, aspect, each from each
other, constant and alike in this alone, that all, always
worship God.
3. Happy. In this like the worshippers in heaven, and for the
same reason—sin is absent. E.G.G.
Verse 8. The song of the sea, and the hallelujah of
the hills.
Verse 9. The last judgment as a theme for
thankfulness.
Verse 9. Before the Lord. Where we are, where
our joy should be, where all our actions should be felt to be,
where we shall be—"before the Lord."
Enquire—What are we before the Lord? What shall we be when he
cometh?
WORK UPON THE NINETY-EIGHTH PSALM
In "The Works of John Boys, "1626,
folio, pp. 34-6, there is a short exposition of this psalm.