Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

“Praise the Lord! [Hallelujah]” (14)

There is only one word that can attempt to express the amazing ‘song of the universe’ presented in this all encompassing psalm. It will fill the hearts and mouths of his people forever and ever! “Hallelu- jah!”

1 Keil & Delitzsch 2 Kraus 3 Kraus 4 Spurgeon 5 Kraus

6 Spurgeon 7 Spurgeon 8 Spurgeon

9 Keil & Delitzsch 10 Keil & Delitzsch

PSALM 149: PRAISE HIS NAME WITH DANCING The Song and the Sword

This second to the last Psalm is at once the most joyful and most militant of all the songs of the Bible. It marries two great themes of praise; the extreme expression of joy and the vision to expand the king- dom of God to all the earth. It is a thunderous challenge to the dominion of darkness! Jesus, Zion’s king, is extending his reign of righteousness, peace and joy to every nation through his joyful worshipers. ‘This Psalm is also explained….from the time of the restoration under Ezra and Nehemiah…’ 1 when the Jews who returned from Babylon rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem with swords in their hands. It’s dark passages of judgment on the gentile nations must be translated into the spirit of the new covenant where we “…don’t wage war with human plans and methods. We use God’s mighty weapons, not mere worldly weapons, to knock down the Devil’s strongholds.” (2 Cor. 10:3, 4) Ecstatic praise is revealed as one of the supreme spiritual weapons in the arsenal of the church. The comparison with the previous Psalm 148:14; “He has made his people strong,…” and the vic- torious note of Psalm 149:9; This is the glory of his faithful ones…” leads us to believe that, ‘The writer of the two Psalms is one and the same.’ 2

Much of the Psalm is written in a triplet form emphasizing three main words in each phrase:

Sing

Lord

new song

praises Israel Zion* Praise

assembly

faithful Maker

rejoice exult name

King

dancing etc.

The Trinity is foreshadowed by the plural use of the title for God in verse 2. “O Israel, rejoice in your Maker(s).” 3 It is divided by the two great themes: I SING TO THE LORD - 1-5 The Song II A SHARP SWORD IN THEIR HAND - 6-9 The Sword

I

SING TO THE LORD -

1-5 The Song

“Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song. Sing his praises in the assembly of the faithful. O Is- rael, rejoice in your Maker. O people of Jerusalem (Zion), exult in your King. “ (1, 2)

This is a party for God’s children; the summons excludes those who are not part of the family of faith. It begins with the word “Hallelujah” with the volume at the highest level and the joy unrestrained. It quickly moves to a new song that captures the happy feelings of the Jews who are once again restored to their beloved city of Jerusalem. The song propels the people into new levels of merriment and they praise the name of their King with increasing jubilance. These verses distill all the joyous passages of the entire Book of Psalms into a few short phrases! The Psalm focuses on God’s family: “the assembly 403