A Call to Praise the Lord for His Righteousness.
98 O sing to the Lord a new song,
For He has done wonderful things,
His right hand and His holy arm have [a]gained the victory for Him.
2 The Lord has made known His salvation;
He has revealed His [b]righteousness in the sight of the nations.
3 He has remembered His lovingkindness 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 and sing for joy and sing praises.
5 Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
With the lyre and the [c]sound of melody.
6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn
Shout joyfully before the King, the Lord.7 Let the sea roar and [d]all it contains,
The world and those who dwell in it.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands,
Let the mountains sing together for joy
9 Before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth;
He will judge the world with righteousness
And the peoples with [e]equity.
As this psalm calls us to praise, it reminds us of all these wonderful things. So much so, that even the seas, the rivers, and the mountains sing His praises. Yet it ends with a funny twist in v. 9. We praise because he is coming to judge the world? Maybe you think good things when you hear the word “judge”, but that isn’t what these words bring to my mind. He even says it twice, that God will “judge the earth” and “judge the world”. So how does that fit in a psalm of praise and joy?
Well, let’s look a little closer at how God is going to judge people, it is with righteousness and equity, and the Hebrew word there also means with “uprightness”. That’s another word that’s been twisted, almost beyond recognition. So what does it mean to judge uprightly? Go back to the first few verses and we get some clues.
“The Lord has made known His salvation… and has revealed His righteousness.” God hasn’t made His plan a secret, it’s the most published book in the world! Likewise, He isn’t waiting for us to mess up, or trying to trick us into doing the wrong thing. Though it may not be easy to understand all of the Bible, one thing is clear (if you actually read it): God created us, and He loves us, and made us with purpose.
Things went horribly wrong, at least from our perspective, but He made it right again. Now the ball is in our court, the choice is in our hands. Do we accept God’s plan and choose to follow Him? If you’ve read the end of the Book, you know God’s judgment also means great things for those who are serving Him. It’s the bitter end for those who have rejected His gift. But He has made His salvation known, it’s up to us to walk in it.