Shout to the Lord
Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy Psalm 98:8 · Berean Standard Bible
Even rivers should clap and mountains should sing together—the whole landscape joins in celebrating what God is doing.
The vision keeps expanding. Now it's not just people and sea creatures, but the land itself—rivers clapping like hands, mountains singing in harmony. This is poetry, but it conveys a profound truth: God's actions are so big and so good that all creation responds.
The psalmist, continuing the vision of universal celebration.
Earlier in the Psalms and in Isaiah, you see creation responding to God's presence and power. This isn't weird theology—it's recognizing that all creation belongs to God and reflects His character. When God sets things right, everything rejoices.
Rivers and mountains themselves are summoned to celebrate God's righteousness through gesture and song.
The 'rivers clap their hands' (נְהָרוֹת יִשְׂמְחוּ כַף יָדַיִם, neharot yismchu kaf yadayim) is radical anthropomorphic attribution: rivers perform human gesture of applause. 'Mountains sing together' (הָרִים יְרַנְּנוּ יַחְדָּו, harim yeranenu yachad) grants vocal capacity to geological formation. The Hebrew verb rannan (יְרַנְּנוּ) denotes ringing cry, resonant jubilation—applied now to mountains. The adverbial 'together' (יַחְדָּו, yachad) emphasizes harmonic coordination: this is not discordant but symphonic celebration. Such language appears in Isaiah 44:23 ('Sing, O heavens...Break forth, O mountains, into singing!') and 55:12 ('the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing'). These are eschatological expressions: creation's liberation and restoration at the eschaton.
The psalmist, now reaching maximum rhetorical intensity, addresses the geological features of creation as responsive agents.
This cosmic acclamation reaches toward what scholars call 'creation theology'—the recognition that God's vindication affects not merely Israel or humanity but the entire created order. Romans 8:21 expresses this: creation itself 'will be set free from its bondage to decay.' The Psalmist anticipates what Paul articulates: cosmic redemption grounded in divine righteousness.
6With trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn shout for joy before the LORD, the King.
7Let the sea resound, and all that fills it, the world, and all who dwell in it.
8Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy
9before the LORD, for He comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity.
Read all of Psalm 98 — Rivers clap their hands, mountains sing together. All creation celebrates a salvation the whole world will see.
This page covers one. BibleKey does all 31,102 — tap any verse for its meaning, any word for its Hebrew or Greek root, and keep reading without leaving the chapter.
Not just the famous ones. BibleKey is free on iPhone and iPad.
Download on the App StoreFree on iPhone & iPad