Chapter 98 is a chapter of a "new song" - a song we will sing in the future to come. In the previous chapters, we dealt with natural providence and combined providence; here, says the Malbim, King David comes to speak of miraculous providence. What is miraculous providence? A form of guidance in which the Holy One, blessed be He, directs the world directly - not through the laws of nature, but through direct divine providence (hashgachah pratit), in which Hashem suspends the systems of nature and operates reality according to His supreme will, without connecting to natural laws at all.
מִזְמוֹר שִׁירוּ לַיהֹוָה שִׁיר חָדָשׁ כִּי־נִפְלָאוֹת עָשָׂה הוֹשִׁיעָה־לּוֹ יְמִינוֹ וּזְרוֹעַ קׇדְשׁוֹ׃ - A psalm: Sing to Hashem a new song, for He has performed wonders; His right hand and His holy arm have brought Him salvation.
"For He has performed wonders" - the Malbim explains that nifla'ot (wonders) are wondrous matters, and the root peleh denotes separation. "When a man shall clearly utter [yafli] a vow of a Nazirite to Hashem" - yafli means to separate, which is why a Nazirite is associated with peleh, as he separates himself from the pleasures of this world. Wonders, then, are phenomena separated from the laws of nature: supernatural occurrences that do not take place according to the natural order.
Natural providence, as we have already seen, is characterized by the left hand, whereas spiritual, miraculous providence is designated as the right - "Your hand is strong, Your right hand is exalted": the right hand rises above the left, since the right represents miraculous providence and the left represents natural providence. Yet even within the realm of the right hand itself, says the Malbim, there are two categories. There is miraculous providence that comes about through our own merit - when we possess sufficient merit, when we are worthy and deserving of a miracle. And there is miraculous providence that comes through an awakening from Above (itaruta de-le'eila), when on our part there are insufficient merits. The Jewish people at the Exodus from Egypt were in a state of "yet you were naked and bare"; by what merit did we earn the splitting of the Red Sea and the giving of the Torah? Through an awakening from Above, through His gracious will - by the pure will of the Holy One, blessed be He, regardless of the merits of the creations below.
When the Holy One, blessed be He, acts according to our merits, this is called acting "with His right hand." When He acts not by the merit of mortals but through an awakening of the supreme will, this is described as Hashem acting "with His arm." And what is the difference? The right hand expresses the hand itself, the point of grasp, where the deed is actually executed. The arm extends from the hand upward to the shoulder. When providence rests upon the deeds of those below, our good deeds serve as the catalyst, and through their power the Holy One, blessed be He, moves the right hand and performs a miracle for us. But when we lack merits and everything comes entirely from Him, blessed be He, the arm too is ascribed to Him, for the very beginning - the movement that ultimately moves the hand - also originates from Him. Therefore Hashem swore "by His right hand and by the arm of His strength": by His right hand signifies miraculous providence according to our deeds; and by the arm of His strength signifies when we are not worthy enough, in which case the very origin and cause of the movement come from Him, blessed be He.
And this is the meaning of "His right hand has brought Him salvation" - the miracles that the Holy One, blessed be He, performs through the merits of the generation, the aspect of the right hand; "and His holy arm" - what Hashem does without looking at the deeds of the generation, when the generation lacks sufficient merits, at which point the arm that activates the right hand's guidance is also entirely from Him, blessed be He.
הוֹדִיעַ יְהֹוָה יְשׁוּעָתוֹ לְעֵינֵי הַגּוֹיִם גִּלָּה צִדְקָתוֹ׃ - Hashem has made known His salvation; before the eyes of the nations He has revealed His righteousness.
The Radak explains that the second half of the verse explains the first: How did Hashem make His salvation known? In that before the eyes of the nations He revealed His righteousness - and through this, the salvation He performed for us is publicized.
