Psalms 149:1-6

1 Hallelujah! Sing to God a brand-new song, praise him in the company of all who love him.

2 Let all Israel celebrate their Sovereign Creator, Zion's children exult in their King.

3 Let them praise his name in dance; strike up the band and make great music!

4 And why? Because God delights in his people, festoons plain folk with salvation garlands!

5 Let true lovers break out in praise, sing out from wherever they're sitting,

6 Shout the high praises of God, brandish their swords in the wild sword-dance -

Psalms 149:1-6 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 149

This psalm is thought by Calvin and others to have been written for the sake of the Jews that returned from the Babylonish captivity; and is a prediction of great and famous things done in the times of the Maccabees to Heathens and their princes, so Theodoret; the Syriac version entitles it,

``concerning the new temple;''

that is, the second temple, built by Zerubbabel, and the things done under that; but it rather seems to have been written by David in the beginning of his reign, when he obtained victories over the Philistines, Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites, and Syrians; and refers to the times of the Messiah, as Kimchi, R. Obadiah Gaon, and others think; not of the Jews' vainly expected Messiah, but of the true Messiah, who is come, and will come again, spiritually and personally; and there are many things in it applicable both to the first and latter part of his days.