Project 119: Heaven and Nature Sing | Psalm 98
| Project 119 | Dr. Wayne Splawn
Reading for Thursday, December 31: Psalm 98
Joy to the earth! the Savior reigns;
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
Repeat the sounding joy, repeat the sounding joy
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.
-"Joy to the World"
The word “judgment” normally has a negative connotation. None of us wants to be judged. Instead, we want grace and mercy. We are right to desire grace and mercy for ourselves and for others, but we must also acknowledge that sin and evil must be punished. Because of this, the coming day of God’s judgment on the world is often a reason to rejoice in the Bible.
This is certainly the case in Psalm 98. The worship described in this psalm is joyful, ecstatic, and all-encompassing. Even the rivers are said to clap their hands and the hills sing for joy at the coming of the Lord, our righteous judge. Just as Paul described all of creation as groaning under the weight and consequence of sin in Romans 8:18-25, so the psalmist describes a day when all of creation will rejoice when the Lord returns to make all things right.
You and I know that it will be the Lord Jesus Himself who will come on that fateful day, and when He comes, all the evil we have known in this world will be rightly judged and vanquished from the new heavens and the new earth. Those of us who have been clothed in the righteousness of Christ will join with all of creation in praising the Lord for the great work of salvation He has accomplished through Jesus—for the ways He has made known His salvation, revealed His righteousness, and remembered His steadfast love and faithfulness to His children (Psalm 98:2-3). Even today, the Lord Jesus reigns, and one day when He returns, the fullness of His reign will be realized on earth and we will join with all of creation in offering praise to our Lord.