Advent Through the Lens of Four Christmas Songs

Second Sunday of Advent 2010 AD

Joy to the World

Part 2

Psalm 98

The text — Psalm 98.

Psalm 98 is one of the most joyous psalms in the Psalter – not with light merry-making joy, but with deep triumphant joy.  And it occupies a central place in the Psalter.  That is something we typically miss.  In order to see it, we must understand something about the structure and theme of the Psalter.

Psalm 98 — Its place in the Psalter.

We don’t know who arranged the Psalter in its final form — likely Ezra or perhaps Ezekiel.* But it is clear that its arrangement was carefully thought out so that the Psalter as a whole, and each of its Books, has a theme which sheds light on the meaning and application of each psalm.

The Psalter has a sevenfold structure consisting of five Books (3-41, 42-72, 73-89, 90-106, 107-150) bracketed by an Introduction (1-2) and a Conclusion (146-50).  Our Bibles place the introductory psalms (1-2) and the concluding psalms (146-50) in Books 1 and 5, respectively, but the evidence suggests they were originally distinct.

The Psalter begins with “Blessed is the man” (Psalm 1.1) and ends with “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!” (Psalm 150.6), which gives us the overarching theme of the Psalter — the conjunction of man’s blessing and God’s glory (which as the Westminster Shorter Catechism Q. 1 tells us, is the whole purpose of life).  The Intro psalms (1-2) were originally unnumbered and should be read together.  The Intro’s beginning, “Blessed is the man” (Psalm 1.1), is answered by its ending, “Blessed are all those who put their trust in [the Son]” (Psalm 2.12).  The point?  There is no blessing to man from God or glory to God from man apart from the Son.  The Son preeminently is the faithful “blessed man” of Psalm 1 who is exalted by God to His throne in Psalm 2. The Son’s exaltation is preceded by opposition and suffering (Psalm 2.1-3 (see Acts 4.24-28); Psalm 22.1-31 (the transition from suffering to exaltation occurs at vs 21-22)).  The exaltation of the Son entails the Son becoming both Priest and King forever (Psalm 110.1-4; Heb 1.1-3; 5.6-10; 10.12-13).  The rest of the Psalms give us the journey of the Son in detail, and by extension they give us the journey of the  people of God and of the individual disciple (Luke 9.23-24; 22.28-30; Rom 8.16-18; Eph 2.4-7; see also Dan 7.13-14, 21-22, 27). The journey has many hardships, but also pleasures, and it ends with “everything that has breath prais[ing] the LORD” (Psalm 150.6).

Once we understand the sevenfold structure and the overarching theme of the Psalter, we can gain a clearer understanding of the significance of Book Four and of Psalm 98.  We have seen that the story of the Son involves the Son being exalted as Priest and King.  Answering to these two offices, Books Three  and Four of the Psalter each contain seventeen psalms (73-89, 90-106), and they focus on the themes of priesthood and kingship, respectively. The theme of Book Four is Messiah’s Kingdom – the need for it, the coming of it, and the blessing it brings to Israel and the world.  Book Four’s 17 psalms are chiastically arranged with Psalm 98 at the center.*  On either end, Book Four deals with sin and judgment, and thus the need for the Son’s Kingdom (Psalm 90.1-17; 106.1-48).  As the Book moves toward the center, it deals with the affliction of the faithful and God’s sovereign care for them (e.g., Psalm 91.1-16; 105.1-45).  In the central part of the Book, we find the Son enthroned, the proclamation that “The LORD reigns!,” as well as rejoicing over the blessings that flow from His reign (Psalm 97.1-12; 99.1-9).  Finally, in the very center of the Book, we find Psalm 98 which calls upon all creation to “Sing to the LORD a new song!”  This is the only proper response, for the LORD “has done marvelous things; His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory!  He has made known His salvation; His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations.  He has remembered His love and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; And all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God!”  (Psalm 98.1-3.)

If we thought like godly Old Testament Hebrews, we would know, even before we sang it, that Psalm 98 is a big deal.  It is one of the most majestic peaks in the Psalter.  From its height, we can see that because the Son is King, truly all of life and all of history proceeds from “blessed is the man” to “let everything that has breath praise the LORD.”  (Psalm 1.1; 150.6.)

——————————-

* For the source of my information as well as for additional information on the structure and themes of the Psalter, and especially of Psalm 98 and the Fourth Book of the Psalter, see the work of James B. Jordan in his Biblical Horizons and Rite Reasons newsletters here and here, and in his article “The Fourth Book of the Psalter” in Christendom Essays, James B. Jordan, ed., Biblical Horizons 1997, which you can purchase through his Biblical Horizons Catalog at p. 6.