September 29, 2023 — Psalm 149

“Praise the LORD! Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of the faithful. Let Israel be glad in its Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King. Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre. For the LORD takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with victory. Let the faithful exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their couches. Let the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands, to execute vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, to bind their kings with fetters and their nobles with chains of iron, to execute on them the judgment decreed. This is glory for all his faithful ones. Praise the LORD!”

Psalm 149 is the fourth in a series of concluding Psalms that focus on the Praise of the Lord. The location of Psalm 149 in the book adds two perspectives on its interpretation. It clearly continues the preceding hymn, Psalm 148 which speaks of Israel as the chosen people of G-d. Psalm 149 as the sequel then discloses how praise of and giving glory to G-d falls on the faithful ones. In Psalm 148, the kings and princes and all peoples are part of the universal choir that praises the Lord, while in Psalm 149 kings and princes are the powers to be overthrown in praise of the Lord.

Psalm 149, the next to last Psalm corresponds to and should be held in comparison to Psalm 2, the second Psalm. Psalm 2 announces that it is through his anointed king that the Lord will claim kings and nations for his rule. In Psalm 149, it is the assembly of the faithful, the faithful Christin community through whom the Lord achieves G-d’s ultimate purpose — the rule of Jesus as Lord and Savior. There is a particular reason why we sing psalms and hymns in the congregation — because we are called to be like-minded and in that like-mindedness we should “with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans). This is the main purpose of the church of Jesus Christ. This is the great end for which the church exists and will exist throughout eternity.

Of course, in this world we have too many kings and dictators, like the dictator in North Korea who do not recognize the Lord as their king. These human tyrants require parades in their own honor every other week or so, where everybody dutifully shows up to parrot the mantras of praise. Should anybody be absent, they know they will be summarily executed for disloyalty. G-d’s people, on the other hand, find great joy in our worship of G-d because we are the people of G-d, our Lord Jesus Christ is our king.  

Let us Pray:

God our maker, you crown the humble with honor and exalt the faithful who gather in your name. Because you have favored us with life, we dance before you in our joy and praise you with unending song for the victory of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

Amen.

Pastor Dave