High Praises – Psalm 149

Psalm 149 is one of the last 5 Psalms in that book and they all start and end with Praise the Lord or Halleiluyah! It is usually called one of the "Halleiluyah" Psalms. Some call it "The Psalm of the Sword." Another writer called it a lively song of triumph.

We are going to study this psalm in-depth. So brace yourself!

Psalm 149:1 - " Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the godly!"

In Hebrew the opening words, "Praise the Lord," look like this:  Halal Jah! Praise Jehovah! When pronounced in English those Hebrew words sound like Hallel Yah! It becomes our very word Halleiluyah!

The verb for praise here ("halal") is a Piel imperative! In Biblical Hebrew, verbs are categorized into seven major stems (called binyanim) that express various kinds of action and voice. Each stem modifies the root to convey nuances like intensity, causation, passivity, or reflexivity. We are being commanded to praise God and to do so intensively! With all your heart! Fervently! Diligently! Literally "praise" here means to brag or boast on Someone!

The verb sing comes from a word, “shiyr” that means to travel, to travel about, or to turn as one travels. It gives us the picture of one who sings everywhere he or she goes! Singing joyfully all the time! But notice we are not singing to each other here. But here the command is to sing unto the Lord Himself! The preposition "to" means to, toward, about, belonging to, or according to! That about covers every direction!

The word new means fresh is “chadash.” Don't let your song grow stale. The word also often carries the idea of renewed or rebuilt. What we would say Kainos newness.

And the noun for song has the same root shiyr as the previous verb in our verse ("sing"). It means to have a song as you travel. Again, everywhere you go. 9 times in Scripture we find this expression "new song."  They are: Ps. 33:3, Ps. 40:3, Ps. 96:1, Ps. 98:1, Ps. 144:9, here in Ps. 149:1 plus Isa. 42:10. Then in the New Testament see Rev. 5:9 and Rev. 14:3. (Wow!) 

Praise – Tahillah means laudation comes from the root word that means to shine. To be clear. The only way anyone will ever praise the Lord is first to have a clear heart and clear conscience, cleansed of any sin or sins that might cloud the situation. The word is used 57 times in Scripture and is translated "praise" every one of those times.

The word assembly- qahal means congregation. It comes from a verb that means to convoke, to call together. Sounds a lot like ecclesia, a called-out assembly. That's the New Testament word for the church.

And the word godly- chaciyd means holy ones or saints. It seems to come from a stem word that means "to be kind." 

Psalm 149:2 – “Let Israel be glad in his Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King!"

Why would Israel rejoice. First, because of her very name!

Israel – Yisra el means ruled by God, Princed by God. If God Himself has taken over your life, saved your lost soul, you should rejoice. The word combines Yisra - to prevail and el which is God’s Name and means strength!

The verb be glad - samach and means to brighten up or to make cheerful! The Lord God will indeed brighten up any life. The time-sense of the verb here is that of on-going action! Keep on rejoicing.

Maker – asah is the verb to build, to accomplish or to fashion" The amazing thing about the verb is that it represents continuing action. God is here seen as still making us. I guess He’s not finished with us yet!

Then comes another verb: rejoice - giyl. That means "to spin around" under the influence of any strong emotion Again, habitual action!

The noun children - Hebrew = ben that means son and is from the verb banah and means to build. This is a child as a builder of the family. God saves us for a reason, to build His family.

Zion means a dry parched place. God took a desert and made a Zion out of it. God made a barren land into an oasis. Once was lost, now I’m found. Was blind, now I see. That’s reason to "spin around" a bit. 😊

In this verse God is specifically mentioned as Creator-Maker and as King. King – melek is from a verb to reign. 

Psalm 149:3 "Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre!"

Let them praise – Halel/Halal means to shine, to boast, to rave about. It is from a root word Piel means that the action is intensively active, vigorous praise. The sense of the verb which here demands that the action is incomplete. The Israelites are to keep on praising God. Habitual action!

Name is the noun shem. It means renown or fame, honor, authority, character. Here it refers to One’s reputation or glory! Of course, it is rendered name in Scripture (832 times). What a NAME God has! It comes from a root stem that means to be lofty.

Dance is the noun machol and is related to the verb that means to turn around, to spin around or to twist or whirl. Here are a few Bible uses of this little word.

Psalm 30:11 - "Thou hast turned for my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness." 

And it’s God speaking in Jeremiah 31:4 - "Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry." 

However, look what sin does in Lamentations 5:15 - "The joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is turned into mourning." 

Psalm 150:4 - "Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs." There’s going to be some godly excitement when Jesus comes again!

The words Sing praises – zamar means to make music in praise of God, to touch the strings or parts of a musical instrument. Another intensive Piel verb with a sense of on-going action!

Note that the praises are "unto Him!" Praise God! This is NOT a man-centred Psalm. It is very God-centred.)

Now a couple of instruments are named.

The tambourine or timbrel translates toph, which comes from a verb that means to drum. In the Bible it is always translated tambourine, timbrel, or tabret. It certainly shows that the Jews of old were a musically inclined and demonstrative people.

And the word harp – kinnowr, root meaning is to twang according to the concordance. Of course, this twang becomes a very pleasant sound in the hands of a skilled player.

Psalm 149:4 - " For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation."   

The Name of God used here is Yahveh, it refers to His being the eternal I AM. He never changes. This also is the Name of God that emphasizes His Holiness and the need for man’s salvation. This is God’s Name that longs to enter covenant relationship with mankind.

