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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comTreasury of David - Psalms 98:7 - 98:7
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
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 be joyful together
9 Before the Lord; for he cometh to judge the earth; with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.
Psa 98:7
“Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof” Even its thunders will not be too grand for such a theme. Handel, in some of his sublime choruses, would have been glad of its aid to express his lofty conceptions, and assuredly the inspired Psalmist did well to call in such infinite uproar. The sea is his, let it praise its Maker. Within and upon its bosom it bears a wealth of goodness, why should it be denied a place in the orchestra of nature? Its deep bass will excellently suit the mystery of the divine glory. “The world, and they that dwell therein.” The land should be in harmony with the ocean. Its mountains and plains, cities and villages, should prolong the voice of jubilee which welcomes the Lord of all. Nothing can be more sublime than this verse; the muses of Parnassus cannot rival the muse of Zion, the Castalian fount never sparkled like that “fount of every blessing” to which sacred bards are wont to ascribe their inspiration. Yet no song is equal to the majesty of the theme when Jehovah, the King, is to be extolled.
Psa 98:8
“Let the floods clap their hands.” The rolling rivers, the tidal estuaries, the roaring cataracts, are here summoned to pay their homage, and to clap their hands, as men do when they greet their sovereigns with acclamation. “Let the hills be joyful together,” or in concert with the floods. Silent as are the mighty mountains, let them forget themselves, and burst forth into a sublime uproariousness of mirth, such as the poet described when he wrote those vivid lines -
“Far along,
From peak to peak, the rattling crags among,
Leaps the live thunder! Not from one lane cloud,
But every mountain now hath found a tongue,
And Jura answers, through her misty shroud,
Back to the joyous Alps, who car to her aloud.”
Psa 98:9
“Before the Lord; for he cometh to judge the earth.” Stiller music such as made the stars twinkle with their soft kind eyes suited his first coming at Bethlehem, but his second advent calls for trumpets, for he is a judge; and for all earth's acclamations, for he has put on his royal splendour. The rule of Christ is the joy of nature. All things bless his throne, yea, and the very coming of it. As the dawn sets the earth weeping for joy at the rising of the sun, till the dewdrops stand in her eyes, so should the approach of Jesu's universal reign make all creation glad. “With righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.” This is the joy of it. No tyrant and no weakling is he, to oppress the good or to indulge the vain, his law is good, his action right, his government the embodiment of justice. If ever there was a thing to rejoice in upon this poor, travailing earth, it is the coming of such a deliverer, the ascension to the universal throne of such a governor. All hail, Jesus! all hail! Our soul faints with delight at the sound of thine approaching chariots, and can only cry, “Come quickly. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!”
Keble's version of Psa 98:6-9 is so truly beautiful that we cannot deny our readers the luxury of perusing it: -
“Ring out, with horn and trumpet ring,
In shouts before the Lord the King:
Let ocean with his fulness swing
In restless unison:
“Earth's round and all the dwellers there,
The mighty floods the burden bear,
And clap the hand: in choral air
Join every mountain lone.
“Tell out before the Lord, that he
Is come, the Judge of earth to be,
To judge the world in equity,
Do right to realm and throne.”