Psalms 149:2-9

2 Let Israel find joy in their creator. Let the people of Zion rejoice over their king.

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

4 because the LORD takes pleasure in his people. He crowns those who are oppressed with victory.

5 Let godly people triumph in glory. Let them sing for joy on their beds.

6 Let the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands

7 to take vengeance on the nations, to punish the people of the world,

8 to put their kings in chains and their leaders in iron shackles,

9 to carry out the judgment that is written against them. This is an honor that belongs to all his godly ones. Hallelujah!

Psalms 149:2-9 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.