Psalm 98

Psalm 98 is a Christmas Psalm

1 Oh sing unto Jehovah a new song; For he hath done marvellous things: His right hand, and his holy arm, hath wrought salvation for him.
2 Jehovah hath made known his salvation: His righteousness hath he openly showed in the sight of the nations.
3 He hath remembered his lovingkindness and his faithfulness toward the house of Israel: All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
4 Make a joyful noise unto Jehovah, all the earth: Break forth and sing for joy, yea, sing praises.
5 Sing praises unto Jehovah with the harp; With the harp and the voice of melody.
6 With trumpets and sound of cornet Make a joyful noise before the King, Jehovah.
7 Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof; The world, and they that dwell therein;
8 Let the floods clap their hands; Let the hills sing for joy together
9 Before Jehovah; for he cometh to judge the earth: He will judge the world with righteousness, And the peoples with equity.

Christmas is a time of singing and this psalm invites us in verse 4 to sing with joy. Joy to all the nations of the world for the Redeemer has come is what Isaac Watts had in mind when he wrote the Christmas carol Joy to the World

   1  Joy to the world! the Lord is come!
         Let earth receive her King;
      Let ev'ry heart prepare him room,
         And heav'n and nature sing.
   2  Joy to the earth! the Savior reigns!
         Let men their songs employ,
      While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
         Repeat the sounding joy.
   3  No more let sins and sorrows grow,
         Nor thorns infest the ground;
      He comes to make his blessings flow
         Far as the curse is found.
   4  He rules the world with truth and grace,
         And makes the nations prove
      The glories of his righteousness,
         And wonders of his love.

And of course the Christmas story would not be complete without Luke 1 where Jesus’ mother gives her Psalm of joy.  In  Psalm 98 the Redeemer is promised and Mary sang with joy for she believed that Jesus was the promised Redeemer who would save His people from their sins.

Psalm 98 and Luke 1:46-55
Psalm 98 says:  "O sing unto the Lord a new song."
Mary said:  "My soul doth magnify the Lord."
Psalm 98 says: "He hath done marvellous things."
Mary said: "He that is mighty hath done great things."
Psalm 98 says:  "With his own right hand and holy arm hath he gotten himself the victory."
Mary said: "He hath showed strength with his arm and scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts."
Psalm 98 says:  "The Lord hath made known his salvation; his righteousness hath he openly showed,"
Mary said: "His mercy is on them that fear him, from generation to generation."
Psalm 98 says:  "He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel."
Mary said: "He hath received Israel his servant, being mindful of his mercy, As he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed for ever."

Yes, because Jesus came we do have a new song and we should sing with joy!

Christmas Time

God with us

It is Christmas time and we are thinking of Jesus’ birthday and the story about God becoming a human. His name is Emanuel for He really is God with us. With us here and now is not just a saying it is real, He is with us.

The mystery of the coming is  "How could God Become a Man?" In the beginning this same God made Adam as a full-grown mature man in the likeness of God, able to think and do and act and want and decide all by himself. But now at Christmas time we see a baby unable to even speak, dependent on his mother and others for everything except breathing. How different from the adult mature first Adam!

Jesus as a baby was also in danger of being killed by Herod. And again unlike the first Adam, this One whom the Bible calls the last Adam, had to learn everything before He became as mature as Adam. He learned obedience to his parents, he learned to speak and play with and get along with younger siblings and even little sisters as different as they are. As a human he grew up and matured in the same way that we do except that He was never inclined to do wrong, He never sinned. The Bible says He was tempted in every way just as we are and yet He was without sin. Actually He did not inherit sinfulness as we did from our fathers, for only God Himself was His father, that is what the virgin birth means, although his brothers and sisters who had Joseph for their father were sinners needing a Saviour.

Imagine it, yes realize it and believe it. Jesus is God and He experienced all the temptations you and I have experienced yet He never sinned. Then He became the sinless sacrifice for all our sins so that He could be God with us and we can be with Him for ever. Salvation by his grace alone. And not just salvation from the penalty of sin, but because He was tempted and sinless we can live and overcome sin each day like He did, free from the power of sin.

Hebrews 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 1 Timothy 3:15 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.