The Malbim distinguishes between salvation (yeshuah) and righteousness (tzedakah). Salvation is the actual deed that Hashem performs to save Israel, or a universal salvation for the entire world - bringing the world to its ultimate purpose, delivering it from distress and catastrophe. And by virtue of what does the Holy One, blessed be He, bring about this salvation? By virtue of righteousness. The righteousness and chessed that stem from Him, blessed be He, are the primary cause leading to salvation. To use an analogy: when someone helps another person, the physical act of lifting him up is the "salvation," but its source is the good heart within and the inner compassion - and that is the "righteousness."
From here we can understand the verse, "My salvation is near to come, and My righteousness to be revealed." Regarding salvation it says "to come," while regarding righteousness it says "to be revealed." Why? Because righteousness is constantly present with the Holy One, blessed be He, but it is concealed, and therefore we anticipate that it will be revealed. Salvation, however, is not always present - there are times of distress, times of tragedy, when salvation is absent; therefore it is described as something that will "come." The Creator's inner desire to bestow good is ever-present; when we perceive it, it is revealed, and its revelation is the salvation.
In contrast to what was stated earlier regarding hidden Providence within the natural order - "proclaim His salvation from day to day" - here there is no longer a need for tidings; rather, "Hashem has made known His salvation." Hashem Himself publicizes His salvation, and this salvation is overt and manifest, not veiled in nature. When salvation is clothed in nature, it can always be downplayed: there was a massive fire, and suddenly, in a rare occurrence, rain poured in the middle of summer and extinguished it. Someone says, "Look, a miracle!" Immediately people come along and demonstrate that it already rained during the summer in '38, and again in '47, and in '52. True, an interesting coincidence - exactly when there was a fire, people were saved - but such things have happened before. And when something happens through natural means, the awakening and enthusiasm of "Behold the hand of Hashem" do not arise.
Concerning this, the verse says that salvation will be manifest and recognized, not in a natural manner that can be brushed aside. When hailstones of fire rain down from heaven, no one can say it is natural; the weatherman has never seen it, nor do the oldest elders recall anything like it. Likewise, the righteousness, which is the underlying cause of salvation, was hidden until now - and now, "in the sight of the nations He has revealed His righteousness" with great publicity, making it clear to all that this was from Hashem.
זָכַר חַסְדּוֹ וֶאֱמוּנָתוֹ לְבֵית יִשְׂרָאֵל רָאוּ כׇל־אַפְסֵי־אָרֶץ אֵת יְשׁוּעַת אֱלֹהֵינוּ׃ - He remembered His chessed and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Why does Hashem perform these salvations for us? For three reasons. The first is the supreme attribute of righteousness - "in the sight of the nations He has revealed His righteousness." The Creator's will is to bestow good, so everything depends on us: if there is an absence of goodness, that is unnatural, because the default state is goodness flowing from Him, blessed be He; if it is lacking, it is a sign that we have blocked it.
The second reason: "He remembered His chessed and His faithfulness to the house of Israel" - Hashem remembers the lovingkindness and faith with which the Jewish people conducted themselves with Him up to this day, as well as His promise to redeem us. As it is written, "Rather give glory to Your Name, for the sake of Your chessed and Your truth": "Your truth" means that the Holy One, blessed be He, is faithful to fulfill His word - I promised, and I will fulfill.
"All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God" - here the revelation is of a different order than that of the preceding chapter. There it said, "Recount His glory among the nations, His wonders among all the peoples" - recounting is not firsthand, sensory perception, but hearsay. Here, however, they "have seen" - and ta chazei ("come and see") is not like ta shema ("come and hear"). In the Gemara, the customary phrase is ta shema, "come and hear," whereas in the Zohar the phrase is ta chazei, "come and see" - because the Zohar deals with the inner essence of things, perceiving matters as they truly are, in clear sight.
Another difference: earlier we explained that the simple nations will perceive only His glory and not His wonders, and only the discerning among the nations will comprehend more deeply. Here, "all the ends of the earth" - everyone, including the lowliest nations, will see the salvation of Hashem. And afsei aretz means the ends of the earth.
