Psalms Reading – 5.19.2022
Psalm 149
1 Praise the Lord.
Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise in the assembly of his faithful people.
2 Let Israel rejoice in their Maker;
let the people of Zion be glad in their King.
3 Let them praise his name with dancing
and make music to him with timbrel and harp.
4 For the Lord takes delight in his people;
he crowns the humble with victory.
5 Let his faithful people rejoice in this honor
and sing for joy on their beds.
6 May the praise of God be in their mouths
and a double-edged sword in their hands,
7 to inflict vengeance on the nations
and punishment on the peoples,
8 to bind their kings with fetters,
their nobles with shackles of iron,
9 to carry out the sentence written against them—
this is the glory of all his faithful people. Praise the Lord.
This psalm begins with a call to praise. The faithful receive the victory that reveals the Lord delights in them. It concludes with the glory that God’s people will share in the governing of God’s kingdom, especially, in enlisting His people into His army to punish the nations. When God’s faithful people praise him, they enter the battle on the Lord’s side, so they must be properly armed for their task. According to the New Testament, followers of Jesus will participate in the judgment which this foreshadows.
Psalm 149, especially verses 6-9, parallels Psalm 2 in several ways. The main difference between this psalm is that God’s people accomplish the tasks of God’s anointed king in Psalm 2. When we read them together, these two psalms reveal the close connection between the anointed king and his people. God’s anointed king represents his people, and the people reflect the Godly anointed king.
As followers of Christ, this is also true as Jesus represents us, and we represent the King of kings.
Six times in the psalms and once in Isaiah, we are commanded to sing a new song to the Lord. No where in the Bible does it tell us to sing old songs to the Lord! Even in Revelation where we witness heaven’s magnificent worship, there are thousands upon thousands of angels and others singing a “new song” before the throne of the Lamb of God.
To honor the Lord and His word, our worship should not become stale and confined only to the ritual and routine of familiar songs and prayers, as magnificent as they are. If we are growing in our faith and deeper in love with Jesus, we should have hearts constantly filed with fresh praise for His fresh acts of love displayed each day.
Memory Verse: Psalm 147:3, He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
Question(s) to Consider: Are you surprised that faithful followers of Jesus will join God in the final judgment of the world? What new songs are you listening to in your personal worship?