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Beautiful Feet

Shimar Keith

Updated: Dec 20, 2021

“Oh sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things”


Hebrews 7 describes King Melchizedek, priest of Salem (short for Jerusalem) as, “He [who] is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues” (Hebrews 7:3, ESV). Using similar hermeneutics, and much creative license, one could make a similar argument about Psalm 98. It is an unattributed psalm, having no author and therefore, neither beginning nor end of creation. It is an almost eternal psalm that continues in relevance because of its address of an eternal subject matter.


Psalm 98 opens with important descriptors. “Oh sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things” (1a)! What marvelous things has the Lord done that warrant a new but eternal song? “His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation. The Lord has made known his salvation… He has remembered his steadfast love… to the house of Israel” (1b-3). This is a communal celebration of the highest order! All of the people, including the earth, make joy with all of the instrument! According to the prophet Isaiah, even the “waste places of Jerusalem [break forth together into singing]” (52:9).


Speaking of God’s holy arm, Psalm 98:1 simply states that “God has worked salvation” but Isaiah 52:10 offers a fuller explanation. “The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations”, the prophet writes, “and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.” This new song is not just an emotional outburst for emotions sake. It is a celebration of the world premiere of the salvation of Israel on full display!


The writer of Hebrews gives credibility to Isaiah’s claim when he writes, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets” (1:1). The prophet of Psalms 98 refers to God’s holy arm and right hand. Isaiah calls his messenger the holy arm and the bringer of good news. The Hebrews writer says, “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (1:3). The arm of God is neither an angel nor a ministering spirit. He is the son of God and therefore God himself since there can be only one Supreme Being (1:14, 5). This is why John can begin his gospel like this, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). The holy arm of God has been with God since the beginning because he is God.


The writer of Hebrews was right about Isaiah and Isaiah was right about the holy arm of God. “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news …who publishes salvation” (Isaiah 52:7). Those beautiful feet belong to Jesus. John bears witness that Jesus’ feet walked upon the hills that he himself made but not everyone received him. Even some of Israel did not receive him. Sometimes rejections comes from the unlikeliest of places, but there is good news.


To all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:12-13)


If you believe that good news about Jesus , you can be a child of God too.


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