The third reason is essentially what they will see: "the salvation of our God." The expression "our God" (Elokeinu) is different from the Tetragrammaton or from "God" (Elokim) on its own. The Shem Havayah and the name Elokim indicate the Creator as bringing all of existence into being, all-powerful and the master of all abilities and all powers; "our God" indicates His connection to us - that He watches over us with individual Divine Providence. We have seen this many times in the Malbim. Here, everyone will see that the Holy One, blessed be He, has a unique bond and connection with us - contrary to the claims of the nations that Hashem abandoned Israel, which is why they were exiled, battered, and rejected, along with all the delusions and theories they construct for themselves. Everyone will see that the Shechinah clings to us and that His Providence, may He be blessed, is bound to the people close to Him.
It is said in the name of the Kedushat Levi on this verse: Consider that the Egyptians also saw all the miracles - yet they remained Egyptians. Seemingly, the miracles should have brought them to repentance, but in reality Pharaoh won them over with words and with silver and gold, and they set out to pursue Israel. Only a few joined the Jewish people as the mixed multitude (erev rav), while the majority remained just as they were. And precisely this evokes an immense, boundless love from the Holy One, blessed be He, toward us. This is the meaning of "He remembered His kindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel" - because "all the ends of the earth saw the salvation of our God" and did not change at all, whereas as for us, "your following Me in the wilderness." True, we are not perfect; there were shortcomings and we angered Hashem, but can one even compare us to the nations who saw everything and remained coarse and animalistic? "See the difference between my son and my father-in-law" - and through this, Hashem remembers His kindness to Israel and increases His love for them.
The Tehillot Mahari"tz explains: The Jewish people are believers, the children of believers. Hashem performs countless miracles for us, and even though we do not see them, we believe and say, "and for Your miracles that are with us every day." We have already cited the famous explanation of the verse, "Praise Him, all nations, for His kindness has overwhelmed us": Why should the nations praise Him because His kindness has overwhelmed us? Rather, this refers to when the nations plot to harm us: several people in Gaza planned an attack, Heaven forbid, and the Holy One, blessed be He, thwarted their scheme - without the Shin Bet, without the Mossad, without any security measures, but by turning their own swords into their hearts. They see how much Hashem loves Israel and aids them, and there are events we have never even heard about - plots that went awry without our knowledge - and for these, the nations give praise.
And Israel constantly gives thanks for this: "for Your miracles that are with us every day," even though they are not seen, because they are cloaked within nature. The nations, by contrast, say that the world merely runs its natural course. And not only regarding miracles hidden within nature - even with miracles where a moment of contemplation leads to the conclusion that "it is the finger of God," the nations prefer not to see, offering natural explanations and coarse rationalizations, anything so as not to acknowledge the miracle.
An example of this occurred in the days of Mordechai and Esther: the Name of Heaven is not mentioned in the Megillah at all, so that everything would unfold in a concealed manner and it would not be immediately obvious that everything is from Him, blessed be He. Yet whoever examines it even slightly realizes that there is no coincidence here - "mikreh" (coincidence) is "rak meHashem" (only from Hashem). One sees the fingerprints that the Holy One, blessed be He, left in the Megillah, plain for all to see, and how the entire narrative was woven together in advance. One who wishes to deny it will say: What luck, just before that Vashti angered the king, and just before that Mordechai saved the king. The coarse person sees only luck and chance in everything; the spiritual person, with a bit of contemplation, sees the hand of the Holy One, blessed be He, guiding His world within nature.
