1 Oh, sing to the Lord a new song! For He has done marvelous things; His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory.
2 The Lord has made known His salvation; His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations.
3 He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
4 Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.
5 Sing to the Lord with the harp, With the harp and the sound of a psalm,
6 With trumpets and the sound of a horn; Shout joyfully before the Lord, the King.
7 Let the sea roar, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell in it;
8 Let the rivers clap their hands; Let the hills be joyful together
9 before the Lord, For He is coming to judge the earth. With righteousness He shall judge the world, And the peoples with equity.
In its heading this composition is described, simply, as a psalm (sung by the Levites in the Temple to the accompaniment of musical instruments), though early Jewish tradition (i.e., the Septuagint) also attributes it to David. — Wechsler, page 235.
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The sweet melody and perfect harmony of the new song that will salute Jehovah Messiah on the millennial morning will have three voiced, the Hebrew (vs. 1-3), the Gentile (vs. 4-6), and Nature (vs. 7-8). But Israel will have the leading part and a double theme, for she ill sing of grace in past redemption and in present restoration. — Williams, page 375.
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This exhortation (vs.1-3) is directed not only to the assembly of Israel, but to all the earth. The basis for this exhortation/challenge is, in essence, twofold: (1) because He has done wonderful things [miracles], entailing the display of His universally preeminent power over man, and (2) the display of His gracious and faithful pursuit of intimacy with man (represented by His lovingkindness and faithfulness to the house of Israel, on behalf of whom He has made known His salvation to the nations). — Wechsler, pages 236-236.
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The extent of the psalmist’s exhortation is here vividly underscored by (1) the sources of God’s praise, which extends from all the earth (v.4), including its people (v.7b: “those who dwell”), its animals (v.7a: “all it contains”), and even its inanimate parts (v.7a: “the sea”; v.8a: “the rivers”; v.8b: “the mountains”); and (2) the diversity of God’s praise, represented by the multifaceted ways in which that praise is produced (by “shouting joyfully,” by “singing,” “with the lyre,” “with trumpets,” by “roaring,” and by “clapping.” — Wechsler, page 236.
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The identical phraseology as in this verse (v.9) is used to refer to the advent of the Son of God, the messianic King, when He will judge all those who have up to that point rejected Him, bot then and throughout history (cf. Hebrews 9:27; Revelation 20:12). — Wechsler, page 236.
Although most of my commentaries try to explain this psalm as a present-day exhortation to worship or even as a celebration of the release of Israel from Egypt, I think the main application in view is the celebration of Israel after the Tribulation is over and the Lord is on the throne in His Millennial Reign.
