Psalms 149King James Version
Praise ye the Lord. Sing unto the Lord a new song. Let Israel rejoice in him that made him.
A new song in the congregation of the saints. Let Israel rejoice in him that made him; let Zion's children be joyful in their King. Let them praise his name in the dance; sing praises with timbrel and harp. The LORD takes pleasure in his people; he will beautify the meek with salvation. Let the saints be joyful in glory; let them sing aloud upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth and a two-edged sword in their hand: to execute judgment, to bind kings with chains. This honour have all his saints.
The saints who praise with dance and timbrel are the same saints who carry the sword of divine justice; worship and mission, doxology and holy war, are not separate activities.
verse: "Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand." The combination of praise and sword in the same image captures the psalm's tension: joy and combat held together.
No superscription. Fifth of the closing Hallel, second to last. The 'judgment written' (v9) refers to the decrees of divine judgment, not human legislation. The beds upon which saints sing (v5) may indicate nighttime prayer or the sick who praise from their sickbeds. The eschatological binding of kings was interpreted in Jewish apocalyptic and Christian contexts as the final defeat of evil.
Israel and the children of Zion as the dancing worshippers; God as the one who made and beautifies them; the meek beautified with salvation; the heathen and peoples as the subjects of divine judgment; kings and nobles as those bound in the final vision.
Psalm 149 is the most militantly eschatological psalm in the closing Hallel. The two-edged sword and binding of kings (vv6-9) was read by the early church as spiritual warfare and by some reformers as covenantal commission. Revelation 19:15 (Christ with a two-edged sword from his mouth) echoes this imagery in a specifically christological direction.
For when you feel the integration of worship and action, praise and engaged life, doxology and responsibility. The psalm insists these belong together.
1Praise ye the LORD. Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints.
2Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.
3Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp.
4For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.
5Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds.
6Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand;
7To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people;
8To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;
9To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD.