Psalm 149 - Our Duty to Rejoice in Our King

Psalm 149
¹ Praise the Lord!
Sing to the Lord a new song,
His praise in the congregation of the godly ones.
² Let Israel be glad in his Maker;
Let the sons of Zion rejoice in their King.
³ Let them praise His name with dancing;
Let them sing praises to Him with timbrel and lyre.
⁴ For the Lord takes pleasure in His people;
He will beautify the afflicted ones with salvation.

⁵ Let the godly ones exult in glory;
Let them sing for joy on their beds.
⁶ The high praises of God in their mouth,
And a two-edged sword in their hand,
⁷ To execute vengeance on the nations
And punishment on the peoples,
⁸ To bind their kings with chains
And their nobles with fetters of iron,
⁹ To execute on them the judgment written;
This is an honor for all His godly ones.

Praise the Lord!

Message:  Our Duty to Rejoice in Our King

Time: Based upon authorship and subject matter, Psalms cover a range of centuries. David is mentioned 73 times, Solomon 2, Moses 1, and 50 designate no specific person. It is believed they were compiled around 537 BC. The psalms deal with such subjects as God and His creation, war, worship, wisdom, sin and evil, judgment, justice, and the coming of the Messiah.

What the Lord is Saying:
The Song (1-3)
The Theme (1a)
Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song, I've read this before in various Psalms and scripture and have never thought that the new song is a new and distinct song from the other songs. And the song has a special point of emphasis that is possibly different from the other songs, perhaps. In the book of Psalms there are 6 new songs (33:3, 40:3, 96:1, 98:1 144:9, 149:1). New songs anticipate the millennial reign of Christ. 

The Throng (1b-3)
     The Great Congregation is Assembled (v1b)
His praise in the congregation of the godly ones. Congregation could mean many different types of groups, but I think what is significant is it is a group of the godly ones. This group is separate and distinct and it should confirm the importance of assembling together. It saddens me to hear of people that suddenly find no time for church or regular community with other Christians. To me, it seems that when this occurs Satan is winning and pulling apart this formidable force. But, it also makes me think about the church as it assembles. Are we simply walking into a movie theater and watching a show or are we building community in the body to wage war against the darkness. 

     The Great Creator of Israel is Acclaimed (v.2-3)
Our Great God adopted the nation of Israel as His own
Let Israel be glad in his Maker; Let the sons of Zion rejoice in their King.
Here is a Levite prayer on behalf of the nation in regards to sealing the covenant in the days of Nehemiah:

Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before thee, that hath come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people, since the time of the kings of Assyria unto this day. Howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly:
Neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers, kept thy law, nor hearkened unto thy commandments and thy testimonies, wherewith thou didst testify against them. For they have not served thee in their kingdom, and in thy great goodness that thou gavest them, and in the large and fat land which thou gavest before them, neither turned they from their wicked works.
Behold, we are servants this day, and for the land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are servants in it: And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins: also they have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.

Zion is the poetical name for Jerusalem and proverbial name for the city as the center of all political power in the coming millennial age. Thus, Israel's King (Maker) is to be rejoiced in as he is higher than any other king. 

Let them praise His name with dancing; Let them sing praises to Him with timbrel and lyre.
When a person dances, there entire body moves and thus in praising God with our dance, every part of us is moving and focused on Him. Their voices are singing praises with music instruments. It is good to see the encouragement to praise the Lord with song.

The Saints (4-5)
Their Blessing (4a)
For the Lord takes pleasure in His people. Much of the Bible is not simply about God but how God relates to people and people's worship of God. 75% of the book of Genesis speaks of Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph and God's pleasure in his people.

Their Beauty (4b)
He will beautify the afflicted ones with salvation. He will deliver those that are afflicted. Society likes the person that returns a tough word with a tougher word. We love to watch debates where people respond from an attack with a good defense or insult even. But, we are reminded often in scripture to let God take care of the outcomes and he mentions the beauty here of those that have been afflicted. And this is the picture of Jesus and his life because he willingly went to the cross rather than fight back when he was accused. 

Their Bliss (5)
Let the godly ones exult in glory; Let them sing for joy on their beds. The Psalmist believes that people should be happy and they should be rejoicing even as they go to bed, thankful for the day and what the Lord has provided and then awaken with happiness as seeking to praise God. We have much to be praising God for. 

The Sword (6-9)
There is victory in the Lord

Trusting in that Sword (v. 6)

The high praises of God in their mouth. I am to be a person that is praising God. We are to be a people that praise Him. It seems in recent years as worship music becomes more popular, I tend to be moving away from it and yet, the Christian music I grew up on is worship music. The song we sang in church Sunday was unstoppable God. His Glory goes on and on. There is much we can praise God for. He is eternal, uncreated, self-existing, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, holy, just, true, tender and living, gracious and kind. 

And a two-edged sword in their hand. The Word of God is a our sword in all of life. We use it to meet all attacks. In the list of Christian armor, it is the only weapon of attack, all other weapons are for defense (Ephesians 6:17). When Satan attacked Adam and Eve, what he attacked was the reliability of the Words of God. In his hour of temptation with Satan, Jesus' only defense was the word of God. The Word of God needs to be our defense. 

Trusting with that Sword (v.7-9)

To execute vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, to bind their kings with chains
And their nobles with fetters of iron, to execute on them the judgment written; This is an honor for all His godly ones. Praise the Lord! In Revelation 19:15, when the Lord descends out of the sky to engage the enemy, it is the sword that comes out of his mouth. Could these verses be thinking of that moment? The remaining Gentiles on the earth here are the nations and peoples of verse 7. The restored Hebrew people will execute judgment in honor of all His Godly ones. Once again, the Word of God will be feared as we all Praise the Lord. 

Promise: No matter how we feel, no matter what is going on in our life, there can always be time to stop and Praise the Lord. 

Prayer: Praise the Lord, Sing to the Lord. Lord, revitalize Your church and the people of God. Help all people of God and Christians to put aside their differences and assemble together each week at church, supporting it with financial gifts and continuing to give glory to You. Lord, you are higher than any other. You are there for the afflicted ones, providing deliverance. Let the people of God continually praise you, at morning and night. I want to praise you more. May the people of this earth recognize the holiness of the Word of God. In the end, as in the beginning, the Lord will be praised.