And this is the merit of Israel: they believe and see spiritual guidance even within the natural order. "He remembered His kindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel" - Hashem remembers our merit because of the faith within Israel, who always acknowledge Hashem's kindnesses and attribute everything to Supreme Providence. Whereas "all the ends of the earth saw the salvation of our God" - the numerical value of Elokim equals hateva (nature); the nations see in it only a natural salvation, whereas Israel sees in it the hand of Hashem and His guidance through individual Divine Providence to bestow His goodness upon us. And in the merit of this recognition and faith, Hashem showers additional miracles upon us.
הָרִיעוּ לַיהֹוָה כׇּל־הָאָרֶץ פִּצְחוּ וְרַנְּנוּ וְזַמֵּרוּ׃ - Shout joyously to Hashem, all the earth; burst forth in song, rejoice, and play music.
The nations, too, must shout joyfully and rejoice in Israel's salvation, the Radak explains, because the salvation of the entire world depends upon our salvation: "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore." This reality will come to pass when the people of Israel attain their spiritual perfection.
And as explained more than once: the deed of a gentile does not affect the world at large. The maximum impact he can have is upon himself as an individual - he can merit reward and Gan Eden according to his worth, and influence himself and his descendants, but he exerts no broader environmental impact, neither for good nor for bad: his deeds cannot bring the redemption closer, nor can they bring disasters, for his influence is limited. With Israel, however, our every action impacts the entire cosmos, all the spiritual and physical realms. Therefore, when our salvation arrives, it is not a private salvation: Mashiach will come, nation will not lift sword against nation, all peoples will speak a clear language, and there will be no disputes, quarrels, or wars. It turns out that everything depends on us, and therefore the nations will rejoice as well - for their redemption depends upon our salvation and well-being.
The Malbim explains: When the king is secluded in his palace, songs and melodies are sung in his honor - a symphony in the palace, "with sweet music upon the harp." But when the king leaves his palace and goes out to the people, there is no symphony there, but rather a blast: everyone cheers and sounds the shofar, and that is the signal that the king has arrived. This is one of the reasons we blow the shofar on Rosh Hashanah - "for He comes to judge the earth": the King is coming, and with the blast we, as it were, crown Him and proclaim His arrival. To this day, at a dignitary reception for VIPs and heads of state, they roll out a red carpet and play trumpets; in their time, they would sound the shofar and trumpets upon the king's arrival.
Here, the verse describes the salvation of Hashem, as though Hashem Himself is revealed in His glory to the inhabitants of the world - and therefore, "Raise a shout to Hashem, all the earth," for the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, enters among them; when there is salvation, the Holy One is revealed. Afterward, when He has arrived, so to speak, in His palace - "break forth, sing joyous song, and make music" - here they already sing of His deeds and praises, and so it will be continually. First the arrival - "Raise a shout to Hashem"; and afterward, once He enters His palace, the symphony begins - "break forth, sing joyous song, and make music." And by way of a contemporary allusion: when you want guests to linger, you bring out some roasted seeds and nuts (pitzuchim) - and then they crack them open (pitzchu), and through that they "sing joyous song and make music"; without that, people finish eating, recite Birkat Hamazon, and the gathering is over.
זַמְּרוּ לַיהֹוָה בְּכִנּוֹר בְּכִנּוֹר וְקוֹל זִמְרָה׃ - Sing praise to Hashem with the harp, with the harp and the sound of melody.
בַּחֲצֹצְרוֹת וְקוֹל שׁוֹפָר הָרִיעוּ לִפְנֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ יְהֹוָה׃ - With trumpets and the blast of the shofar, sound a shout before the King, Hashem.
"Sing praise to Hashem with the harp" - with the harp alone; "with the harp and the sound of melody" - the harp accompanied by vocal singing. This accounts for the repetition: first the harp on its own, and then the harp combined with the sound of song.
The Malbim explains: They will sing with the harp to recount the praises of Hashem and His perpetual deeds, and afterward sound blasts with the shofar - for whenever they sing before Him, the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, reveals Himself to them; and when the King is revealed, there are trumpets and the blast of the shofar: behold, the King is coming, and they sound the shofars in His honor. Therefore it says, "before the King, Hashem" - the blast comes because the King reveals Himself and comes before us, whereas playing music occurs once He is already here.
