Thank You, O Lord, for the blessings and protection and faithfulness You have given us during this week! A wonderful Friday morning to you, my friend!
Read Psalm 98. Selah.
There are 150 separate psalms in the Book of Psalms. Many are untitled; and some carry titles like “A Psalm of David” or “A Prayer of Moses the Man of God” or “A Contemplation of Asaph”. Interestingly, today’s scripture is the only psalm of the entire 150 that is simply titled “A Psalm”, with no explanation given why it carries this label.
So, let’s consider this simple “A Psalm”, Psalm 98:
Like Psalm 96 (see Wednesday’s devotional) the writer opens with a charge to sing to the LORD a new song. The appeal to sing a new song to our amazing God is absolutely justified – after all, we are singing to the One whose “mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning” (Lamentations 3 ESV); and, further, because of the saving work of Christ, each of us are “a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (II Corinthians 5). His mercies are new, and we are new – yes, my friend, we have every reason to lift up our voices with a new song to Our LORD!
And the psalmist himself provides even more reason to sing a new song to our Good God (vvs 1 – 3):
“For He has done marvelous things; His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory. The LORD has made known His salvation; His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations. He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.”.
As Followers of Christ, we recognize that this passage is clearly referring to God’s salvation as secured for each of us through the Person and the completed work of Jesus. And notice how the writer of the psalm specifically includes both Jew and Gentile in God’s salvation plan through the Spirit-breathed references to Israel and “all the ends of the earth”. Now, let’s look at how God’s salvation was received by a man named Simeon, about 1000 years after the psalmist wrote his prophetic words. As you read the passage from Luke 2 below, mark how closely it parallels and conforms to the Messianic prophecy contained in Psalm 98:
“And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said: “Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.””.
Jesus. The Lamb of God. One thousand years later. Amazing!
Friend, have a blessed weekend, and just like Simeon in the temple, walk in peace according to His word, because our eyes have seen His salvation! Amen!