Psalm 98

1 O 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.

2 The Lord hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen.

3 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.

4 Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.

5 Sing unto the Lord with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm.

6 With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the Lord, the King.

7 Let the sea roar, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

8 Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together

9 Before the Lord; for he comes to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity. (KJV)

As I look at verse two the word salvation jumps out at me. What does salvation mean to you? When you look up the word in the dictionary it means “preservation or deliverance from destruction, difficulty, or evil: a source, means, or cause of such preservation or deliverance”. What does salvation mean to me? As I grow and mature in this journey, I have taken on this earth I have realized that salvation is a wonderful gift that God has given man. His salvation has given me a new purpose in my walk. I now can have daily fellowship with the Lord of the universe knowing that the guilt of my past has been covered by the blood of Christ. This newness of life that Paul outlines for us in Ephesians two and concludes by stating “so then ye are no more strangers and sojourners, but ye are fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God” is the daily walk that Christians can have with Christ. His salvation also gives me hope for the future. Death will come to all of us unless Christ comes before that time. However, his salvation also promises us a new body as Paul outlines in I Corinthians chapter fifteen. The last enemy that Christ will abolish will be death. Paul concludes this chapter with these words “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting? The sting of death is sin; and the power of sin is the law: but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, inasmuch as ye know that your labor is not vain in the Lord”. So, let us sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things and has given us a salvation which we can enjoy now as we make our journey on this earth and a salvation that will make us a son of God at the time of Christ’s return.

As I read verse two “The LORD has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations.” I wondered if salvation had the same meaning to the Jewish reader at the time it was written as it does to believers today. We can look at Job 14:14 “If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change comes.” We also know that the Egyptians and well as the other cultures at this time looked to an afterlife and many made arrangements for the travel from this world to the next. So yes, I do believe that they had a similar view of salvation as being rebirth.