Psalms 149

1 Alleluia. Sing ye to the Lord a new song; his praising be in the church of saints. (Alleluia. Sing ye a new song to the Lord; let his praises be in the congregation of his saints.)

2 Israel be glad in him that made him; and the daughters of Zion make full out joy in their king. (Let the people of Israel be glad in him, who made them; and let the daughters of Zion rejoice in their King.)

3 Praise they his name in a quire; say they psalm to him in a tympan, and psaltery. (Praise they his name with a dance; sing they songs to him with a tympan, or with a drum, and a lute./Praise they his name with dancing; sing they songs to him with a tambourine, and a lute.)

4 For the Lord is well pleased in his people; and he hath raised mild men into health. (For the Lord is well pleased with his people; and he hath raised up the meek to victory/and he hath given salvation, or deliverance, to the humble.)

5 Saints shall make full out joy in glory; they shall be glad in their beds. (The saints shall rejoice in triumph; they shall sing joyfully all night long.)

6 The full out joyings of God in the throat of them; and swords sharp on both sides in the hands of them. (Let there be rejoicing for God on their lips/in their mouths; and let sharp swords be in their hands.)

7 To do vengeance in nations; and blamings in peoples. (To bring vengeance to the nations; and to punish the peoples.)

8 To bind the kings of them in stocks; and the noble men of them in iron manacles. (To bind up their kings in the stocks; and their noble men in iron manacles.)

9 That they make in them (the) doom written; this is the glory to all his saints. (So that they execute the judgement written against them; this is the glory for all his saints.)

Psalms 149 Commentary

Chapter 149

Joy to all the people of God. (1-5) Terror to their enemies. (6-9)

Verses 1-5 New mercies continually demand new songs of praise, upon earth and in heaven. And the children of Zion have not only to bless the God who made them, but to rejoice in him, as having created them in Christ Jesus unto good works, and formed them saints as well as men. The Lord takes pleasure in his people; they should rejoice in Him. When the Lord has made sinners feel their wants and unworthiness, he will adorn them with the graces of his Spirit, and cause them to bear his image, and rejoice in his happiness for ever. Let his saints employ their waking hours upon their beds in songs of praise. Let them rejoice, even upon the bed of death, assured that they are going to eternal rest and glory.

Verses 6-9 Some of God's servants of old were appointed to execute vengeance according to his word. They did not do it from personal revenge or earthly politics, but in obedience to God's command. And the honour intended for all the saints of God, consists in their triumphs over the enemies of their salvation. Christ never intended his gospel should be spread by fire and sword, or his righteousness by the wrath of man. But let the high praises of God be in our mouths, while we wield the sword of the word of God, with the shield of faith, in warfare with the world, the flesh, and the devil. The saints shall be more than conquerors over the enemies of their souls, through the blood of the Lamb and the word of his testimony. The completing of this will be in the judgement of the great day. Then shall the judgement be executed. Behold Jesus, and his gospel church, chiefly in her millennial state. He and his people rejoice in each other; by their prayers and efforts they work with him, while he goes forth in the chariots of salvation, conquering sinners by grace, or in chariots of vengeance, to destroy his enemies.

Chapter Summary

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.