The Eastern Cross/Bible/Psalms/Psalm 97
The Book of Psalms · the Psalter
Psalm 98 in the KJV and most English Bibles
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A Psalm of David. Sing to the Lord a new song; For the Lord has wrought wonderful works, His right hand, and his holy arm, Have wrought salvation for him.
Ψαλμὸς τῷ Δαυίδ. Ἄσατε τῷ Κυρίῳ ᾆσμα καινὸν, ὅτι θαυμαστὰ ἐποίησεν ὁ Κύριος· ἔσωσεν αὐτῷ ἡ δεξιὰ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ὁ βραχίων ὁ ἅγιος αὐτοῦ.
"O sing unto the Lord a new song". The new man knows this, the old man knows it not. The old man is the old life, and the new man the new life: the old life is derived from Adam, the new life is formed in Christ. But in this Psalm, the whole world is enjoined to sing a new song. More openly elsewhere the words are…
The Lord has made known his salvation, He has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.
Ἐγνώρισε Κύριος τὸ σωτήριον αὐτοῦ, ἐναντίον τῶν ἐθνῶν ἀπεκάλυψε τὴν δικαιοσύνην αὐτοῦ.
"The Lord has made known His salvation". This very right hand, this very arm, this very salvation, is our Lord Jesus Christ of whom it is said, "And all flesh shall see the salvation of God;" [Luke 3:6] of whom also that Simeon who embraced the Infant in his arms, spoke, "Lord, now let Your servant depart in peace;…
He has remembered his mercy to Jacob, And his truth to the house of Israel; All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Ἐμνήσθη τοῦ ἐλέους αὐτοῦ τῷ Ἰακὼβ, καὶ τῆς ἀληθείας αὐτοῦ τῷ οἴκῳ Ἰσραήλ· εἴδοσαν πάντα τὰ πέρατα τῆς γῆς τὸ σωτήριον τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν.
"He hath remembered His mercy to Jacob, and His truth unto the house of Israel". What meaneth this, "He hath remembered His mercy and truth"? He hath pitied, so that He promised; because He promised and showed His mercy, truth hath followed: mercy hath gone before promise, promise hath been fulfilled in truth.... "And…
Shout to God, all the earth; Sing, and exult, and sing psalms.
Ἀλαλάξατε τῷ Θεῷ πᾶσα ἡ γῆ, ᾄσατε καὶ ἀγαλλιᾶσθε καὶ ψάλατε.
Because they have seen, then, "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands". Ye already know what it is to make a joyful noise. Rejoice, and speak. If ye cannot express your joy, shout ye; let the shout manifest your joy, if your speech cannot: yet let not joy be mute; let not your heart be silent respecting its…
Sing to the Lord with a harp, With a harp, and the voice of a psalm.
Ψάλατε τῷ Κυρίῳ ἐν κιθάρᾳ, ἐν κιθάρᾳ καὶ φωνῇ ψαλμοῦ.
"Make melody unto the Lord upon the harp: on the harp and with the voice of a Psalm". Praise Him not with the voice only; take up works, that ye may not only sing, but work also. He who singeth and worketh, maketh melody with psaltery and upon the harp. Now see what sort of instruments are next spoken of, in figure:…
With trumpets of metal, and the sound of a trumpet of horn Make a joyful noise to the Lord before the king.
Ἐν σάλπιγξιν ἐλαταῖς, καὶ φωνῇ σάλπιγγος κερατίνης· ἀλαλάξατε ἐνώπιον τοῦ βασιλέως Κυρίῳ.
Let the sea be moved, and the fullness of it; The world, and they that dwell in it.
Σαλευθήτω ἡ θάλασσα καὶ τὸ πλήρωμα αὐτῆς, ἡ οἰκουμένη καὶ οἱ κατοικοῦντες αὐτήν.
While ye are rejoicing, and delighted with the ductile trumpets, and the voice of the horn, what followeth? "Let the sea be stirred up, and the fulness thereof" (ver. 7). Brethren, when the Apostles, like ductile trumpets and horns, were preaching the truth, the sea was stirred up, its waves arose, tempests increased,…
The rivers shall clap their hands together; The mountains shall exult.
Ποταμοὶ κροτήσουσι χειρὶ ἐπιτοαυτὸ, τὰ ὄρη ἀγαλλιάσονται.
For he is come to judge the earth; He shall judge the world in righteousness, And the nations in uprightness.
Ὅτι ἥκει κρῖναι τὴν γῆν· κρινεῖ τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ, καὶ λαοὺς ἐν εὐθύτητι.
"Before the Lord, for He has come; for He has come to judge the earth". "The hills" signify the great. The Lord comes to judge the earth, and they rejoice. But there are hills, who, when the Lord is coming to judge the earth, shall tremble. There are therefore good and evil hills; the good hills, are spiritual…
Every note is a real passage, quoted word for word from a published English translation, with its source. Nothing here is summarised or written by us. Some verses have many notes and some have none, because the Fathers wrote more on some passages than others.
All of these translations are in the public domain. The passages were matched to their verses by the Historical Christian Commentaries project, which also hosts the full texts we link to. The Fathers are a treasury of the Church's mind, and they are best read alongside the life of the Church: if a passage raises a question, bring it to your priest.