Text: Psalm 98:1-9
In this 2-week reading plan, we are assuming a posture of thanksgiving before the Lord by meditating on ten Psalms of Gratitude. Rather than provide a written response to each Psalm, we have offered a simple yet meaningful activity designed to help us recall God’s mercies to us and through time. So grab a journal, and let’s create our own songs of thanksgiving to God.
Psalm 98
Praise the King
A psalm.
Sing a new song to the Lord,
for He has performed wonders;
His right hand and holy arm
have won Him victory.
The Lord has made His victory known;
He has revealed His righteousness
in the sight of the nations.
He has remembered His love
and faithfulness to the house of Israel;
all the ends of the earth
have seen our God’s victory.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth;
be jubilant, shout for joy, and sing.
Sing to the Lord with the lyre,
with the lyre and melodious song.
With trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn
shout triumphantly
in the presence of the Lord, our King.
Let the sea and all that fills it,
the world and those who live in it, resound.
Let the rivers clap their hands;
let the mountains shout together for joy
before the Lord,
for He is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world righteously
and the peoples fairly.
Dig Deeper:
Our God is forevermore victorious! In Psalm 98, the Israelites declared that “all the ends of the earth have seen our God’s victory”—and they joined loudly in the chorus of praise. Let’s do the same as we work through the text below.
1. Look at verses 1-3. Why were the Israelites singing a song to the Lord?
2. Now look at verses 7-9. Why should we sing a song to the Lord?
3. Why did the Israelites celebrate their victory with so much noise?
4. How can we celebrate the Lord’s victory?
ALL THE FRIENDS :) –
I so love the community we have and i’d love to keep up with people this summer when i’m traveling… i’m not on FB (my old profile is but i’ve been inactive for about 7 years I think…) but I use IG and plan to post there of our trip :) My email I use here is (all one word) “Heidi Loves Truth atGmail dotcom”. If anyone else uses IG I’d love to follow ya and keep up :) I can send you my account info… I’ll try to post this again closer to time I leave! :)
RHONDA J – your comment reminded me of a story I heard about a woman who wasn’t a gifted singer but still sung her heart out every time. Her remark was that “ this is the voice God gave me and I’m just giving it back to Him!” :) Heart posture wins out every time!!!
CEE GEE & SEARCHING: (thanks for the prayers – so so anxiously overwhelmed.. no human way possible to get all of this. praying to see His provision!!) — I have learned to see the difference in the two as THANKSGIVING being just that- recognizing His undeserved ACTION in the world, history, my life, etc. While PRAISE is taking on humility and telling Him who He IS. Naming His person and characteristics and placing a very heavy emphasis on HIS greatness. NO attention to me and my lack, no attention to ME at all – just Him. I will sometimes name Him (ie. “counselor”) and then show thanksgiving for how He has lead ppl/situations/etc.. or I may just sit in prayer for a few minutes naming all of the “Hims” I can think of – God, Father, Creator; and all of the attributes I can think of “Holy, mighty, all knowing, all deserving…” When I take the time to mentally define who and what I am calling Him, it gets so beautiful… Definitely recommend it :) :)
I too Rhonda, use praise music to sing along too. I also use it as a form of prayer when I can’t find the right words. May we all lift our voices today!
3. Why did the Israelites celebrate their victory with so much noise?
The first thing that came to mind was a college football game, with the “underdog” winning, pulling off an all but impossible comeback that leaves the losing team & fans in shock & silent, with the winning team & fans screaming, yelling, singing the fight song and in general just going wild.
Sadly, God is viewed by much of the world as the “underdog” when in fact He is King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the one and only Almighty God – as far from an underdog as the east is from the west. Those who don’t know Him will be the ones in shock when Christ returns, and when the evil one is banished after Christ’s millennial reign and the fulfillment of the remaining prophecies.
BUT we can sing, praise, shout to the Lord NOW – in thankfulness, acknowledgment and amazement of all He has done and will do. Ultimately our praise and celebrating will overwhelm even the most boisterous sports fans.
Praying fervently for the lost today – including so many near and dear to me who have decided they don’t need “all of that”.
HEIDI – continuing to pray for whatever you need today to claim victory over your more than full plate
KELLY (NEO), THERESA, RHONDA J – amen!
MARTHA HIX – good to see you ❤️
CEE GEE – same here. I have trouble separating praise from thankfulness, will be working on this.
The Lord is victorious! We can celebrate the Lord’s victory by boldly telling others what He has done.
The call for a new song reminds me that I need to refresh my prayer language, too. I freely give thanks, but have a hard time finding words to adequately offer up praise. I would love to hear how y’all developed this practice.
This Psalm was written after the Exodus and rescue from Egypt… I love it because you can FEEL the praise and response to experiencing that their God did not forget them and He absolutely brought about the undeserved salvation that He promised He would bring them waaaaaaay back when He told Abram this whole Egyption-oppression was eventually going to happen.
It reminds me/encourages me to not forget that:
-He keeps His promises and He does so in the most perfect timing.
-NOTHING. is a surprise to Him.
-He never forgets His people.
-He never gives up on His people.
-He is faithful to uphold His promises, even when I continuously fail at upholding mine.
His salvation was true for them and it is true for us. He rescued them, He rescued us, and He will be BACK to rescue in finality…
More to comment, but so exhausted I need to come back later… Good morning, She’s!!! Praying eyes to see the blessings He has and will be pouring out for each of us today!! ❤️
❤️