Psalm 98: Let the Floods Clap Their Hands

"O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory. The LORD hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen. He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God."

"Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise. Sing unto the LORD with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm. With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the LORD, the King."

"Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together before the LORD; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity."

Trumpet and shofar

"Trumpets" (hatsotserot) were straight metal trumpets blown by priests (Numbers 10:1–10); the "cornet" is the shofar, the ram's horn. Egyptian silver and bronze trumpets survive from the tomb of Tutankhamun (pictured). The psalm assembles every sound: voice, harp, trumpet, horn, sea, rivers and hills.

Psalms 96 and 98

Psalm 98 shares its opening and its ending with Psalm 96 ("for he cometh to judge the earth"). Many of its phrases also appear in Isaiah 40–55 ("all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God," Isaiah 52:10). The direction of borrowing is not known.

Heading and reception

The Hebrew heading is simply "A Psalm" (mizmor), the only psalm with that single word as its heading; the library's Vulgate has "Psalmus ipsi David." As the Cantate Domino it is an alternative canticle at Evening Prayer in the Book of Common Prayer. Isaac Watts' "Joy to the World" (1719) paraphrases its second half. Psalms 93 and 95–99 proclaim "The LORD reigneth" (YHWH malakh) or celebrate God as King. Placed after Psalm 89's lament over the fallen Davidic throne, they answer: the human king has fallen, but the LORD still reigns. Gerald Wilson saw Book IV as the Psalter's editorial response to the exile.