August 21, 2019 (Wednesday)
(From the Cambridge Bible Commentary):“Another jubilant anthem, in which Israel is exhorted to praise Jehovah its Maker, Who has restored it to a position of dignity and honour (Psalm 149:1-4); and a victorious triumph over all the nations of the world is confidently anticipated (Psalm 149:5-9). In Psalm 148:11 the nations are summoned to join with Israel in the chorus of universal praise: here their obstinate hostility is represented as doomed to punishment. “That nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted” (Isaiah 60:12).
“This Psalm has been confidently assigned, and not without good reason, to the Maccabaean period. Religious ardour, united with a consciousness of vigorous strength, national enthusiasm coupled with passionate hatred of national enemies, were, it is pointed out, prominent characteristics of the Maccabaean period.”
(From the Easy English Bible Commentary):“The Jews fought actual wars and gained independence during their Maccabean period. The war that Christians fight today, however, is not with guns and knives. It is a war with *prayer and love instead of guns and knives. (edited excerpt).”
(From Charles Haddon Spurgeon):“We are almost at the last Psalm, and still among the Hallelujahs. This is “a new song”, evidently intended for the new creation, and the men who are of new heart. It is such a song as may be sung at the coming of the Lord, when the new dispensation shall bring overthrow to the wicked and honour to all the saints. The tone is exceedingly jubilant and exultant. All through one hears the beat of the feet of dancing maidens, keeping time to the timbrel and harp.”
Psalm 149 New International Version (NIV)
I. THE PRAISE OF GOD’S PEOPLE (1-4)
1 Praise the Lord.
Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise in the assembly of his faithful people.
2 Let Israel rejoice in their Maker;
let the people of Zion be glad in their King.
3 Let them praise his name with dancing
and make music to him with timbrel and harp.
4 For the Lord takes delight in his people;
he crowns the humble with victory.
II. THE POWER OF GOD’S PEOPLE (5-9)
5 Let his faithful people rejoice in this honor
and sing for joy on their beds.
6 May the praise of God be in their mouths
and a double-edged sword in their hands,
7 to inflict vengeance on the nations
and punishment on the peoples,
8 to bind their kings with fetters,
their nobles with shackles of iron,
9 to carry out the sentence written against them–
this is the glory of all his faithful people.
Praise the Lord.
Compare three translations side by side. Click here.
Click here for Pulpit Commentary notes on Psalm 149
Click here for Easy English Explanations about Psalm 149
Click here for Cambridge Bible Commentary notes on Psalm 149
Click here for Spurgeon’s Treasury of David on Psalm 149
Click here for Enduring Word Commentary notes on Psalm 149
Some Bible students think that Psalm 149 is not only about a war that the Jews fought, or even the Christian war of Ephesians 6 in which God’s people daily fight evil. It also makes us look at when Jesus will come back to the earth.
JESUS SHALL REIGN Authors, Isaac Watts and John Hatton 1719
Jesus shall reign where’er the sun
Does his successive journeys run;
His kingdom stretch from shore to
shore, Till suns shall rise and set no more.
Blessings abound where’er He reigns;
The prisoner leaps to lose his chains;
The weary find eternal rest,
And all the sons of want are blessed.
To our King be highest praise
Rising through eternal days
Just and faithful – He shall reign.
Jesus shall reign
People and realms of every tongue
Dwell on His love with sweetest song; And infant voices shall proclaim
Their early praising of His Name.
To our King be highest praise
Rising through eternal days
Just and faithful – He shall reign.
Jesus shall reign
Let every creature rise and bring
Blessing and honour to our King;
Angels descend with songs
again, And earth repeat the loud amen!
To our King be highest praise
Rising through eternal days
Just and faithful – He shall reign. Jesus shall reign
To our King be highest praise
Rising through eternal days
Just and faithful – He shall reign. Jesus shall reign
Click here for a list of Psalms we will study from June 5, 2019 to August 28, 2019