We open up our Bibles together and sing or rather read Psalm 98. Psalm 98. And the whole of the Psalm is the text for the sermon this evening. This is the word of the Lord. It's entitled simply a Psalm. Oh, sing unto the Lord a new song, for he hath done marvelous 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 showed 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 song. With trumpets and sound of cornet, make a joyful noise before the Lord, the King. Let the sea roar and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein. Let the floods clap their hands together. 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. There ends our reading of God's holy and inspired word. Beloved congregation, in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Church of God and the Lord Jesus Christ is and always has been a singing church. And we may freely acknowledge that those songs often carry different kinds of melodies. Sometimes songs of grief or songs that are only appropriate for a season of ruin or chastisement. Sometimes songs sung privately in penitence. Sometimes songs of plenty or victory. The church is a singing church and our church has the ability to sing and to sing well, even our children. I'm thankful to be a part of a church that has a good heritage of psalm singing and of singing sacred music and that has a love for sacred music. Singing is part of acceptable worship to God. If we are not singing in our worship, we are not obeying God and we are not worshiping appropriately. We sing as we begin the worship service. We sing at the conclusion of the worship service and we sing all throughout. When the word is preached to us, it's implanted in our hearts, and then we respond almost immediately. After we pray, we respond together in song. And here in Psalm 98, we have one of the many exhortations of God's word, commanding us and exhorting us to sing. And so we have a responsibility to understand the command of the Scripture and then to obey the command of Scripture. And we will be glad to do so when we understand the new song. The reference to a new song is found in different places throughout the Bible, not just one or two, but not also dozens of them. Six times the new song is mentioned in the Psalms. In Psalm 33, in Psalm 40, Psalm 96, 98, 144, and 149. This evening I chose songs from four out of those six psalms. You find the reference to a new song once in Isaiah 42, and then twice in the book of Revelation, Revelation 5 and Revelation 14. Not many references to the new song, but enough references that we can characterize with those passage viewed collectively, what is a new song? A new song has nothing to do with a new revision of the Psalter. A new song has nothing to do with modern worship music. A new song is not the call to sing. A new song is not at all a justification to stop singing the songs that the church has always sung. The new song, rather, is always a song for new circumstances. And it's especially invoked in the Word of God in cases when God has done a great work, a saving work, so that the soul that was in darkness, but now is in the light, sings a song now in the light that he couldn't sing before. And the soul that was in bondage, but now has had his chains broken, now he can sing a new song in freedom that he couldn't sing while he was still in chains. It's the song that one sings when before his heart was weighed down grievously with guilt, but now with knowing the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the forgiveness of those sins, he breaks forth in new songs. It's the song that the church sings that the church couldn't sing while they were by Babel's streams and they sat and wept, but now they sing a new song. It's the song that the kingdom sings in victory, that they couldn't sing while their enemies were towering over them and assaulting them, and we were engaged in battle with that enemy, but now we are victorious over them. We are safe from their assaults. Now we are in a position to sing a new song. A new song is occasioned by new circumstances, and it's always a musical celebration and a grateful response to God's saving works. We have reason to sing a new song all the days of our life, in times of prosperity and in times of adversity. And even though we might feel in our experience that it's time for a sad song or it's time for a quiet song, And those songs may be appropriate in their own place, yet over it all, we are a part of the kingdom of Jesus Christ, and we have victory in Jesus Christ. And so we always, as the New Testament church, as believers, have reason to sing a new song. We'll learn more about this occasion, to sing a new song as we get into The meat of the sermon, the theme is simply that. Sing a new song, the first words of Psalter 98b, the old 261. Sing a new song to Jehovah. First we'll consider the occasion of it, then the character of this song, and then the performance of it. The call to sing a new song to Jehovah is loud and clear and you might even have Haydn's hymn tune in your head. Sing a new song to Jehovah for the wonders he has wrought. And that song might also already be ringing in your ears because we know it well. We've sung it hundreds if not thousands of times since we were little children. But we want to understand what is this new song and what is the occasion for it in Psalm 98? Very briefly, the organization