Psalm 98 "Let the Rivers Clap Their Hands"

Psalm for Today = 98:1, 8-9
“Oh sing to the Lord a new song,
    for he has done marvelous things!
His right hand and his holy arm
    have worked salvation for him…

⁸ Let the rivers clap their hands;
    let the hills sing for joy together
⁹ before the Lord, for he comes
    to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
    and the peoples with equity.”

Comments:

The psalms repeatedly urge us to worship the Lord with song because of what he has done for us. Some of the psalms are actually historical step-by-step remembrances of what God has done for Israel. Here the “marvelous things” which he has done are summed up rather simply, in that He himself “worked salvation” (implied—because no one else could) and has revealed it to us.

Not only are the people of God to sing in celebration so is creation itself. In v. 8 we see the literary device of Personification (see also 35:10; 19:2; 77:16; 114:3) which means to speak about the non-personal as personal (e.g., giving human characteristics to the inanimate). We know that rivers don’t have hands to clap, but we can hear the ovation of a crowd in the sound of cool water rushing over the rocks. We can’t hear hills sing, but when they are covered with wildflowers after the rains it seems as though they must be singing for joy.

God is coming to judge the earth in righteousness and equity. Nature is on board with that (Romans 8:20-22), are we? Have we begun to let Christ’s commitment to  righteousness seep into our lives and shape our plans? Do we stand for equity among all peoples? As I listen to the river and the hills rejoicing in what God made them to be, I think I need to be more concerned about fairness for others than about trying to direct my own life and protect my own rights. That’s God’s job. Hallelujah!

 


Bonus Story:

“Let the rivers clap their hands”

In thinking about the line in Psalm 98:8, “let the rivers clap their hands”, I am reminded of one summer, when as a young raft captain for a youth group river rafting camp on the Deschutes River in Central Oregon, I had an extremely unpleasant girl assigned to my raft. She talked non-stop, grumbling and complaining about how early she had to get up, how the food was gross, how the water was cold, how the paddling was hard, how the other girls … blah, blah, blah. There is nowhere to go in a 5-man raft to get away from someone like that. I think I prayed, but I’m not sure now.

Now in addition to safety, and directing the paddling of the raft, the raft captain’s job sitting in the right-rear of the 5-man raft is to steer the raft in order to approach rapids somewhat sideways for the best visibility in choosing a route and then digging in with the paddle at the last minute to head directly into the safest part of the rapid. This specific day was beautiful, yet this girl’s grumbling was driving us all to distraction. We were in relatively calm water between larger sections of rapids and were forced to listen to her monologue.  As we floated casually along trying to enjoy the amazing scenery I spotted a single small dip in the river with one small curing wave on the far side like the curly top on a Dairy Queen soft-serve ice cream cone. It was nothing to be concerned about and yet … could it be an answer to prayer?

I edged the raft further to the left, pointing out something along the left bank to distract Grumbling-girl. As we drifted sideways and closer to the little out of place river-curl… wait for it…everyone saw it coming except the one so focused on herself that she was wasting a great day on the river. I think even the river was offended!

At the last moment, in the deceptively quiet water I suddenly back-paddled and the raft swung sharply to the right and took the curl of the wave on the right-front of the raft. With a resoundingly loud clapping sound the river-curl reached up and slapped the unhappy teen full in the face, filled her open mouth with river water, and reddened her face with the sting. I caught her before she fell out of the raft. After the echoes of our spontaneous celebration of righteous judgment died away an amazing change took place. It seemed that a sacred silence filled the air, the sun seemed warmer, the sky more brilliant blue behind the hills, and we worked together and conversed in happier tones the rest of the day…as even the girl seemed to snap out of her personal funk and join in the joyous journey with us.

When I think of this story, I laugh, but then I wonder what it will take for God to get me to snap out of my self-focus this week? What must I suddenly face before I will join others in God’s journey? Make it be something so small as a river-curl!