As I read Psalm 98 this week in order to prepare for this writing I was struck by the many New Testament passages that echoed in my ears in response to these verses. So instead of a meditation on the psalm this week I've simply strung together New Testament passages that came to mind at each verse and interspersed them into the psalm. This could go on forever but I chose to just list the passages that immediately came to mind. Read them together and allow Scripture to interpret Scripture. I think you will be edified and I think you will hear your own echoes of others Scriptures.   Psalm 98 A Psalm. 1 Oh sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything [...]

This is another boisterous psalm of praise that also issues a call for the nations to believe. The linchpin for the whole thing is the declaration that YHWH reigns. The Hebrew is the verbal form of "king." We don't have an equivalent in English; the only place we use "king" as a verb is in chess. This declaration is good news. It should make the earth giddy with joy and the nations across many waters satisfied with gladness. In Romans, Paul indicates that there is a groaning in creation itself for this very rule of God. The consequence of God being king cuts two ways. On the one hand, if God is king/ruler and you are not it is good news. At least it is good news to those who know the bitter taste of our own personal failures to rule. Whether it is your appetite, your bank account, or your family, if you have ruled for yourself and for your name, it results in disaster. But to rule with Jesus is freedom, rest, and joy. But the other direction [...]

1 Chronicles chapter 16 tells us that this praise psalm was used when the Ark of the Covenant was brought to Jerusalem and placed in the Tent of David. It is a joyous call for Israel to worship God with loud singing and humble trembling which in turn issues an invitation to creation and all the other nations to join in praise of YHWH. On that occasion David blessed all the people and sent them to their homes with portions of food to celebrate God's enthronement. Moses was not told to add music to the worship of the Temple but David is given free rein to add singers, players of instruments, and musical processions to the worship. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. God is good. God is great. God is awesome and terrible. And since God is so great, the praise that is given to him should be a worthy and fitting response. The word means "much, very, excessively." In Ephesians Paul summons us to conduct our lives in a way that is fitting to the [...]

If you pay attention, the psalms can startle you. Psalm 95 is a good example. It begins like many classic praise psalms--bold invitation to to raucous praise followed by a warm call to humble, bowing adoration. But then it turns a corner. In the last section of the psalm we find a sober warning not to be hard-hearted. Some scholars have found this change in tone so abrupt that they think this last section was originally a piece of another psalm. I don't agree, but it underscores how strange it is. Again, the first section (1-5) is a joyous summons to praise. Specifically, the speaker is calling for noise; shouting, loud singing, clapping, and noisy music. I am reminded of praying with Ukranian Pentecostal Christians, especially when they first escaped from behind the Iron Curtain after the fall of Communism in Russia. Some of those believers had spent years in Gulags. When the meeting leader said, "let's pray" an explosion of boisterous praying in tongues, shouting of thanksgiving, and urgent pleas burst from their side of the room. That is [...]

Psalm 94 is yet another example of an urgent plea for God to address injustice that goes unpunished. God is described as the God of "vengeance" and lest we think that the New Testament somehow reverses or mitigates this description, 2 Thessalonians tells that when Jesus returns he will "inflict vengeance on those who do not know God." This psalm is a stark reminder that God will do something about those that neglect or mistreat the stranger/foreigner, widow, and orphan. If you are like me, this immediately sets you rushing to self-justification. I don't personally know any widows. There are no foreigners or strangers around me that I've mistreated. No orphans are starving at the door of my house begging bread. This may all be true, but I want to urge you to ask the Spirit to help you stop self-justifying and allow God to do the justifying instead. When wrong is asserted, and we clamor to "cover our butts" and make sure we're OK, we miss an opportunity to allow the Spirit to lead us into walking in his [...]

Psalm 91 is, perhaps, one of the most beautiful descriptions of the protection afforded to those who put their trust in God. It is a thesaurus of images; chicks sheltering under the wings of a hen, war, disease, dangers at night and day. We would do well to memorize this Psalm to allow the promise of divine protection given here to sink in. However, there is also a tension. The Bible is full of wonderful stories of the way God has protected his people. David's life most aptly fits this psalm; he could testify to a long life of God's overshadowing presence keeping him from ultimate harm. He died full of years and in good health. But what about those who died? What about godly kings like Josiah who brought about one of the most important revivals of worship in the Old Testament yet died young? That requires more thought. Satan quotes this psalm to Jesus the wilderness of Judea to try to get him to perform a spiritual stunt that will build a following. Jesus knows Satan's aim is [...]