Sunday, September 1, 2013
“O Sing to the Lord, a
New Song”
Psalm 98
a.
Sing a New Song – we
have addressed “The new song” before.
The idea of a new song is a new hope.
WE sometimes describe “a new chapter” in one’s life or “a new
lease on life”. Whatever the
deliverance our psalmist speaks of, there is cause for great praise to
God and rejoicing as a result of this deliverance.
b.
He has done marvelous
things –the
word marvelous means extraordinary or wondrous.
How often have we discussed the great works of the Lord –
deliverance from Egypt, Mt. Sinai, Jericho, etc.
Truly He is awesome and to be held in reverence.
c.
His right hand and holy arm have gained Him victory
– God is sovereign and omnipotent (all powerful).
d.
The Lord has made known
His salvation
– in every victory of God, His salvation is revealed.
e.
His righteousness, mercy
and faithfulness revealed
– The NASU says His loving-kindness and faithfulness.
Again these are qualities we have frequently addressed in the
psalms. His righteousness
being His justice and rightness in His judgments.
His mercy is His compassion even to an ungrateful and rebellious
people. His faithfulness is
revealed in His promises.
f.
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God
– again we are reminded
of the great deliverances of the history of Israel.
Recall the fear of Jericho as Israel approached the Jordan as
well as the fear of the Midianites when Gideon helped to deliver Israel
with only 300 (Judges 7), the defeat of the Assyrian army at Jerusalem
under the direction of Hezekiah, a day when 185,000 fell in one night
without a single arrow being shot (2 Kings 18-19), etc.
g.
To the house of Israel – Yes, He did deliver Israel.
Concerning this NOTICE Ezekiel 36:22-32 where the
Lord promises captive Judah deliverance in their own land.
Physically, Judah was delivered from Babylonian captivity when
Babylon fell to Medo-Persia and an edict was issued permitting Israel’s
return (cf. Ezra 1:1-4).
However, as you examine that text of Ezekiel there are points made
tending toward the kingdom God would establish in the coming of Christ.
We read of:
i.
A sprinkling with clean
water to cleanse them of their filthiness and idols (25)
ii.
Give them a new heart of
flesh instead of stone (26)
iii.
His Spirit within and
they would walk in His statutes and judgments (27)
iv.
Delivered from ALL
uncleanness and increase them (29-30)
v.
NOTE also WHY He would
deliver them, “For My holy name’s sake” (22)
h.
Spiritual application –
i.
We are spiritual Israel
– the ultimate manifestation of His people (Rom. 2:28-29, Gal. 6:16).
ii.
Our ultimate deliverance
is found in Christ. All that
we have examined in these verses could be applied to our deliverance
from sin as a result of the sending of Christ.
1.
Is there any work more
marvelous than His forgiveness of our sins?
2.
In Christ we have
victory– consider 1 Cor. 15:57 which tells us that we have victory in
Christ.
3.
Salvation is seen in
him. Consider also Luke 2:29-32 when Jesus was presented at the temple
and Simeon saw Him. He said,
“Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to
Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation Which You have prepared
before the face of all peoples, A light to bring revelation to the
Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.”
Also John the Baptist declared himself as the voice crying in the
wilderness. Quoting Isaiah
40:3-5 he concludes by saying, “And
all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”
4.
In God sending His son
we see His righteousness, mercy and faithfulness.
5.
Through Him, “all the
ends of the earth have seen the salvation of God.”
It is a salvation available to all mankind – Titus 2:11
iii.
It is interesting to
notice the Song of Mary as recorded in Luke 1:46-55 as it compares to
these verses.
|
David (Psalm 98:1-3) |
Mary (Luke 1:46-55) |
|
“O sing, a new song” |
“My soul magnifies the Lord” (46) |
|
“He has done marvelous things” |
“He is mighty and has done great
things for me” (49) |
|
“His holy arm…gained Him the
victory” |
“He has shown strength with His
arm” (51) |
|
“He has remembered His mercy…” |
“In Remembrance of His mercy”
(54) |
|
“Made known His salvation” |
“He has shown strength with His
arm” (51) |
|
Remembered mercy and truth toward
Israel |
“He has helped His servant
Israel.” (54) |
|
All the ends of the earth see His
salvation |
“From generation to generation”
(50) |
NOTE:
While not a direct quote, or perhaps not even a specific reference, the
point is the similarities between the deliverance of Psalm 98 and the
coming of our Lord to deliver us from sin.
a.
Shout joyfully to the
Lord, all the earth; Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises!
What is the theme of these verses?
Is it the introduction of various instruments? OR is it a call to
praise and glorify God?
Clearly it is the latter!
The point is that we ought to rejoice when we consider our “deliverance”
from sin.
i.
Rejoicing is to be the
mantra of the Christian – Phil. 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord.
Again I will say, rejoice!”
1 Thess. 5:16, “Rejoice always.”
“Therefore, having been justified
by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through
whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and
rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1–2)
NOTICE how in this verse our rejoicing is related to our
salvation (i.e. deliverance, justification)
ii.
WE have been delivered –
Col. 1:13, “He has delivered us
from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son
of His love.”
Gal. 1:4 says, “He gave himself
for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age.”
iii.
Is there any greater
cause for rejoicing than to consider how He has saved us from death?
Luke 10:20, Jesus told His disciples, “Rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”
“And not only that, but we also
rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now
received the reconciliation.” (Romans 5:11)
b.