of the psalm is simple. The first three verses focus on that occasion. The second three verses, verses four through six, add exhortations relating to the manner of praise. And then the final three, verses of Psalm 98 are further exhortations to more than just the people, to the sea and to the world. And it ends on a note of hope for the coming king who will judge all people. So we're going to go focus mainly on the first three verses now, but we'll learn a little bit about the occasion from all of the psalm. And this new song in Psalm 98, is a song of praise to our victorious God and King, who has won the victory, and in winning the victory, has won salvation for his people. Salvation and the victory of the King are inseparable one from another, and they're inseparable here in this psalm. Verse one begins with extolling God's marvelous works, And proclaiming that His right hand and His holy arm hath gotten Him the victory, the victory. But then immediately from victory we have verse 2. The Lord hath made known His salvation. There is salvation through the victory of the King. Now, big picture, when we think about this spiritually, the kingdom of Jesus Christ, we have him and his kingdom, and he establishes a kingdom of righteousness by fulfilling righteousness on the cross. He brings us into his kingdom, and his kingdom is not of this world. He brings us from our bondage to our enemies. He brings us in by delivering us from our own sin and folly, and through the work of the gospel and the advancement of the gospel, then he gathers souls together in the communion of the saints, which is his kingdom. And we understand salvation as a victory, even from the very beginning of the Bible to the end of the Bible. The end of the Bible, we understand, is when the king comes again. That's right here in verse 9. He cometh again to judge the earth. And he's going to perfect this victory. But we go back to the beginning of the Bible, to Genesis chapter 3, and the mother promise. And the mother promise, the promise of salvation that grows out of that little seed is a promise of victory through the bruising of the head of the serpent by the seed of the woman. You can find then throughout the Bible from the beginning to the end that God often has given his people victory or salvation through mighty victories, the victories of Joshua, and his conquest of Canaan, the victories of mighty Samson over the Philistines, the victories of David over Goliath. And in King David especially, we have the establishment of a kingdom that's exalted over against the enemies more than ever before. It's in David's kingdom that the kingdom was exalted, and it's in David's kingdom that Psalm 98 was very likely composed. So in this celebration, this musical celebration of salvation and victory, we have a celebration that we're no longer in the enemy's hands. And we also have the positive side, he's delivered us from the enemy unto himself. And that comes out in the Psalm 2. In a couple of places, verse six, And verse nine, they're a reference to the new song being sung before the Lord. Before the Lord, that is before his face. Before his face, in his presence, in his communion, in his house. Salvation, the salvation we're celebrating, brings us from out to in. From alienated to reconciled. And so it's in the presence of our gracious God that we sing the new psalm. The psalm emphasizes that this victory that has been accomplished is a divine work. That is really the emphasis, and all I have to do is read through with you the first verse. Oh, sing unto the Lord a new song. We sing to him, for he hath done marvelous things. His right hand and his holy arm hath gotten him the victory. And then in verse 2, the Lord hath made known his salvation, his righteousness. Even going further, his mercy, his truth. It is the salvation of our God. Salvation is God's work. Salvation is not your work, and it's not my work. And it would be impossible for us to even conceive of a salvation that we work for ourselves because we are dead in trespasses and sins. But even to emphasize that salvation is God's work. He does it in marvelous ways. He hath done marvelous things. Marvels are miracles. They are wonders. They are things that are beyond our capacity as mere men and women to even imagine, much less to perform. The work of miracles is a work that belongs alone to God. God has made that known in the miracle of redemption, bringing his people out of the bondage of Egypt, through the Red Sea, leading them on dry ground while the waters were held up on either side of them, and then bringing those same waters to destroy their enemies. Who could do such a marvel but God? God led his people through the wilderness, a dry, barren, fruitless land, and they needed food. How can we find food or water? And God not only provided for them, but he provides for them in a way that no one could claim that they found their own way through the wilderness. He brings manna from heaven, and he calls out water from the rock. He turns the bitter waters of Marah into sweetness. He performs wonders so that all throughout our sojourn, we know that our salvation is always of God. He brings them into the promised land, and again they walk on dry ground through the Jordan River. And then they face a mighty city filled with enemies who hate them and are hostile towards them. And he gives them instructions for