Oct-10-0531-Sing of God’s salvation
531_Sing of God’s salvation Psalm 98 Oh sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. 2 The Lord has made known his salvation; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations. 3 He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. 4 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises! 5 Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody! 6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord! 7 Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; the world and those who dwell in it! 8 Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together 9 before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity. In the Acts of the Apostles, we read of Paul and Silas imprisoned in Philippi after a savage beating. They had much reason to be dejected. Yet Scripture tells us that “about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” Amidst earthly suffering, their hearts were in heaven and the song of heaven in their mouths. That night, an earthquake destroyed the prison and removed their chains. Even more, the jailer and his household believed on the Lord Jesus Christ that night. This is the kind of new song that this psalm speaks about. Such a song flows from hearts that know the salvation of God, and reaches the ears of those sitting in darkness and the shadow of death. The psalm speaks to God’s people, the nations, and to all of earth, to sing of what the Lord has done. It opens: “Oh sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him” (v. 1). This is not just a call for a catchy tune or a fresh melody; it is a call for worship that springs out of a heart that has tasted the goodness and salvation of God. The “new song” idea appears in many places in Scripture—Psalm 33:3, Psalm 40:3, Isaiah 42:10, Revelation 5:9, and others. Each time, it reminds us that worship must be alive, not stale. We don’t worship God merely by repeating words without thought. Every encounter with His grace gives us another reason to sing. Salvation is never a dull story. The Lord’s salvation is both deeply personal and cosmic in its scope. God’s people knew His salvation firsthand—He had remembered His steadfast love and faithfulness to Israel (v. 3). But this salvation was never meant to remain hidden in a corner. “All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God” (v. 3). God’s marvelous