God’s Righteousness for Deliverance and Salvation

Psalms 98:1-9
A Psalm.

1 Oh, sing to the LORD a new song!
For He has done marvelous things;
His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory.

2 The LORD has made known His salvation;
His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations.
3 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.

4 Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth;
Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.
5 Sing to the LORD with the harp,
With the harp and the sound of a psalm,
6 With trumpets and the sound of a horn;
Shout joyfully before the LORD, the King.

7 Let the sea roar, and all its fullness,
The world and those who dwell in it;
8 Let the rivers clap their hands;
Let the hills be joyful together
9 before the LORD,

For He is coming to judge the earth.
With righteousness He shall judge the world,
And the peoples with equity.

God’s righteousness for Israel’s deliverance was a foreshadowing of His righteousness in Christ for our eternal salvation.  The deliverance from Israel as God’s chosen people was based on adherence to keeping the Law (Romans 10:5), but in Christ salvation of His chosen added to those of Israel is by faith in His work and His righteousness (Romans 10:6-7, 9-10, 13, 17).  Like the psalmist, we also sing a new song for God’s marvelous work (1 Peter 2:9) as hidden in a way here, demonstrating God’s right hand and holy arm giving the victory, not our failed efforts to keep every point of the Law for justifying salvation (Romans 3:23, James 2:10).  He earned our salvation and Israel’s, for as many as come through Christ Jesus in His work of righteousness that alone saves us from the wrath to come (1 Thessalonians 1:10, Acts 4:12).  He made this salvation known from the beginning as written in Genesis, as fulfilled in Christ, as revealed in the New Testament books, and as will be fully consummated in the New Jerusalem seen in Revelation.  Once hidden, it is now revealed by God’s Spirit to open blinded eyes and deafened ears.  This regeneration is needed to understand all that went before the cross and what follows after (Luke 24:16, 27, 31).  He revealed His salvation and righteousness to the whole world along the way as it is written in this Psalm.  God’s mercy and faithfulness is according to promise, the promise to Adam and Eve and to Abraham for all from every nation by faith whom He calls, the promise of grace through faith.  The ends of the earth have seen the salvation of God, and now we go to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8) to explain that work of God’s righteousness in Christ which nobody is able to earn for themselves.  This is the good news from the beginning.  The world should therefore do as written here, shouting with joy and praise, singing of the victory and hope.  The entire creation groans along with us until the consummation of all things (Romans 8:22).  He is coming to judge us all with righteousness and justice, and the only fair and just deliverance is of saving grace based on His work to satisfy justice by taking on the sin of the world in our place (Hebrews 9:26-28, Romans 6:10, 1 Peter 3:18).  This is the fair judgment coming to the world in His righteousness counted to His people for eternal salvation.  He is therefore worthy of our thanksgiving and praise!