the army and for the nation to carry out, to walk silently once a day for six days around the walled city of Jericho. And then on the seventh day, they would do it seven times and then utter a great shout. And through the silent marching of the army, God brings down the walls to ruin and gives them the victory. They come up against a giant who's taunting them and mocking their God. And in order to show that salvation is of the Lord, he does not have the army and a great, mighty champion bring down Goliath. He sends a boy with a sling and five smooth stones who is given the victory through those weak means. He gathers a church throughout the whole history of the earth, and he doesn't do so by power, and he doesn't do so by might, and he doesn't do so by human strategy. He uses the foolishness of preaching to accomplish his will and to establish his kingdom. And when he does these wonders, he does them by his right hand and his holy arm. In this right hand, in this holy arm of God, hath gotten God the victory. Even the way that is phrased is profound because we have God's right hand, God's holy arm, giving God the victory. So there's something, someone who is distinguished from God, the arm, gives God the victory. But it's also one with God, it's God's arm. You can understand this as an early revelation of the plurality of persons in the Trinity. We have the, this is one of the ways that the Bible speaks of Jesus Christ, of the mediator, God's own son. He is the right hand of God, one who accomplishes God's good pleasure. He is the holy arm of God, who consecrates his people to himself. Salvation is the work of Jesus Christ. And as he accomplishes that work of great power and that work of holiness, he also is remembering his mercy and his truth. Mercy. is the work of God and the will of God to bless those who are miserable, those who are captive, those who are afflicted, those who are burdened, and he lifts them up and blesses them. Truth, especially here, is his faithfulness. He's promised salvation, and then through his mighty hand and his holy arm, he fulfills what he has promised. He remembered what he promised to Israel. And all of these saving wonders, these mighty acts, this blessed mercy and truth, this is all published, made known, openly showed even in the sight of the heathen. The reference to the heathen is significant too because it can really refer to multiple things. On the one hand, we have the fact that many of these wonders are done openly in the sight of the heathen and against the heathen, such as the wonder against Pharaoh and his host. He showed them they won't be denying when they come before his judgment seat that God is the true God. Or we have the destruction of many of the other enemies, but it also can include the publishing of these works and the beholding of these works by other witnesses. Think of Rahab. Rahab was among those of the Canaanites who heard of the wonders God was doing for his people Israel, who feared at those wonders, and she was among those who believed in the God who performed those wonders. So he has openly showed his salvation in the sight of the heathen, sometimes for their destruction, but sometimes for their salvation. And this goes out and it's published to the ends of the earth. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God and this is fulfilled later on in Pentecost when we have people from all around the world who are coming and they're hearing the apostles and the disciples declare openly the wonderful works of God in the early chapters of Acts. The importance of these ends of the earth, hearing of the salvation of our God, and not only for judgment, but according to God's good pleasure, sometimes for their salvation, is that we're among those who are at the ends of the earth. We're not among the original audience of this psalm. We're not the Jews who were gathered in David's kingdom, who in a special way were alone God's covenant people at that time. But we're numbered among the Gentiles who are engrafted into this body, who are welcomed into this kingdom as strangers, and then given all the benefits of citizens and children. So the joyful noise comes out of all lands. When this psalm was composed, it was composed likely for a particular occasion. And when God inspired it, when the Spirit moved David, the likely human instrument, To pen this psalm, it was penned in such a way that it could be applied to many different victories that the kingdom of God enjoys throughout all ages. And so we have enjoyed singing Psalm 98 for generations as well. But the ultimate fulfillment of Psalm 98 is not in David, but it is in Jesus Christ. He is the one who hath gotten the victory. He is the Lord, the King. He is the one who comes to judge the earth. And with righteousness, he shall judge the world and the people with equity. The fact that it was composed in David's day, but David still looked forward to the coming of the Lord, shows that even David understood that the victory they celebrated then was not the fullness of it, but just a type and a shadow of it. We, more than David and more than all the Old Testament saints, have an occasion to sing a new psalm. Let's consider then the character of this psalm in the second point. Song in Psalm 98 has several distinctive features, and I start with the most basic of them, that it is a song. We're called to sing a song. Songs