One of the richest chapters of scripture on musical worship is Psalm 98. The content of almost every verse is reveling in direction for the worshiper to exalt the Lord. Let's look at the first few verses:

"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. The LORD has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations. He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God." - Psalm 98:1-3

Like many Psalms, this starts out with an instruction, "Sing to the LORD a new song.” From there the writer expounds on the amazing and praiseworthy grace of God, as if to give us a memorable list of reasons God is worthy to be praised. Verses 1-3 do this wonderfully by focusing our attention on the salvation the Lord brings.

Beginning in verse 1, he says that God has "worked salvation" by "his right hand" and "his holy arm.” The term "his right hand" is synonymous with power. This term often refers to the place or position of power in an earthly kingdom. The disciples of Jesus knew this phrase well, and understood it attributed a position to the most powerful one, or represented the highest place of honor, when they referred to Jesus as being "at the right hand of God" (see Mark 16:19 and Matthew 22:44). When God is said to have used his "right hand" to do something, it infers the extending of His highest strength (which seems somewhat of a paradoxical concept, in light of His omnipotence). But in any case, the use of this term gives a special meaning to the importance of the activity. God is said here to be putting his utmost into working salvation! We are to worship God with a new song because God has spent all he had on our salvation (Jesus).

Further, verse 1 also uses the phrase "holy arm.” Not just another Biblical "catch-phrase,” we see this used to mean both power and (as the phrase says) purification. In Isaiah 52:10-11, this phrase is used describing how the Lord was to expose His power to purify the people and bring them salvation. We are to worship God with a new song because God has called us to be separate from the world. We are to utilize and explore our lives and songs in the realm of God's kingdom. He has called us to be separate, not so we isolate ourselves from those who are lost, but so that our minds and hearts will remain completely focused on Him. The goal is not to remove us physically from society, but to purify our hearts to be a pure place for the Lord to reside. From there, God can use our hearts as "outposts" of light in the world of darkness.

From just verse 1 of this psalm we have seen that God has spent all that he had (his Son, who was at his right hand) for our salvation! Further, we see that he also has called us to respond by acknowledging his "holy arm,” by making our hearts pure. Again, God doesn't expect our weak humanity to accomplish this. No, He even has a plan to make us holy. And that holiness depends on His power, not ours! Truly, we have many reasons to sing a new song!