When we assemble
together to worship God, there ought to be a joy and rejoicing for our
salvation. And that ought to
be reflected in our attitude as we worship Him.
That doesn’t mean that every act is giddy – most are somber – but
our true heart will worship Him with a true attitude.
We sing and pray with both the Spirit and the understanding (1
Cor. 14:15). WE give
joyfully (2 Cor. 9:7).
c.
What about the Instruments? “Sing to the LORD with the harp, With the harp and the sound of a psalm,
With trumpets and the sound of a horn; Shout joyfully before the LORD,
the King.” (Psalm 98:5–6) While
we have discussed this before, it is worthy of consideration in light of
the instructions of psalms such as this.
We find many that specifically call for praising God with various
instruments. Does this apply
to us? Consider the
following:
i.
We know the verses that
instruct us to sing – Eph. 5:19, Col. 3:16, 1 Cor. 14:15, Heb. 2: 12
where we find David saying, “I
will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I
will sing praise to You.” (cf. Psalm 22:22) ,
etc. NOT once
are we commanded to use instrumental music in our worship to God.
To do so is to act WITHOUT authority.
ii.
“But Psalm 98:4-6 tells
us to sing with accompanying instruments” (You can also insert numerous
other psalms and verses from the Old Testament).
1.
We are NOT under the Old
Law anymore and we cannot use it as our source of authority (Col 2:14,
Heb. 8:13 which says He has made the first covenant obsolete).
If passages such as this one are authority or command to worship
with instruments, then what about other aspects of the law – animal
sacrifices, incense, sprinkling of blood, loud cymbals, rams horns,
etc.? Why do we pick and
choose which parts of the Old Law we can observe today?
WE CAN’T!!!!
2.
There is also debate as
to whether God actually commanded the use of instruments or whether they
were introduced by David and simply tolerated by God, as He did many
things (cf. Matt. 19:8, etc.).
Some appeal to 2 Chronicles 29:25 where Hezekiah restored temple
worship. In that verse we
read, “And he stationed the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, with
stringed instruments, and with harps, according to the commandment of
David, of Gad the king’s seer, and of Nathan the prophet; for thus was
the commandment of the LORD by his prophets.” This could mean it was
a part of God’s instructions, but whether He commanded the instruments
is not clear. IF you study
the construction and worship of the tabernacle in Exodus and Leviticus
you will NOT find instrumental music as part of their worship.
It does NOT appear until the time of David.
And with that we must also consider Notice Amos 6:5 where the
worship and conduct of Israel is being condemned, “Who
sing idly to the sound of stringed instruments, And invent for
yourselves musical instruments like David;”
They were the invention of
David, and at least on this occasion they were despised of God.
WE see here the corruption of instrumental music.
3.
Regardless of whether or
not instrumental music was authorized in the Old Testament, it is NOT
authorized today for the above stated reasons.
I find it interesting that of ALL the psalms the Hebrew writer
quotes, the one mentioned is Psalm 22:22.
d. A call for rejoicing that is present when we consider His deliverance – do we rejoice when we consider our deliverance from sin?
a.
Let nature roar – declaring the sovereignty of God.
We often find reference to nature declaring the glory and power of God.
The idea is simply that nature, by its very “nature”, submits to
God’s will and thereby glorifies Him.
“His invisible attributes
are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His
eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.” (Rom.
1:20)
“The heavens declare the glory of
God. And all the firmament
shows His handiwork.” (Psa. 19:1)
By His word, all things were made – 2 Peter 3:5 and they are sustained
by the same word.
BUT, another consideration is that often the idea of the seas,
floods, etc. is that of nations.
As such, there is a sense in which the EVIL that is so prevalent
in our world cries for justice.
From the blood of Abel that cried out to God from the ground
(Gen. 4:10) to Romans 8:18-22 which describes the whole creation
groaning to be delivered from bondage (recall the curse of the earth
when man sinned – Gen. 3:17-18)
b.
He is coming to judge
the earth
–
i.
Having seen the Lord’s
deliverance of His people (again and again – against Egypt, Assyria,
Babylon, etc.) the psalmist has a renewed confidence in the final
judgment. A judgment in
which all evil will be addressed.
Often times,
God used evil nations to punish His people.
And it seemed as if they were getting away with their wickedness.
Psalm 2:1 starts, “Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a
vain thing?” In the end ALL
will be judged and give an account.
Matthew 25:31-46 describes it as a time when all nations shall be
gathered before Him.
Obviously the judgment is individuals giving account for their lives,
but the description is that of NATIONS.
EVERYONE will be judged – 2 Cor. 5:10,
John 5:28-29
ii.
He is coming to judge the earth – 2 Pet. 3:10, Acts 17:31 – HE has appointed a day.
iii.
He will judge in righteousness and with equity
–. it will be a just
judgment where all men will be weighed by the same standard
The term “equity” is found in the KJV, NKJV, ASV, NASU, ESV, NIV, etc.
The Hebrew word (מֵישָׁרִים,
mesarim) is found
19 times in the OT and is often translated, upright.
The idea is a fair and just judgment.
That standard will be His word and how we have complied to it
(John 12:48, Rom. 2:16, etc.).
And thus we have examined another psalm.
In this psalm we see God’s deliverance manifested once again
(whatever the occasion) and the rejoicing that ought to accompany such a
deliverance. But we also see
the hope that a day is coming in which ALL who are in the grave will
hear His voice and a final judgment will occur.
NONE shall escape it and it will be final.
May we live to be ready for that day.
Think about it.