are musical expressions of thought, of truth, and the uniqueness of music, which God has given as a gift to the children of men, is that songs can capture truth and convey truth in such a way that Emotions, intangible emotions are conveyed, expressed, but also received and heard and echoed. Music gives expression to the heart as well or better than any other means of communication. Music is the expression of our heart. We have a good understanding in our community as of the mechanics of music. Our children even understand the mechanics of music and it brings smiles to our faces when we hear them singing with dynamics. When we hear their teachers, even the little kindergartners, they're building, they start quiet and then they get louder and then they get louder and they have a powerful finish. We are our children as they grow, they learn to appreciate and to enjoy the beauty of singing in unison and then the beauty of singing in harmony. We understand what effect it can have when we sing slowly and then what effect we it can have when we sing quickly and enthusiastically. And all of this is a gift that God has given us to we We should be careful not to abuse it and not to idolize the mechanics of music so that we lose the heart that is necessary for the singing of the new song. Singing a song. This song is new. And as I mentioned in the introduction, the new song is the believer's heartfelt celebration of the work God has done. for the salvation of our soul, or in the case of Psalm 98, it's the song of the church, and the church's heartfelt celebration together, collectively, of the work God has done for us. This new song arises from a victorious kingdom. It's a song that they couldn't and they wouldn't have sung before, while they were almost overcome Then in the battle, they might have sung songs of hope. They surely sang songs of faith. They may have whispered songs of prayer. But now, having observed the marvels that God completed, they sing a song of victory. The new song and its reality arises not just out of one kingdom surrounded by four walls in Jerusalem, but this new song arises out of a spiritual kingdom. This spiritual kingdom is composed of men and women and children from every nation, tribe and tongue. Every one of them had cast themselves in Adam into bondage and into darkness and into depravity. Every one of them was lost. Every one of them was blind and lame. Every one of them was deformed. Every one of them was worthy of damnation. And yet God in his infinite mercy remembered them and remembered us. and he gathered them into one spiritual kingdom. Though it's invisible to us, the oneness of it, we manifest it in small ways, and we manifest it in a small way here tonight. We are one congregation, and we all share in the very same salvation. Reconciled. Forgiven. Free. Renewed. We were dead. We were blind. Now we live. Now we see. New, it's time then for a new song. I don't feel like singing. It doesn't feel right. I'm not interested in it. If those are the thoughts that come to our mind when we're called to sing, then we've forgotten the victory made known in the gospel. And we may, we ought to pray for one another that we never lose sight of the occasion that's before us, the occasion that's before us right now. And as a congregation, we compassionately and gently may go in and out one among another We're ready to hear the sad songs, and we're ready to sing the songs of grief. But we shouldn't be afraid to say there's another song we can sing tonight. There's a joyful noise that we can make together. And by faith, we can go through those difficulties and that adversity that we're facing, and we can still sing with joy before the Lord. before his face. This new song has the character of being a joyful noise and a loud noise. It's no surprise that a song of victory and salvation is a joyful noise. The joyful noise springs forth from the heart of the one who's justified. He was guilty and his conscience before God, now justified by faith in Jesus Christ. Now there is the bursting forth of a joyful noise. This song comes from the heart, the church that's sanctified. We were corrupt, we were defiled, and now we are cleansed in the blood of Jesus Christ and pure in his name and being purified all the day long until he comes again and finds us blameless. And so we burst forth in pureness of heart with a joyful noise. It's the sound of the liberated who are freed from their bonds. It's the sound of children, children who were forsaken, who gave themselves over in their sinfulness to a life of wandering. But now our gracious Heavenly Father has, for Jesus' sake, adopted us. And what is the song that an adopted child sings when he has a home and he has a father who loves him? and cares for him and provided for him. It's a joyful noise. We're commanded to be joyful to make a joyful noise. That's the exhortation. Maybe, as I thought about this, this might bring back some sour memories from junior high choir classes when we have a performance and our choir teacher is forcing the ends of our mouth up because we're supposed to act like we enjoy singing these songs, but in the immaturity of youth, we often struggle with that. We try to coerce the joy out of a heart that doesn't feel the reason to be joyful. There's a reason for us as parents and teachers to follow the pattern of the word to say, make a joyful