Why read Psalm 98?
Psalm 98 is a prayer of worship, humility and reverence for God's holiness. It joins His righteousness to the memory of people who called on Him and received an answer.
You can read this psalm when its themes speak to your circumstances, or as part of your regular reading of the Psalter. This explanation draws on the text itself; the psalm is not reserved for one particular need.
Psalm 98 opens the heart with the call “The Lord reigns: let the peoples tremble; He sits...”. It is one of the 10-verse psalms in the 13th Kathisma and is recited both at services and in prayer at home — the Psalter being a foundational book for the Orthodox Christian.
The text of Psalm 98
1. The Lord reigns: let the peoples tremble; He sits upon the cherubim: let the earth shake.
2. The Lord is great in Zion and exalted above all the peoples.
3. Let Your great name be praised, for it is awesome and holy. And the king’s honour loves justice.
4. You have established justice; judgement and righteousness in Jacob, You have wrought.
5. Exalt the Lord our God and worship the footstool of His feet, for it is holy!
6. Moses and Aaron are among His priests, and Samuel among those who call upon His name.
7. They called upon the Lord, and He heard them; in a pillar of cloud He spoke to them;
8. For they kept His testimonies and the commandments He gave them.
9. Lord our God, You heard them; God, You had mercy upon them and repaid all their deeds.
10. Exalt the Lord our God and worship on His holy mountain, for the Lord our God is holy!
When Psalm 98 is read
- It belongs to the 13th Kathisma — the psalms are read in full within the cycle of kathismata, at Matins and Vespers.
- At the end of each psalm, tradition adds: «Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.».
Adjacent psalms
The numbering follows the Orthodox Psalter (Septuagint). The same psalm may have a different number in other Bible editions.
