I'm not sure how Psalm 98 got chose for this week. It is actually the alternate psalm for this Sunday in the lectionary. I don't think I have ever preached this text, so it was nice to work on a new text (for me). I might have had too many ideas in the sermon and did not focus enough on any particular point. I ended up with lots of different vantage points on the text. Certainly, hearing Eric Wall last week speak about the biblical imperative to sing impacted the sermon.
“The Lord Remembered”; November 16, 2025; St. Andrew Presbyterian Church; Psalm 98; Isaiah 65
O sing to the Lord a new song,
for he has done marvelous things.
His right hand and his holy arm
have gotten him victory.
2
The Lord has made known his victory;
he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations.
3
He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the victory of our God.
4
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;
break forth into joyous song and sing praises.
5
Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
with the lyre and the sound of melody.
6
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord.
7
Let the sea roar and all that fills it,
the world and those who live in it.
8
Let the floods clap their hands;
let the hills sing together for joy
9
at the presence of the Lord, for he is coming
to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness
and the peoples with equity.
Introduction: Psalm 98 serves as a great follow-up to last week’s musical focus with Eric Wall.
as you may remember, he mentioned the biblical imperative for all of us to sing,
indeed, for all of creation to sing.
this morning In psalm 98 we hear that imperative, that command for all of us and for all of creation to sing God’s praises.
Psalm 98 also serves as a wonderful preview of the Christmas season.
although we only gather in worship together in the sanctuary in Christmas morning if it is a Sunday, the lectionary includes Psalm 98 in all three years of the lectionary cycle;
we might also notice that Psalm 98 is the Old Testament text Isaac Watts used as the basis for his beloved carol, “Joy to the World.”
So Why sing songs of praise?
Move 1: We sing songs of praise because God did not forget, but instead God remembered.
a. At the heart of this psalm is this point - God remembered.
1. Do you remember how the exodus story started generations before?
Joseph has saved the Israelites from starvation by bringing them to Egypt during a severe drought.
they were saved and had a good life, until a generation later when a new pharaoh came to owner who did not remember Joseph, so he saw the Israelites in Egypt as a threat and made life hard on them
when the Israelites cried out, unlike pharaoh who did not remember, God did remember the covenant God made with God’s people
and this began the exodus movement that took the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, through the wilderness, and into the Promised land.
God remembered.
2. Caitlin - the first church I served was in a very small town in Ky. The sort of place where it seemed like everyone knew each other and each others’ business.
The Presbyterian church was separated by one house from the Catholic. We did lots of ministry together, and it was where my oldest daughter went to pre-school.
it was my job on the days my wife worked to pick her up from pre-school at noon. I just walked down and got her most of the time.
one day, I forgot I was supposed to pick her up. I do not mean like time slipped by and I was running late.
but completely did not remember to pick her up.forgot to go pick her up.
In fact, i was down the street at the public library looking for books instead of picking up my daughter.
Now this was before cell phones, and like I said, it was a small town.
so, as I was checking out my books, the librarian says to me, “Richard Are you supposed to pick up your daughter Caitlin from pre-school today?”
Apparently, one of the preschool teachers knew I went to the library a lot, so she after calling the church and my house and not finding me either of those place, she called the the library to see if I happened to be there.
I was. But not for long.
I arrived at the pre-school about 1/2 hr late. Just two teachers and my daughter, who was just playing away having the best time
After apologizing for being so late, I asked if Caitlin was ok. I assumed she had been traumatized that I had not remembered to pick her up.
the teacher laughed and said, “Caitlin was just fine. She kept saying, ‘My papa loves me. he won’t forget me.”
I loved her, but I forgot her.
god loves us and does not forget us.
b. God remembers us with steadfast faithfulness
1. The Hebrew word used there for steadfast faithfulness is hesed.
2. Hesed speaks to the kind of love that is extended to another person that is unmerited.
king Saul’s son Jonathon and
David share hesed which leads to Jonathon saving David from king Saul’s wrath when Jonathon has the power to do so
and it leads to king David taking in Jonathon’s son after Jonathon’s death and treating him like his own son.
3. Hesed - unmerited and faithful love,
4.. That’s the word that comes up in the New Testament as grace, or in Greek, agape.
