The Eastern Cross/Bible/Psalms/Psalm 98
The Book of Psalms · the Psalter
Psalm 99 in the KJV and most English Bibles
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A Psalm of David. The Lord reigns—let the people rage; It is he that sits upon the cherubs, let the earth be moved.
Ψαλμὸς τῷ Δαυίδ. Ὁ Κύριος ἐβασίλευσεν, ὀργιζέσθωσαν λαοί· ὁ καθήμενος ἐπὶ τῶν χερουβὶμ, σαλευθήτω ἡ γῆ.
"The Lord is King, be the people angry". For our Lord Jesus Christ began to reign, began to be preached, after He arose from the dead and ascended into heaven, after He had filled His disciples with the confidence of the Holy Spirit, that they should not fear death, which He had already killed in Himself. Our Lord…
The Lord is great in Zion, And is high over all the people.
Κύριος ἐν Σιὼν μέγας, καὶ ὑψηλός ἐστιν ἐπὶ πάντας τοὺς λαούς.
"The Lord is great in Sion, and high above all people" (ver. 2). ...He whom I spoke to thee of as above the Cherubims, is great in Sion. Ask thou now, what is Sion? We know Sion to be the city of God. The city of Jerusalem is called Sion; and is so called according to a certain interpretation, for that Sion signifieth…
Let them give thanks to thy great name; For it is terrible and holy.
Ἐξομολογησάσθωσαν τῷ ὀνόματί σου τῷ μεγάλῳ, ὅτι φοβερὸν καὶ ἅγιόν ἐστι,
All these very people, over whom Thou art great in Sion, "Let them confess unto Thy Name, which is great" (ver. 3). Thy Name was little when they were enraged: it hath become great; let them now confess. In what sense do we say, that the Name of Christ was little, before it was spread abroad to so great an extent?…
And the king’s honor loves judgment; Thou hast prepared equity, Thou hast wrought judgment and justice in Jacob.
καὶ τιμὴ βασιλέως κρίσιν ἀγαπᾷ· σὺ ἡτοίμασας εὐθύτητας, κρίσιν καὶ δικαιοσύνην ἐν Ἰακὼβ σὺ ἐποίησας.
Exalt ye the Lord our God, And worship at his footstool; For he is holy.
Ὑψοῦτε Κύριον τὸν Θεὸν ἡμῶν, καὶ προσκυνεῖτε τῷ ὑποποδίῳ τῶν ποδῶν αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ἅγιός ἐστι.
"O magnify the Lord our God". Magnify Him truly, magnify Him well. Let us praise Him, let us magnify Him who has wrought the very righteousness which we have; who wrought it in us, Himself. For who but He who justified us, wrought righteousness in us? For of Christ it is said, "who justifies the ungodly." [Romans 4:5]…
Moses and Aaron among his priests, And Samuel among them that call upon his name; They called upon the Lord, and he heard them.
Μωυσῆς καὶ Ἀαρὼν ἐν τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν αὐτοῦ, καὶ Σαμουὴλ ἐν τοῖς ἐπικαλουμένοις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ· ἐπεκαλοῦντο τὸν Κύριον, καὶ αὐτὸς εἰσήκουεν,
"Moses and Aaron among His priests, and Samuel among such as call upon His Name: these called upon the Lord, and He heard them" (ver. 6). "He spake unto them out of the cloudy pillar" (ver. 7). ...Of Moses it is not there stated that he was a priest. But if he was not this, what was he? Could he be anything greater…
He spoke to them in a pillar of cloud; They kept his testimonies, And the ordinances which he gave them.
ἐν στύλῳ νεφέλης ἐλάλει πρὸς αὐτούς· ἐφύλασσον τὰ μαρτύρια αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὰ προστάγματα ἃ ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς.
O Lord our God, thou heardest them; O God, thou becamest propitious to them, Though thou didst take vengeance on all their devices.
Κύριε ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, σὺ ἐπήκουες αὐτῶν· ὁ Θεὸς, εὐίλατος ἐγίνου αὐτοῖς, καὶ ἐκδικῶν ἐπὶ πάντα τὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα αὐτῶν.
"You heard them," he says, "O Lord our God: You were forgiving to them, O God". God is not said to be forgiving toward anything but sins: when He pardons sins, then He forgives. And what had He in them to punish, so that He was forgiving in pardoning them? He was forgiving in pardoning their sins, He was also…
Exalt ye the Lord our God, And worship at his holy mountain; For the Lord our God is holy.
Ὑψοῦτε Κύριον τὸν Θεὸν ἡμῶν, καὶ προσκυνεῖτε εἰς ὄρος ἅγιον αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ἅγιος Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν.
"O magnify the Lord our God!" (ver. 9). Again we magnify Him. He who is merciful even when He striketh, how is He to be praised, how is He to be magnified? Canst thou show this unto thy son, and cannot God? For thou art not good when thou dost caress thy son, and evil when thou strikest him. Both when thou dost caress…
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.