In the sefer Tehillot Maharit, he explains based on Chovot HaLevavot that the ascetic person has "his joy upon his face and his grief in his heart." We studied this extensively in Sha'ar HaPerishut, and it is worth mentioning here briefly: the ascetic, the spiritually elevated person, when he experiences sorrow or grief, keeps it in his heart; externally, he always shows joy and creates a pleasant atmosphere around him. This was always the hallmark of the Torah leaders of Israel: one always saw joy, warmth, and pleasantness in them, and even if they carried sorrow, it was kept within the heart.
This stands in contrast to common human behavior, where when someone finds life difficult, he "shares the wealth" and involves everyone: "I have no energy, I am exhausted, my head is splitting" - sighing constantly. My friend, you are generating melancholy and casting gloom around you! The ascetic, even if he is suffering, keeps it all in his heart, and on the outside he conveys none of it - on the contrary, he imparts a pleasant feeling, and no one knows what he is going through. Furthermore, "his grief in his heart" can also refer to grief over his lack of perfection in the service of Hashem: he is pained that he is not advancing enough, yet never displays it outwardly.
Rabbi Yisrael Salanter once remarked concerning a person who walks around with a sour face: he is like an open pit in the public domain. Why cause harm to the public? Create a pleasant atmosphere around you, make people feel good in your presence. Do not walk around appearing resentful or irritable toward others - rather, offer a smile and a warm feeling, for that is true service of Hashem. This is the essence of "and rejoice with trembling": in the place of rejoicing, let there be trembling. The awe that inspires dread belongs in the heart, but do not walk about fearful and panic-stricken, creating an unpleasant atmosphere around you; outwardly, there must be joy.
And this is what Scripture conveys: trumpets allude to a blast of gladness and joy, while the sound of the shofar alludes to fear and awe - "Shall a shofar be blown in a city, and the people not tremble?", for the blast forewarns of an enemy attack. Through both of these mediums one must serve Hashem: "Sound the trumpet before the King, Hashem" - on one hand with trumpets of gladness and joy, and on the other with the shofar's sound of trepidation. The trepidation is inward while the exterior radiates joy, and in this manner one serves Hashem in wholeness, a complete and flawless service.
יִרְעַם הַיָּם וּמְלֹאוֹ תֵּבֵל וְיֹשְׁבֵי בָהּ׃ - Let the sea roar and all that fills it, the world and those who dwell in it.
Radak explains that "let it roar" is said by way of metaphor, and Ibn Ezra comments similarly: like the phrase "and the mountains trembled," as though the mountains moved from their place. This is a metaphor: when the Holy One, blessed be He, arrives, trumpets and the shofar sound before Him, and the entire sea roars in honor of the Creator. "The sea and all that fills it" - the creatures that fill the sea, the leviathans and all within it, all of them will roar and rejoice at the revelation of Hashem.
The Malbim notes: here it does not say "Let the heavens rejoice and the earth exult" as was stated earlier, because the heavens and the earth signify systemic governance - the influence of the celestial bodies, the natural order. Now that governance is superseded: there will neither be perpetual joy in heaven over celestial governance, nor exultation on earth over general providence, for now the focus is on individual providence and direct, personal guidance.
Therefore, it says tevel (the inhabited world) rather than eretz (the earth). The difference is that eretz denotes the earth as a whole, whereas tevel refers specifically to inhabited places - "the world and those who dwell in it." Here the miracle becomes a personal miracle for the people dwelling in the world: "Let the sea roar and all that fills it" - when Hashem commands and splits the sea as at the Exodus from Egypt; "the world and those who dwell in it" - that these transformations will occur specifically in places where there are human beings and settlement. What does this demonstrate? Individual providence. For if rain falls specifically where there are people, it is a sign of individual providence providing for our needs; in places uninhabited by man, the Holy One, blessed be He, does not bring down rain in this manner. So too in all matters of salvation: when abundance arrives specifically in inhabited places, it serves as proof of individual providence.
