Most people enjoy a good celebration. Whether it is New Year’s, a birthday, an anniversary, a victory or achievement of some kind, it is wonderful to gather with friends and loved ones to celebrate. Psalm 98 is a psalm of celebration. In this post we’ll find out why.
In Psalm 98, there are three words in verses 1-3 that help us understand how a baby, God in the flesh, ushers salvation into the world. The three words are “righteousness, faithfulness and love.”
“Righteousness” is a word that is often translated “justice.” It gives us the idea that God’s salvation is able to take people and structures that are broken and make them just and right. Through Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection, we learn that Jesus had victory over sin, death and the devil, so that we can have new life, just as he had new life.
That brings us back to what we studied in the Helmet of Salvation sermon a few weeks ago: we are saved from and saved for. We can be saved from sin and its consequences when we place our faith in Jesus and give our lives to him. When we do that, God’s salvation works a process of making us right. We have right standing before him, but he also saves us by changing our lives so that we become more and more right. We are saved for experiencing abundant life here on earth, with the Fruit of the Spirit flowing from our lives (love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control) as we serve him on the mission of his Kingdom.
After “righteousness,” the second word the psalmist uses to illustrate God’s salvation is “love.” God’s love. Some have said that this better rendered in English as “loving kindness” or “loyal goodness” from God toward his people. It is a posture that God has toward us. He loves us. He wants to save us because he loves us. So out of that love, God who is spirit, becomes one of us, in the form of a newborn baby. Jesus’ birth is a wonderful display of God’s love for us.
The third word the psalmist uses to describe God’s salvation is “faithfulness.” Another way to say this is that God is trustworthy. We can place our trust in him because God is faithful. This psalm itself illustrates God’s faithfulness. In Psalm 98, God promises that he is faithful and he will save. Then the promise is fulfilled in the baby Jesus, who would go on to live, give his life on the cross, and rise again to new life. The psalm predicted God’s faithfulness in providing salvation, and sure enough, God was faithful in providing salvation in Christ.
Next the psalmist makes a very important application of these three words. Salvation from God means that he has revealed his righteousness, faithfulness and love to all other nations, to the ends of the earth. God’s desire is that all people would experience his salvation. This is why we sing Joy to the World.
We see this world-wide focus when the angels sang new songs on the night Jesus was born: “And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.”
Whenever we look into the eyes of our enemies, of people we dislike, of people that annoy us, we are looking at people who God loves, people who God wants to experience his salvation. People who God might want us to communicate his love to. All those Israelis that Hamas killed, and all those Palestinians and Hamas that Israel killed. All the Ukrainians that Russia has killed. All the Russians that Ukrainians have killed. All the migrants hoping to get into our country. God loves each and every one of them and wants each and every one to be saved.
There is a very real sense in which you and I now put flesh on God, our flesh, and we show people what God is like. This enfleshment, this incarnation, is especially real when we consider that the Holy Spirit of God lives in us.
At Faith Church, this is why we started a Prison Worship Team. This is why we support SEEDS English as a Second Language classes for people in our community who have come from other countries. This is why we are starting a Church World Service Refugee Welcome Team. This is why we have supported international sister churches and missionaries for decades. This is why we send gifts to children around the world through Operation Christmas Child.
Just like the angels announced good news to the shepherds, we want to announce to everyone that God’s salvation is available to all people.
Back in Psalm 98, this incredibly good news of God’s salvation causes the psalmist to erupt. Look at verses 4-6,
“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music; make music to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing, with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn— shout for joy before the Lord, the King.”
Once again, this passage reminds us of the angels who sang at Jesus’ birth: “Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
God has done it! God has brought salvation.
So the psalmist continues in verses 7-9a, “Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy; let them sing before the Lord.”
There is praise and worship all over the globe. Even the natural world cannot contain its praise.
But then suddenly, all the joy and praise and glory seems to stop. We’ll learn why in the next post.
Photo by Erwan Hesry on Unsplash
Engaging Scripture 