noise, be joyful as you sing this new song and to exhort one another. And God may use that exhortation to confer the grace to sing with a new voice and sing the new song appropriately. We should also be mindful that external forces cannot make the joyful noise. No matter all that you know or all that the musicians and the singers of this world know about their dynamics and have perfected their pitch and who sing all of these beautiful melodies The joyful noise is really a spiritual matter. It comes from a heart that truly enjoys and experiences the benefits we have in Jesus Christ. This joyful noise has volume. It's a loud noise in verse four. Make a loud noise. The loudness of the noise is added to with the mention of the trumpets and the sounds of the cornets. Those are blasting instruments. Those are the kinds of instruments that are heard for miles upon miles, especially when sounded from the mountains of Jerusalem. And so here we have the call to burst forth with a powerful noise, a loud noise that may be heard afar off. Like in Nehemiah chapter 12, when the walls of Jerusalem were dedicated, they offered sacrifices and said that God had made them to rejoice with great joy. The wives also and the children rejoiced so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off. So this noise, the volume here, we can understand that because we've experienced that. We've been in those situations where we're moved to sing the new song and to add our voices to the loudness of the noise. We've seen and heard songs sung with feeling, songs sung out of a real experience. And we understand that sometimes that volume communicates something even more effectively than the quiet song. But we should not imagine this to be a problem about a level of decibels. But we should understand this to be a matter of a heart erupting because of the wonders of God's mercy and grace. The loud noises of God's people are sometimes mixed with the noises of weeping. Think back to the history of Ezra. When the foundation of the temple was laid, the neighbors of Judah could not discern the noise of the shouting from the noise of the weeping. But in the perfection of the victory, and in the perfection of the kingdom, there will be no weeping, and a clear note of loud joy will burst forth from one holy Catholic church in perfect unison to the praise of our God. That's the last characteristic of this new song in Psalm 98. It's that it is praise. It is directed to the adoration and the exaltation of God's name. So this new song is not meaningless and certainly not directionless noise. It is a celebration of His virtues. It is a reciting of His praises. It is the response to His mercy and His truth. It's the declaration that this work, He has done it and He deserves the glory. Thine is the kingdom and thine is the power and thine is the glory forever. God's works of salvation always have this as their purpose or as their end. It's certainly not that we, the church, the beneficiaries of his work should remain silent. It's certainly not so that we, the beneficiaries of this wonderful salvation, shall just start mumbling through the praises of Jehovah. It's certainly not so that we might, because of some insecurity on our part, that we should hold back to think, I am embarrassed about lifting my voice to praise and withholding God, therefore, the praise that He is due. Sing a new song. Sing the new song to the Lord. Finally, we turn to the performance of this song. And when we understand, we understand now the occasion. We understand the kind of song that is being required of us. And now we want to see or to just consider the performance of the song according to the exhortations of this word. And there are all kinds of exhortations here. There are at least five exhortations in Psalm 98 that are directed to the people. Exhortations to sing. to make a noise, to sing praise, five times toward the people. And then three more in the later verses are dedicated to the creation. The creation is exhorted three times to join this singing throng. The point of this repetition is made clear by the psalm itself. Repetition means emphasis. And sometimes we need it emphasized because of weakness. And we didn't hear it the first time. That's why we sometimes have to repeat exhortations and commands to our children. This is the third time I've told you, my daughter or my son. And we have to repeat things so that they understand and so that it registers and so that they respond. That's not the idea here. There's no sense in any of the psalm that there's a need for rebuke or that after the first time that Israel was exhorted to sing a new song that they have that they've in any way resisted the singing of that song. And for what it's worth, that's the understanding that I have of you as a congregation in the exhortations of this psalm that are brought in this sermon. I assume that our hearts are ready and ready to burst forth and sing this song, yet the exhortations keep coming and keep coming over and over again. We're not missing it the first time. We're ready to sing the praises of this victory. And so what is happening in this psalm is that there is an escalation. There is an adding of emphasis so that the burden of praise is just growing and growing and growing until finally we have the full understanding of the greatness of the praise that God is due. That's why David When