Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth... for He is coming to judge the earth...

Psalm 98 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

O sing to the Lord a new song,
For He has done wonderful things,
His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him.
² The Lord has made known His salvation;
He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations.
³ He has remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

⁴ Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth;
Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises.
⁵ Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
With the lyre and the sound of melody.
⁶ With trumpets and the sound of the horn
Shout joyfully before the King, the Lord.

⁷ Let the sea roar and all it contains,
The world and those who dwell in it.
⁸ Let the rivers clap their hands,
Let the mountains sing together for joy
⁹ Before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth;
He will judge the world with righteousness
And the peoples with equity.

 The Lord has made known His salvation; He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations. Whatever the reason that a person would say that they do not believe there is a God, it is not that God has failed to reveal Himself to them. 

Romans 1:18-21 says:  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, ¹⁹ because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. ²¹ For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks

The psalmist says:  He has remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. When this psalm was written, the psalmist looked back on all the miraculous accounts of  protection and deliverance, all the things God had done to set apart, sustain, and protect His people. Now all the ends of the earth have seen a different salvation, not a political salvation or protection of a national entity, but rather a spiritual salvation. Jesus Christ, God’s Son. God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 22:18 is:   "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."      Jesus was Himself a Jew, but He came as the promised blessing and Messiah for all mankind. Romans 1:16 says: For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.

Look at the attitude of the psalmist, he says:  Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises. ⁵ Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, With the lyre and the sound of melody. ⁶ With trumpets and the sound of the horn Shout joyfully before the King, the Lord.     What is the cause or motive for his joy and praise? The psalmist end with: for He is coming to judge the earth; He will judge the world with righteousness And the peoples with equity.

In Matthew 25:31-48 Jesus says:      ³¹ “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; ³³ and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.

³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; ³⁶ naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ ³⁷ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? ³⁸ And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? ³⁹ When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ ⁴⁰ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

⁴¹ “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; ⁴² for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; ⁴³ I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ ⁴⁴ Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ ⁴⁵ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ ⁴⁶ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

In Revelation 22:12-15, the Holy Spirit, speaking the words of Christ says: ¹² “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. ¹³ I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

¹⁴ Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city. ¹⁵ Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.

Jesus says: “My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.”  He is a righteous judge, who judges with equity. The psalmist says we should be joyful and full of praise for the coming judgment, and so we should. The return of Christ and the end of this age is not something to fear.  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”  Whoever believes in Christ shall be judged not by his own works but by the redeeming work of Christ on the cross.

The Lord has made known His salvation; He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations. ³ He has remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness…All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God…:  Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises. ⁵ Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, With the lyre and the sound of melody. ⁶ With trumpets and the sound of the horn Shout joyfully before the King, the Lord. for He is coming to judge the earth; He will judge the world with righteousness And the peoples with equity.

 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost… He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.  The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.  (Revelation 22)