A HYMN TO THE REDEEMER.
Psalm 149:1-9.
PSALM 149:1. The exhortation to “Praise ye the LORD” is especially addressed to “saints” = those loved by God with His covenant love. All of God’s people are saints, and we are envisaged as met together in congregation, singing His praise. It is only those who are made new in Christ Jesus who can thus “sing unto the LORD a new song” = worshipping God ‘in spirit and in truth’ (cf. John 4:24).
PSALM 149:2. “Let Israel rejoice in Him that made him.” Elsewhere the LORD speaks of Himself as, ‘the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker’ (cf. Isaiah 45:11). He called Israel out of Egypt, and He calls the Church out of the world (cf. Psalm 100:3).
“Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.” Our Maker is also our King. We are exhorted to be joyful in Him (cf. Philippians 4:4).
PSALM 149:3. “Let them praise His name in the dance.” After the exodus, the women followed Miriam ‘with timbrels and dances’ (cf. Exodus 15:20). When the Ark of the Covenant was brought up to Jerusalem, ‘David danced before the LORD with all his might’ (cf. 2 Samuel 6:14). When the LORD turns our ‘mourning into joy,’ it is cause for ‘rejoicing in the dance’ (cf. Jeremiah 31:13).
“Let them sing praises unto Him with the timbrel and harp.” The key word here is “unto Him.” Worship is to be ‘in spirit and truth’ (cf. John 4:24); and the singing of praise ‘with the spirit and with the understanding’ (cf. 1 Corinthians 14:15).
PSALM 149:4. “For the LORD taketh pleasure in His people.” We take pleasure in Him because He first took pleasure in us. We did not choose Him, but He chose us (cf. John 15:16). ‘We love Him because He first loved us’ (cf. 1 John 4:19).
“He will beautify the meek with salvation.” The meek recognise their lostness, and apply to Jesus for salvation. He clothes them with salvation, deliverance and victory. Meekness speaks of a patient and contented spirit. Like Jesus, they are ‘gentle and lowly in heart’ (cf. Matthew 11:29).
PSALM 149:5. “Let the saints be joyful in glory.” Why should we not rejoice, when Jesus has given us the fulness of His joy (cf. John 15:11)? Our delight is ‘Christ in us the hope of glory’ (cf. Colossians 1:27). Also, the saints in glory shall forever rejoice in the Lord.
“Let them sing aloud upon their beds.” Worship is not only a duty for the congregation, but also of the individual Christian. We can rest in peace when we are peace with God (cf. Psalm 4:8). And if we should rest in death, we have the hope of the resurrection (cf. 1 Peter 1:3).
PSALM 149:6. “Let the high praises of God be in their mouth.” We praise the Most High God, with the high praises of our mouth. We add nothing to Him, but He nevertheless ‘inhabits the praises of His people’ (cf. Psalm 22:3) and is exalted thereby.
“And a two-edged sword in their hand.” Christian warfare is spiritual, not physical (cf. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5). The two-edged sword is the word of God (cf. Hebrews 4:12). The two-edged sword proceeds out of the mouth of Jesus (cf. Revelation 1:16), and answers every temptation with ‘It is written’ (cf. Matthew 4:4, Matthew 4:7, Matthew 4:10).
PSALM 149:7. When Jesus began His ministry in Nazareth (cf. Luke 4:16-21), He stopped the Bible reading (cf. Isaiah 61:1-2) in the midst of the second verse at ‘the acceptable year of the Lord' - thereby leaving ‘the day of vengeance of our God’ in abeyance, awaiting His return (cf. Psalm 2:8-9; Revelation 19:1-3).
PSALM 149:8. In the meantime the church of our Lord Jesus Christ has the power of the keys, “to bind” and to 'loose' as the word of God leads (cf. Matthew 16:19). The preaching of the gospel declares who does and who does not have access into the kingdom of God (cf. John 3:18). It also has a restraining power, subduing those who would otherwise rise up against the Lord and His gospel. This is the power of the Word.
PSALM 149:9. In the end judgment must come, and “the saints” have some part to play in this (cf. Matthew 19:28). Until then our duty is to offer the mercy of God, on God’s terms, even as we have received mercy ourselves. This is our greatest “honour.”
“Praise ye the LORD.”
