Hallelujah!
Psalm 149
Adrian Rogers asked in one of his sermons, “What is the world coming to?” And his answer was “It’s coming to Jesus!” That is ultimately true even if it often does not appear to be the case. Psalm 149 is a psalm that celebrates God’s victory. Some locate its writing following the Babylonian exile during the time of Nehemiah as the Hebrew people return to the land of Israel. It may indeed originate there, but its gaze stares into the future when the Lord, “the King of Zion” will bring judgment and justice for His people.
And what is our response to God’s great victory? Worship. Let’s look briefly at Psalm 149 to answer a few questions about worship. Listen to Psalm 149:
Psalm 149
1 Praise the LORD! Sing to the LORD a new song,
And His praise in the assembly of saints.
2 Let Israel rejoice in their Maker;
Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.
3 Let them praise His name with the dance;
Let them sing praises to Him with the timbrel and harp.
4 For the LORD takes pleasure in His people;
He will beautify the humble with salvation.
5 Let the saints be joyful in glory;
Let them sing aloud on their beds.
6 Let the high praises of God be in their mouth,
And a two-edged sword in their hand,
7 To execute vengeance on the nations,
And punishments on the peoples;
8 To bind their kings with chains,
And their nobles with fetters of iron;
9 To execute on them the written judgment–
This honor have all His saints. Praise the LORD!
Psalm 149 begins with “Praise the LORD!” or “Hallelujah!” It ends with the same, “Hallelujah!” or “Praise the LORD!”
1. The “WHO” of Worship (Psalm 149:1, 5, 9)
Who is called to worship? Worshipers are called “Saints” (Psa. 149:1, 5, 9). “Praise the LORD! Sing to the LORD a new song, And His praise in the assembly of saints” (Psa. 149:1). The word for “saints” means those who are godly due to God’s mercy and kindness. Specifically they are called to worship “in the assembly of saints,” the congregation. This word is translated into the New Testament as “ekklesia” the church. We are the assembly of the saints, those who have been made saints by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. We are “His people” (Psa. 149:4) like “Israel” and “the children of Zion” were in the Old Testament (Psa. 149:2).
2. The “WHAT” of Worship (Psalm 149:1, 9)
What are worshipers called to do? “Praise the LORD!” The Hebrew is “הַלְלוּ יָהּ, Hallelujah”. Hallel is a command meaning to praise; Jah is the short form of Yahweh, the Lord. The psalm begins and ends with Hallelujah, Praise the LORD!
What does our praise look like? We are to “Sing to the LORD a new song, and His praise” (Psa. 149:1b). To “Sing to the LORD a new song” is to sing a song to God on a new occasion of His deliverance. The new song is the song of the redeemed (Rev. 5:9; 14:3). Genuine worship is fresh. Our worship should not be stale ritual or empty tradition.
Hebrews 13:15 says, “Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.”
While there is the danger of having a “praiseless” heart we must beware of offering heartless praise. It is essential for every believer to praise the Lord; however, this is not to the exclusion of explicit trust and obedience to the Lord. Properly rendered praise must come from a heart and life surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
3. The “HOW” of Worship (Psalm 149:2-3, 5)
2 Let Israel rejoice in their Maker;
Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.
3 Let them praise His name with the dance;
Let them sing praises to Him with the timbrel and harp.
5 Let the saints be joyful in glory;
Let them sing aloud on their beds.
Did you notice the attitude of our worship? JOY! The psalmist repeats it (Psa. 149:2), “Let Israel rejoice in their Maker” and “Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King” and again (Psa. 149:5), “Let the saints be joyful in glory.” Psalm 149:3 with its dancing and timbrels pictures a victory celebration like Israel did when God drowned the Egyptian army in the Red Sea (Exo. 15:20). Today we are joyful because Christ has won the victory for us over sin and death.
Specifically, what are they to do? They are to praise God as their “Maker” and as “their King.” Our Maker is our Savior, our King. Our joy is in our Maker and our King. We “rejoice in the Lord always” (Phil. 4:4).
4. The “WHY” of Worship (Psalm 149:4)
“For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation.” Why do we worship? Because of who God is and what He has done. Our salvation is the primary motivation to worship the Lord from a humble heart of gratitude. We worship the Lord because He “takes pleasure in His people.” The Lord takes pleasure in His people because He can see us as we shall be, “clothed in white garments” (Rev. 3:5) “made … white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rev. 7:14). It is the Lord who beautifies the humble with salvation. Our salvation in Christ Jesus is our motivation for humble worship.
5. The “WHEN” of worship (Psalm 149:6-9)
Unlike the church of today Israel was given a militant role. Israel was God’s agent of judgement on the Canaanite peoples for their incredible evil idolatry. God was on their side when they walked in obedience to him and he would fight on their behalf against their enemies.
This is why we shouldn’t be surprised when Psalm 149:7-9 speaks of two-edged swords, vengeance and punishment. God punishes sin, this is a matter of justice. How can we declare that we believe in justice being done here on earth when someone does wrong; yet deny God the right to execute judgement against individuals and nations for their acts of evil?
Unlike the nation of Israel, our enemies are not the unbelievers or the ungodly nations. No, “… we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12). And “the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God,” (2 Cor. 10:4). We fight this spiritual battle with “the word of God” which “is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword” (Heb. 4:12). We overcome “by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of (our) testimony” (Rev. 12:11).
The day of the Lord will come. Jesus Christ will return to bring justice and judgment on this world. When He does Revelation 19:15 says, “Now out of His mouth goes a sharp two edged sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.”
This Psalm begins and ends with “Hallelujah!” That’s where we also live: between the Hallelujahs. We sing “Hallelujah” because Christ has come as the Suffering Servant, who was “led like a lamb to the slaughter” (Isa 53:7) to take away our sin. And we sing “Hallelujah” because Christ will return in victory as the “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Rev 19:11,16). This Psalm looks forward to the day of final judgment when the Lord will judge the nations with justice and righteousness. It calls us to sing a new song today in anticipation of the Lord’s ultimate victory tomorrow. Praise the Lord! Hallelujah!