he is inspired to write this psalm, he begins with the simple exhorting. people to sing. But then he adds to it, let the song be joyful and let the song be loud. And he brings in the accompaniment with the harp and the voice of a psalm, with the trumpets and the sound of the cornet and the praise is building and the symphony is being organized. And then we have to all the people and to all of the musicians, we have the sea. and we have the hills, the mountains, and we have the world of forest and field, that's the reference there, and all the creatures that dwell in all of creation, they're all exhorted to join the chorus. It's as though the praise God is due is so great that the psalmist finds every way that he can to make an impression upon the people on that point. It's so great because his victory is so good and so it has to be a joyful noise and it has to be a loud noise and we need the help of this accompaniment to make the sound to go even further and to be even more joyful. It's so great that even if all are joined together in this throng in the kingdom, it's still not enough. We need to call upon the sea and all the creatures in the sea. We need to call upon the world and all the creatures in the world. We need to call upon the floods, that's the rivers, and let the rivers be joyful. And we need to call upon the hills, that is the mountains, so that they too can cry out and sing the praise of our God, the God of our salvation, even the salvation and the redemption of the whole creation. And joining the house of Israel, too, are all the ends of the earth. What a choir. God's praise is worthy. God is worthy of such praise. He's worthy of a majestic performance of the new song. This is poetry in Psalm 98. So when it speaks of the roaring of the sea and the world and the floods clapping their hands and the hills being joyful together before the Lord, it would be a mistake to interpret that literally. but let your imagination run according to the design of those exhortations and just imagine the expanses of the Pacific and the Atlantic and all the oceans around the world and then imagine all of the creatures in the sea and the roar of that sea. And you get a little bit of a taste of it when you have an opportunity to be by the coast of the ocean and you hear those waves crashing one after another, crashing, and you hear the roar of the surf. And you get a little bit of a taste of it if you see the swelling tides and those coming together and the waves crashing together like symbols in the ocean, and you get a little bit of a taste of it when you see the great beasts of the sea rising up out of it and smashing down into the water, and you get a little bit of a sight of it when you see the beautiful schools of fish whirling together and moving in perfect unison as they're singing their praises. And you get a little bit of a sight of it when you get to see the beautiful colors. And when you, in science class, you look into all the beautiful harmonies of this creation that God made, and the millions and the billions of creatures that are in that sea. In the fullness of them, they're exhorted by this word. Join us in singing the new song of praise. And you go to the forest and the field, the world that's referenced here, and we have it. You can see it right out of the windows even. You have this beautiful display of color, and what are those colors doing but singing the praises of the God who made them and of the Savior who redeemed them. And you can go and you can look at all, you can consider any one of the beasts, any one of the creeping things, and you may marvel at how they too will join in singing this new song. And you can use your imagination and think about the rivers, and how they flow, and how they babble, and how they sparkle, and how they fall, and how they join together, clapping their hands, making a joyful noise. And you should talk with your children about the mountains. And about how they just stand immovable, but they're rejoicing together, those mountains before the Lord. And what would the sound be if those mountains opened up their mouths and sang a joyful song and made a loud noise before the Lord? We would hear that earthquake in anticipation of the fullness of our salvation. What a beautiful song. What a majestic performance. What an awe-inspiring thought, is it not? But we have the privileged position in this performance. We're the ones who have tasted and seen of His goodness. We're the ones who are conscious that he's taken us into his kingdom, not just as a servant, not just as one who has happily wandered into some pleasant circumstances, but that he's brought us in as his children. And we're the ones who give voice to those truths, the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ, of the Son of God in human flesh, crucified and slain as the sin bearer, the one who set us free, the one who's making us new. We have the privilege of taking heed to these exhortations and obeying them in the singing of a new song. Amen. Our Father who art in heaven, we thank thee for giving us a knowledge and giving us the experience of salvation. through the wonders that thou hast brought, and we pray that thou will be pleased with the song that we sing together now, and the song that goes forth from our hearts for the remainder of this week and all the days of our life. In Christ's name we pray, amen.