Psalms 98:5
in Psalms 98Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre, in melodious song with the harp.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Sing praises unto Jehovah with the harp; With the harp and the voice of melody.
KJV
Sing unto the Lord with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm.
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This verse in Psalms 98
Commentary
11 notes on this verseMake melody to the Lord on the harp. Let all your strings have voice. There cannot be a harp if one string is missing. What does it profit you if you are chaste, and yet greedy? What does it profit you if you are both chaste and generous in almsgiving, and yet envious? What does it profit you if you have six strings whole and one broken? If one string is lacking, the perfect sound of the harp cannot exist.
This site's exposition
Make a joyful noise to the LORD
on Psalms 98:4-6
The call is a command to the whole earth, and it is the earth that has to make the noise. The instruments are named one after another, the lyre, the harp, the trumpet and the ram's horn. All of it is aimed at the LORD, the King.
This site's exposition
Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre
Sing praises with the lyre, and again with the harp, in melodious song: in Hebrew both are the kinnor. David played it for Saul at 1 Samuel 16:23. The song to the LORD is sung with strings.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"Make melody unto the Lord upon the harp: on the harp and with the voice of a Psalm" [Psalm 98:5]. Praise Him not with the voice only; take up works, that ye may not only sing, but work also. He who singeth and worketh, maketh melody with psaltery and upon the harp. Now see what sort of instruments are next spoken of, in figure: "With ductile trumpets also, and the sound of the pipe of horn" [Psalm 98:6]. What are ductile trumpets, and pipes of horn? Ductile trumpets are of brass: they are drawn out by hammering; if by hammering, by being beaten, ye shall be ductile trumpets, drawn out unto the praise of God, if ye improve when in tribulation: tribulation is hammering, improvement is the being drawn out. Job was a ductile trumpet, when suddenly assailed by the heaviest losses, and the death of his sons, become like a ductile trumpet by the beating of so heavy tribulation, he sounded thus: "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." How did he sound? How pleasantly doth his voice sound? This ductile trumpet is still under the hammer....We have heard how he was hammered; let us hear how he soundeth: let us, if it please you, hear the sweet sound of this ductile trumpet: "What! shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" O courageous, O sweet sound! whom will not that sound awake from sleep? whom will not confidence in God awake, to march to battle fearlessly against the devil; not to struggle with his own strength, but His who proveth him. […]
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
We are here called upon again to sing unto the Lord a new song, as before, Ps. xcvi. "Sing a most excellent song, the best song you have." Let the song of Christ's love be like Solomon's on that subject, a song of songs. A song of praise for redeeming love is a new song, such a song as had not been sung before; for this is a mystery which was hidden from ages and generations.
Sing unto the Lord with the harp,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Sing unto the Lord with the harp. Skill in music should not be desecrated to the world's evil mirth, it should aid the private devotions of the saint, and then, like George Herbert, he will sing, Martin Luther was thus wont to praise the Lord, whom he loved so well. God's praises should be performed in the best possible manner, but their sweetness mainly lies in spiritual qualities.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
make a loud noise--or, "burst forth" (Isa 14:7; King--hail Him as your sovereign; and while, with every aid to demonstrate zeal and joy, intelligent creatures are invited to praise, as in Ps 96:11-13, inanimate nature is also summoned to honor Him who triumphs and rules in righteousness and equity.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Sing unto the Lord with the harp. Skill in music should not be desecrated to the world's evil mirth, it should aid the private devotions of the saint, and then, like George Herbert, he will sing, Martin Luther was thus wont to praise the Lord, whom he loved so well. God's praises should be performed in the best possible manner, but their sweetness mainly lies in spiritual qualities. The concords of faith and repentance, the harmonies of obedience and love are true music in the ear of the Most High, and better please him than "heaving bellows taught to blow, "though managed by the noblest master of human minstrelsy. With the harp. A very sweet instrument of music, and capable of great expression. The repetition of the word is highly poetical, and shows that the daintiest expressions of poetry are none too rich for the praise of God. His worship should be plain, but not uncouth, if we can compass elegancies of expression there are occasions upon which they will be most appropriate; God, who accepts the unlettered ditty of a ploughman, does not reject the smooth verse of a Cowper, or the sublime strains of a Milton. All repetitions are not vain repetitions, in sacred song there should be graceful repeats, they render the sense emphatic, and help to fire the soul; even preachers do not amiss when they dwell on a word and sound it out again and again, till dull ears feel its emphasis. And the voice of a Psalm, or with a musical voice, as distinguished from common speech. Our voice has in it many modulations; there is the voice of conversation, the voice of complaint, the voice of pleading, the voice of command, and there ought to be with each of us the voice of a Psalm. Man's voice is at its best when it sings the best words in the best spirit to the best of Beings.
With - the voice of a Psalm - I think זמרה zimrah, which we translate Psalm, means either a musical instrument, or a species of ode modulated by different voices.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Sing unto the Lord with the harp - A song or psalm accompanied by the harp. On the harp. See the notes at Isa 5:12. And the voice of a psalm - The voice in singing; a musical voice. Let it not be mere instrumental music, but let that be accompanied with the voice uttering intelligible sounds or words. The only proper use of instrumental music in the worship of God is to deepen the impression which the words are adapted to make; to secure a better influence of truth on the heart.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| זַמְּר֣וּ | zameru | make music | H2167 → | 45 times |
| לַיהוָ֣ה | layahweh | to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| בְּכִנּ֑וֹר | bekhinor | with a harp | H3658 → | 42 times |
| בְּ֝כִנּ֗וֹר | bekhinor | with a harp | H3658 → | 42 times |
| וְק֣וֹל | vekol | and [the] sound of | H6963 → | 506 times |
| זִמְרָֽה׃ | zimrah | music | H2172 → |
זַמְּר֣וּmake music
zameruH2167 →45 times
לַיהוָ֣הto Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
בְּכִנּ֑וֹרwith a harp
bekhinorH3658 →42 times
בְּ֝כִנּ֗וֹרwith a harp
bekhinorH3658 →42 times
וְק֣וֹלand [the] sound of
vekolH6963 →506 times
זִמְרָֽה׃music
zimrahH2172 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Revelation 5:8When He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which…
it leads to
- Psalms 141:2
May my prayer be set before You like incense, my uplifted hands like the evening offering.
- Revelation 8:3–4
Then another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, along with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before…
- Philippians 2:9–11
Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name above all names,
- Revelation 4:10
the twenty-four elders fall down before the One seated on the throne, and they worship Him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying:
- Psalms 33:2
Praise the LORD with the harp; make music to Him with ten strings.
- Psalms 141:2
Through
Isaiah 51:3For the LORD will comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness…
it leads to
- Isaiah 49:13
Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; break forth in song, O mountains! For the LORD has comforted His people, and He will have compassion on His afflicted ones.
- Joel 2:3
Before them a fire devours, and behind them a flame scorches. The land before them is like the Garden of Eden, but behind them, it is like a desert wasteland—surely nothing will escape them.
- Isaiah 49:13
Through
Psalms 33:2Praise the LORD with the harp; make music to Him with ten strings.
it leads to
- Psalms 150:3–6
Praise Him with the sound of the horn; praise Him with the harp and lyre.
- Psalms 150:3–6
About Psalms
This page draws on 12 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 98; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 4; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Homily 25, on Psalm 97; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.