5. God remembers God”s people with hesed - steadfast faithfulness and Love. (https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/christmas-day-nativity-of-our-lord-iii/commentary-on-psalm-98; James Limburg)
We sing God’s praises because God rememebers.
Move 2: we also sing God’s praises because God comes to judge with righteousness
a. God coming in judgment might sound scary.
1. We know our world and our lives may not do well if we are to be judged by God.
2. But we find hope in the God who judges with righteousness and equity.
As Old Testament scholar Robert Davidson: Judgment here “does not mean merely condemning the world for its evil and corruption. It means saying ‘No’ to all that threatens to destroy the world of God’s creating, but saying ‘Yes’ to all that will lead it to finding its true purpose and peace. It means putting the world right again.” (https://cepreaching.org/commentary/2018-04-30/psalm-98-2/; Stan Mast) Robert Davidson (30 March 1927 – 22 September 2012) was professor of Old Testament at the University of Glasgow (Trinity College) and was Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1990.[1][2]
b. the point of God’s judgment is to set things right.
1. Image from the prophet Isaiah
For I am about to create new heavens
and a new earth;
2. Think about the image Isaiah offers to Israelites and to us.
They shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
They shall not build and another inhabit; in other words, God’s people who have been uprooted and exiled will no longer be uprooted.
they shall not plant and another eat, - in other words, their lands shall not be taken over by another
wolf and the lamb shall feed together;
the lion shall eat straw like ox - an image of the world that is hard to imagine
if wolf and the lamb can feed together, then Ukrainians and Russians can live peaceably
the Middle East Can be a place of peace
the United States can be a place where all its people are united instead of divided
the world can be a place where justice and mercy reign.
c. Isaiah also uses remembering in a different way.
god and God’s people will no longer remember the past that holds back the coming of the new heaven and new earth,
We sing praises because God comes to judge with righteousness and equity.
Move 3: finally, we also We sing praises because of God’s victory.
a. Note that the word translated “victory” in the NRSV comes up three times in this first section.
1. The Hebrew word translated as “victory” is jeshua, which literally means “rescue” or “salvation”
2. Hebrew word can also be used to form a name.
Jeshua becomes Joshua
Jeshua becomes Jesus.
Perhaps you remember that in The Gospel of Matthew the angel said to Mary, “You are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
b. God’s victory is all-encompassing
God’s salvation is all-encompassing.
1. All the ends of the earth have seen
the victory of our God.
2. God’s desire is for all people and all the earth to be saved.
3. As God’s people, our work is not done until all the world has been saved,
or until God comes again.
God’s victory is all-encompassing and so to is our call to be at work in the world.
We sing praises because of God’s victory.
conclusion: Do you know the Russian composer Pavel Chesnokov
He is known for his some 500 choral works composed during his career, Russian composer is perhaps best-known for his sacred choral work Salvation is Created.
Composed in 1912 as the fifth of his Ten Communion Hymns, Salvation is Created was one of the composer’s
the choral piece has one line of words sung:
Salvation is created, in the midst of the earth, O God, O our God. Alleluia.
I find it fascinating that this piece was the last of the sacred works Chesnokov would before he was forced by the Soviet government to write secular music.
Due to this suppression of Christianity from the Soviet government, Chesnokov never got to hear this work performed during his lifetime.
His children did many years after his passing. (https://classicalexburns.com/2021/01/31/pavel-chesnokov-salvation-is-created-communion-hymn/#:~:text=Composed in 1912 as the,government to write secular music.)
A song about God’s salvation that was never heard by the composer because of the injustices and imperfections in our world.
But a song still sung.
We sing praises because God is still at work bring salvation to all of us and all the world.
Isaiah 65: 17-25
For I am about to create new heavens
and a new earth;
the former things shall not be remembered
or come to mind.
18
But be glad and rejoice forever
in what I am creating,
for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy
and its people as a delight.
19
I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and delight in my people;
no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it
or the cry of distress.
20
No more shall there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days
or an old person who does not live out a lifetime,
for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth,
and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed.
21
They shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22
They shall not build and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat,
for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
23
They shall not labor in vain
or bear children for calamity,[c]
for they shall be offspring blessed by the Lord—
and their descendants as well.
24
Before they call I will answer,
while they are yet speaking I will hear.
25
The wolf and the lamb shall feed together;
the lion shall eat straw like the ox,
but the serpent—its food shall be dust!
They shall not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain,
says the Lord.
