Psalms 149:1-7

1 Praise the Lord. Sing a new song to the Lord. Sing praise to him in the community of his faithful people.

2 Let Israel be filled with joy because God is their Maker. Let the people of Zion be glad because he is their King.

3 Let them praise his name with dancing. Let them make music to him with harps and tambourines.

4 The LORD takes delight in his people. He saves those who aren't proud. He makes them feel like kings.

5 Let his faithful people be filled with joy because of that honor. Let them sing with joy even when they are lying in bed.

6 May they praise God with their mouths. May they hold in their hands a sword that has two edges.

7 Let them pay the nations back. Let them punish the people of the earth.

Psalms 149:1-7 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.