Psalm 149
Introduction
In Scripture, praise and true authority always go hand in hand. This is because it is faith that overcomes the world (1 John 5:4), and praise always overflows from the confidence of true faith. Evangelical faith sings at the dinner table, sings behind the wheel, sings at the workbench, sings while going to war, and sings in the assembly of the saints. You are the choir militant, and you have been given a new song indeed. Who is given that new song but the elect of God, the 144,000 (Rev. 14:3)?
The Text
“Praise ye the Lord. Sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints. Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King. Let them praise his name in the dance: Let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp. For the Lord taketh pleasure in his people: He will beautify the meek with salvation. Let the saints be joyful in glory: Let them sing aloud upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand; To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; To execute upon them the judgment written: This honour have all his saints. Praise ye the Lord” (Psalm 149).
Summary of the Text
This is yet another hallelujah psalm. It begins with this word (v. 1), and ends with it also (v. 9). Remember our two pieces of bread. The new song is sung before the Lord, and this new song is sung by new men (v. 1). And this goes on forever because the new birth is the kind of thing that never ages. This is a corporate duty and a corporate pleasure—His praise in the congregation of saints (v. 1). Israel needs to rejoice in the one who made her (v. 2), and the children of Zion must be joyful in their king (v. 2). Praise Him with dance, and praise Him with timbrel and harp (v. 3). The Lord Jehovah does not just put up with this; He takes pleasure in His people (v. 4). He adorns the meek with salvation. He beautifies them (v. 4). Having been thus beautified, the saints are to rejoice in glory (v. 5), and sing aloud on their beds (or perhaps couches). They are to sing while at rest, but also to sing while they are going to war (v. 6). The high praises of God should be in their mouth and a double-bladed sword in hand (v. 6). To do what? To execute vengeance on the heathen (v. 7) and punishment on the people (v. 7). In addition, this militant choir binds their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron (v. 8). They are ministers of God’s judgment, and all His saints have this honor (v. 9). And we conclude with another hallelujah (v. 9).
Timbrel and Harp
The timbrel is a small hand drum, or tambourine-like instrument. It is in the percussion family, and Miriam and the women of Israel used it when they danced on the shores of the Red Sea. “And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances” (Exodus 15:20). The harp here was not like our modern harp, but was likely closer to a lyre, or perhaps even a guitar. Josephus tells us it had ten strings (see Ps. 144:9) and was played with a plectrum (or pick).
Rejoicing in Glory
We are not fit or worthy to praise the Lord in our own strength or in our own name. In order for us to walk in a manner that is worthy of God (Eph. 4:1; Col. 1:10; 1 Thess. 2:12), we must be made worthy. This is all of grace. It is the same with our praise. In order for our praise to be beautiful enough to offer up to God, God must beautify it first. And He does this by beautifying us. In salvation, God justifies His people, declaring them to be perfect. He beautifies them with the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and in that glorious imputation of the purest righteousness, the end result is that we are equipped to rejoice in glory, and to sing everywhere and in everything.
God has made us in such a way as that we must seek after glory. We cannot help seeking glory—it is something that we simply must do. This impulse is not eradicated by the fall, or by the presence of sin. What sin does is distort what we find to be glorious. For the unconverted, they must either seek out dark glory (as the satanists and sodomites do), or the must seek out vain glory (as the moralists and the impotently religious do). Then Christians, seeking to be faithful, come along and react to this by abnegating all forms of glory. But this is Buddhism, or Stoicism, not Christian faith.
This false step is nothing but the cold clatter of morality. What we want is gospel living, filled to the brim with sap, or blood, or salt, or vinegar, or grace, or glory. Something interesting.
What is sin but a failure to pursue glory properly? “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
“Who will render to every man according to his deeds: To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile.”Romans 2:6–10 (KJV)
Those who want to be saved should be in pursuit of what God tells us salvation consists of. It consists of the beauty of the Lord, the glory of God, and the golden weight of the Spirit’s presence. You cannot pursue salvation without pursuing Him, and He is glorious. Remember that.
New Covenant Weapons
One of the differences between the old covenant and the new has to do with the weaponry. There are still wars and police actions in the time of the new covenant, but this is not how the kingdom is supposed to advance.
“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.”2 Corinthians 10:3–6 (KJV)
At the same time, the advance of the kingdom does result in tumults, riots, protests, slanders, and more. Just read casually through the book of Acts, and take careful note. But our weapons are mighty, and we reveal that we know that they are mighty when they are wielded by Christians who are singing. As Spurgeon put it, “even the tumult of our holy war is part of the music of our lives.” Let the jangling and clashing in the background serve as an interesting form of percussion.