The Treasury of David — Charles H. Spurgeon
TITLE AND SUBJECT. This sacred ode, which bears simply the title of “A Psalm, “follows fitly upon the last, and is evidently an integral part of the series of royal psalms. If Ps 97:1-12 described the publication of the gospel, and so the setting up of the kingdom of heaven, the present Psalm is a sort of Coronation Hymn, officially proclaiming the conquering Messiah as Monarch over the nations, with blast of trumpets, clapping of hands, and celebration of triumphs. It is a singularly bold and lively song. The critics have fully established the fact that similar expressions occur in Isaiah, but we see no force in the inference that therefore it was written by him; on this principle half the books in the English language might be attributed to Shakespeare. The fact is that these associated Psalms make up a mosaic, in which each one of them has an appropriate place, and is necessary to the completeness of the whole, and therefore we believe them, to be each and all the work of one and the same mind. Paul, if we understand him aright, ascribes Ps 95:1-11 to David, and as we believe that the same writer must have written the whole group, we ascribe this also to the son of Jesse. Whoever that may be, the song is worthy to rank among the most devout and soul stirring of sacred lyrics.
DIVISION. We have here three stanzas of three verses each. In the first, Ps 98:1-3, the subject of praise is announced, in the second, Ps 98:4-6, the manner of that praise is prescribed; and in the third, Ps 98:7-9, the universal extent of it is proclaimed.
Exposition
Verse 1. O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvellous things. We had a new song before (Ps 96:1-13) because the Lord was coming, but now we have another new song because he has come, and seen and conquered. Jesus, our King, has lived a marvellous life, died a marvellous death, risen by a marvellous resurrection, and ascended marvellously into heaven. By his divine power he has sent forth the Holy Spirit doing marvels, and by that sacred energy his disciples have also wrought marvellous things and astonished all the earth. Idols have fallen, superstitions have withered, systems of error have fled, and empires of cruelty have perished. For all this he deserves the highest praise. His acts have proved his Deity, Jesus is Jehovah, and therefore we sing unto him as the LORD. His right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory; not by the aid of others, but by his own unweaponed hand his marvellous conquests have been achieved. Sin, death, and hell fell beneath his solitary prowess, and the idols and the errors of mankind have been overthrown and smitten by his hand alone. The victories of Jesus among men are all the more wonderful because they are accomplished by means to all appearance most inadequate; they are due not to physical but to moral power—the energy of goodness, justice, truth; in a word, to the power of his holy arm. His holy influence has been the sole cause of success. Jesus never stoops to use policy, or brute force; his unsullied perfections secure to him a real and lasting victory over all the powers of evil, and that victory will lie gained as dexterously and easily as when a warrior strikes his adversary with his right hand and stretches him prone upon the earth. Glory be unto the Conqueror, let new songs be chanted to his praise. Stirred by contemplating his triumphs, our pen could not forbear to praise him in the following hymn:
Forth to the battle rides our King; He climbs his conquering car; He fits his arrows to the string, And smites his foes afar.
Convictions pierce the stoutest hearts, They bleed, they faint, they die; Slain by Immanuel’s well aligned darts, In helpless heaps they lie.
Behold, he bares his two edged sword, And deals almighty blows, His all revealing, killing word Mixed with joint and marrow goes.
Anon arrayed in robes of grace He rides the trampled plain, With pity beaming from his face, And mercy in his train.
Mighty to save he now appears, Mighty to raise the dead, Mighty to stanch the bleeding wound, And lift the fallen head.
Victor alike in love and arms, Myriads before him bend: Such are the Conqueror’s matchless charms. Each foe becomes his friend.
They crown him on the battle field Of all the nations King; With trumpets and with cornets loud They make the welkin ring.
The salvation which Jesus has accomplished is wrought out with wonderful wisdom, hence it is ascribed to his right hand; it meets the requirements of justice, hence we read of his holy arm; it is his own unaided work, hence all the glory is ascribed to him; and it is marvellous beyond degree, hence it deserves a new song.