| Psalm 98 | |
| Subtitle: | "O sing unto the Lord a new song" |
| Image Upright: | 1.3 |
| Other Name: |
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| Language: | Hebrew (original) |
Psalm 98 is the 98th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "O sing unto the Lord a new song; for he hath done marvellous things". The Book of Psalms starts the third section of the Hebrew Bible, and, as such, is a book of the Christian Old Testament. In the slightly different numbering system in the Greek Septuagint version of the Bible, and in the Latin Vulgate, this psalm is Psalm 97. In Latin, it is known as "Cantate Domino".[1] The psalm is a hymn psalm, one of the Royal Psalms, praising God as the King of His people. Like Psalms 33 and 96, it calls for the singing of "a new song".[2]
The psalm forms a regular part of Jewish, Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and other Protestant liturgies. It has inspired hymns such as "Joy to the World" and "Nun singt ein neues Lied dem Herren", and has often been set to music, including by Claudio Monteverdi, Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Dieterich Buxtehude and Antonín Dvořák who set it in Czech in his Biblical Songs.
Psalm 98 describes God's redemption of Israel and the rejoicing that will ensue. It also features many expressions and instruments of music and song.[3] According to the Midrash Tanchuma, Psalm 98 is the tenth and final song that the Jewish people will sing after the final redemption. Grammatically, the reference to a shir chadash (Hebrew: שיר חדש, a new song) in verse 1 is a masculine construction, in contrast to the shira (Hebrew: שירה, song) mentioned throughout the Tanakh, a feminine construction. Thus, the Midrash teaches that the shir chadash is a song of the future.[4]
The following table shows the Hebrew text[5] [6] of the Psalm with vowels alongside an English translation based upon the JPS 1917 translation (now in the public domain).
| Verse | Hebrew | English translation (JPS 1917) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Psalm. O sing unto the LORD a new song; For He hath done marvellous things; His right hand, and His holy arm, hath wrought salvation for Him. | ||
| 2 | The LORD hath made known His salvation; His righteousness hath He revealed in the sight of the nations. | ||
| 3 | He hath remembered His mercy and His faithfulness toward the house of Israel; All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. | ||
| 4 | Shout unto the LORD, all the earth; Break forth and sing for joy, yea, sing praises. | ||
| 5 | Sing praises unto the LORD with the harp; With the harp and the voice of melody. | ||
| 6 | With trumpets and sound of the horn Shout ye before the King, the LORD. | ||
| 7 | Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof; The world, and they that dwell therein; | ||
| 8 | Let the floods clap their hands; Let the mountains sing for joy together; | ||
| 9 | Before the LORD, for He is come to judge the earth; He will judge the world with righteousness, And the peoples with equity. |
Psalm 98 is the fourth of six psalms recited during the Kabbalat Shabbat (Welcoming the Shabbat) service in Ashkenazic, Hasidic and some Sephardic communities..[7] It is one of the additional psalms recited during the morning prayer on Shabbat in the Sephardi tradition.[7] According to the Abudraham, this psalm corresponds to the seventh of the Ten Utterances of Creation, "Let the waters swarm" (Genesis 1:20), corresponding to verse 7 of this psalm, "Let the sea roar".[7]
Verse 6 is one of the ten verses recited during the Mussaf Amidah on Rosh Hashana in the verses of Shofarot.[8]
The psalm may be recited as a canticle in the Anglican liturgy of Evening Prayer according to the Book of Common Prayer as an alternative to the Magnificat, when it is referred to by its incipit as Cantate Domino. It is not included as a canticle in Common Worship, but it does of course appear in the psalter.
Verse 3 is quoted in Mary's song of praise, the Magnificat, in Luke KJV.[9]
Loys Bourgeois set the psalm in the Genevan Psalter, with a melody used later also for the German hymn "Nun singt ein neues Lied dem Herren" (1967) by Georg Thurmair, a paraphrase of the psalm.[10] "Joy to the World", one of the most popular English Christmas carols, is a lyrical adaptation of Psalm 98 written in 1719 by Isaac Watts and set by Lowell Mason to a tune attributed to George Frideric Handel. The 1941 hymn "Singt dem Herrn ein neues Lied" was also inspired by the psalm.
Heinrich Schütz set a German metred version of Psalm 98 in the Becker Psalter, published in 1628, Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied, SWV 196. Marc-Antoine Charpentier composed in 1679-80 one Cantate Domino, H.176, for three voices, two treble instruments, and continuo. Michel-Richard de Lalande composed one grand motet (S.72) in 1720, as also Étienne Moulinier, Dieterich Buxtehude, Nicolas Bernier, Charles-Hubert Gervais CHG.36, Henry Madin HM.12, Louis Grénon, Jean-Joseph de Mondonville and Claudio Monteverdi.
Georg Philipp Telemann's Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied, TWV 1:1345 is a setting of Psalm 98.[11]
Czech composer Antonín Dvořák set part of Psalm 98 (together with part of Psalm 96) to music as No. 10 of his Biblical Songs in 1894. John Rutter set the psalm as the first movement of his choral work The Falcon.[12] Settings were also written by David Conte[13] and by Arvo Pärt in Latin.[14]
Bernard Barrell composed Show Yourselves Joyful unto the Lord, an anthem for female chorus and organ, Op. 130 (1993).
Andrew Lloyd Webber set the psalm as a coronation anthem for the Coronation of Charles III in 2023.[15]