Psalms 98:6 Meaning: Trumpets and a King's Welcome

Two Hebrew words name the instruments here. The first is chatsotserot, straight metal trumpets. Barnes notes that the word may imitate the broken, pulsing sound the trumpet made, like the Latin taratantara. These were the trumpets used to call the assembly and to announce the feasts. The second is shofar, the ram’s horn, curved and older, the horn that brought down Jericho’s walls. Together they cover the range of sacred sound: the official call and the ancient blast.

The verb is hari‘u, “shout for joy.” But this is no quiet murmur. The same word is used for the war cry before battle, for the shout when a king is crowned, for the roar of a crowd that cannot hold back. The psalmist tells you to make that sound not toward an empty sky but “before the King, Yahweh”, literally, before His face. This is the heart of the verse: you are in the presence of the King who has saved you, and the only proper response is to let the noise out.

Christian readers across traditions have heard this verse as a call to welcome Christ’s reign. Matthew Henry, in the Reformed tradition, saw it as an invitation to welcome the King with shouts like Solomon’s coronation. The Cambridge Bible notes the specific instruments as the straight metal trumpet and the ram’s horn, the very ones used in temple worship and in the battle of Jericho. Keil and Delitzsch, from a Protestant background, point out that the wind instruments belong to the priests, while the strings and song belong to the Levites, together the whole people is represented. In many churches today, the verse is read during Advent or at celebrations of Christ’s coming as King. The shofar is also still blown in Jewish liturgy for the New Year and the Day of Atonement, calling the people to remember their King.

Some readers think “make a joyful noise” means any loud, happy sound will do, the volume itself is the point. In fact, the psalm calls for a specific kind of noise: the sound of deliberate instruments and a conscious shout before the King. The noise is not just emotion; it is recognition. The trumpets and ram’s horn were used for worship, for battle, and for announcing God’s presence. The joyful noise here is an act of allegiance, not just enthusiasm.

This week, consider what it would mean to give God the kind of praise that costs you something. Not just your quiet thoughts, but your voice. The psalmist called for trumpets and a ram’s horn, the best instruments they had. Maybe for you that means singing aloud in the car, or saying a prayer of thanks out loud before a meal, or telling someone what God has done for you. The point is not performance. It is presence. You are before the King, and He has saved you. Let the noise out.