נְהָרוֹת יִמְחֲאוּ־כָף יַחַד הָרִים יְרַנֵּנוּ׃ - Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing for joy together.
לִפְנֵי־יְהֹוָה כִּי בָא לִשְׁפֹּט הָאָרֶץ יִשְׁפֹּט־תֵּבֵל בְּצֶדֶק וְעַמִּים בְּמֵישָׁרִים׃ - Before Hashem, for He comes to judge the earth; He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.
Rashi explains that the prophets spoke in terms accessible to human ears: rivers do not have hands; rather, this is an expression of joy and gladness. When Scripture wishes to convey that there will be immense joy throughout all of existence, it portrays the rivers as clapping hands - a metaphor and parable. Radak explains: they will clap hand against hand, after the manner of those who dance and rejoice, as in, "and they clapped their hands and said: Long live the king!" When the Holy One, blessed be He, is revealed, the rivers will clap their hands - they will give thanks to Hashem and rejoice in His kingdom.
Ibn Ezra offers a more straightforward explanation: this does not refer to the river itself, but to the people traveling on ships at sea, along rivers, and among mountains. "Let the rivers clap their hands" - the inhabitants along the rivers and those sailing upon them will clap their hands; "let the mountains sing for joy together" - the inhabitants of the mountains will sing for joy. And both interpretations are well-founded.
The Malbim explains that the Holy One, blessed be He, brings about changes in both rivers and mountains - just as we saw at the Jordan, and as related concerning the streams of Arnon, where the two mountains moved toward each other and crushed those who hid in caves seeking to ambush Israel by surprise, and the Holy One, blessed be He, crushed them there.
Notice, says the Malbim: in the previous psalm it says "for He comes, for He comes to judge the earth" twice, whereas here it appears only once. The repetition there indicates that Hashem comes through an intermediary - not in His very Essence, as it were, but through the natural order, via celestial forces and the influence of the stars. However, when divine providence is individual, and Hashem reveals Himself in His glory directly rather than through intermediaries, "for He comes" is stated only once: Hashem Himself, as it were, comes to judge the earth.
And since this is so - "He will judge the world with righteousness, and peoples with equity," rather than judging "with His faithfulness" as mentioned earlier. Faithfulness always denotes that which is fixed and constant, which is the natural order - the sun, moon, and stars functioning in their set course. "With equity," by contrast, means according to a person's uprightness, according to what he deserves - this is individual providence, each person according to his uprightness and his deeds. For one who is governed by the natural order, Hashem judges with His faithfulness; but here, the verse speaks of a time when we will already be worthy, and Hashem will judge us with equity, in accordance with our upright deeds. Through this, good will come to the righteous and harm to the wicked, for governance with equity is individual providence, giving each person what he deserves, and through it the Holy One, blessed be He, will bestow abundance upon the righteous as befits them.
Psalm 98 is the song of the future to come - a new song celebrating miraculous divine governance. The Holy One, blessed be He, will bring salvation "with His right hand" through the merit of our deeds, and "with His holy arm" even when there are no merits, and the salvation will be overt and not masked by nature, to the extent that "He has revealed His righteousness before the eyes of the nations." There are three reasons for this salvation: His righteousness, for His will is always to bestow good; His remembrance of our kindness and faithfulness - that we recognize miracles even when they are cloaked in nature, whereas the nations see only chance and fortune; and the revelation of "our God," signifying His individual providence and special bond with us. From this, the entire earth cheers at the King's arrival and sings in His palace, with trumpets of outward joy and the sound of the shofar expressing inward awe, until Hashem Himself comes to judge the world with righteousness and peoples with equity - each individual according to his deeds, in complete, direct individual providence.