This Lord take pleasure in His people, the verb - ratzsah means to find favor in, to be pleased with or to delight in.

Here is this verb in exact form in Psalm 147:11 - "The LORD takes pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy." How thrilling that God delights in us! That could only be possible through our Lord Jesus Christ and His shed Blood on the Cross! Paul reminds us that we are "accepted in the Beloved (Jesus) Ephesians 1:6 - "To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he has made us accepted in the beloved." This verb here is a tense, teaching us that God’s delight in us is constant.

The noun people - am. It pictures an association of people or a tribe. It is a type of God’s called-out assembly. What an honour to belong to the people of God. Here’s the first use of this word in the Bible: Genesis 11:6 - "And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do." 

Next God adorns the verb is pa’ar and means to beautify, to embellish, to cause to gleam. Our verb here is an intensive one, Piel stem. God is diligently beautifying His people.

The humble - anav means those who are meek and lowly. The depressed or browbeaten people of society. The humble. This is the only people who will come to the Lord and fall at His Feet for help anyway. Only the meek are saved. Proud people don’t even need the Lord.

Now what’s this word for salvation? In Hebrew it is spelled yeshuvah. It means deliverance to safety. It means the state of being rescued. It also in Hebrew implies victory and even blessing!

Psalm 149:5 “Let the godly exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their beds."

The godly - chaciyd comes from a background word that means to be kind. Those who know God and walk with God will be kind and gentle. This sounds like Paul's definition of God's love in 1 Corinthians 13. Love is patient, love is KIND ... - 1 Corinthians 13:4.

The verb exult - alaz it means to jump for joy, to exult, to triumph. But it does not have to be a physical thing. One's very heart can jump for joy!

See Psalm 28:7 - "The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore, my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him."  Yet it can be physical as in Psalm 68:4 - "Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him."  The "action" of our verb here is "incomplete."  That means this rejoicing has not stopped yet!

The word for glory – kabod/kavod here means weighty, honour, splendour, or dignity. It also may refer to the Glory of God. Why do we rejoice? Because of Who God is! And because of what God does!

Sing for joy – ranan is a verb meaning to shout for joy. It also means to emit a creaking noise. Whatever it sounds like, it is to go on continually!

And the word beds - mishkab translates a term that means couch, bed or even bedchamber. Its first use in Scripture speaks of an old sinful act in Genesis 49:4. But our verse here uses it obviously in a godly manner. The Holy Spirit reclaims a lot of these words and sanctifies them.

This verse does present a joyful picture of the child of God. Another text that reminds us of singing upon one's bed is Psalm 63:5-6. "My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: When I remember thee upon my bed and meditate on thee in the night watches."

Psalm 149:6 "Let the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands."

This is our spinal verse for today, in fact I believe for this season. The verse mentions two things: praises for God and swords for battle. How can the two be explained together?

Two body parts are mentioned! The "throat/mouth" and the "hand."

The noun for throat - garown is derived from a verb that means mouth.

By the word order here, and the ancient teachers say that there’s immense importance in Hebrew word order, what’s in the mouth must be right before what’s in the hand will be effective. You can’t use the sword rightly if you haven’t used your mouth rightly.

High praises - romemah which means that which is uplifting or arising. Strong’s Bible Dictionary says it means exaltation or praise. You can see that the noun is plural. I can only find this one time the word occurs in the whole Bible! That makes it even more special!

The Name for God here is just El. It is used 213 times for God in Scripture. It means strong one or mighty one. One of rank or dignity.

The adjective two-edged - piyphiyah. It’s only used twice in the Bible once here and then in Isaiah 41:15 where it is rendered teeth. It means edge, side, or mouth.

The noun sword - chereb means drought, dry, parched. Obviously, the idea is defeating the enemy.

And even the word hand - yad and that syllable alone gives us the Hebrew word for Judah (yadah) which means praise with an open hand. So, here’s another link between fighting and praising.

I want to emphasise on something here:

There are 2 types of swords as mentioned in the bible, there are 2 separate Greek words for this.

1)     Rhomphaia – A long sword mentioned in Gen 3:24 and Rev 19:15. It’s a long sword like a javelin of body length. Only Jesus and his angels use this sword.

2)     Machaira – A short sword for hand-to-hand combat. It’s a hand length short dagger for close warfare, as mentioned in Eph 6 and Hebrews 4:12.

Ephesians 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation and the sword (machaira) of the Spirit which is the word (rhema) of God. In fact, rhema is the root word for machaira. An utterance of God that has cutting power. It assists in defending ourselves from the enemy’s attacks and rightly dividing spiritual matters from soulish matters (2 Tim 2:15)

The more we praise him, the more victorious we’re going to be in battle for Him.

Do you remember how little David praised God just before killing Goliath in 1 Samuel 17?

Or how much Jehoshaphat’s army praised God before defeating the enemy army in 2 Chronicles 20?

Or how many times Paul just happened to be praising God when the Lord sent some great victory? (Singing in jail in Acts 16!)

Notice even how the Book of Revelation is arranged. Before we get to the fighting where God defeats antichrist and his army, we have much praising of the Lord Jesus Christ.

There’s a principle here.

Praise first - fight next!

It always enhances one’s access to power, God’s Power!

Suddenly in Psalm 149, We go from praising God to desiring vengeance upon His enemies.

Psalm 149:7 to execute vengeance on the nations, and punishments on the peoples.

A quote from Charles Spurgeon:

"This was once literally the duty of Israel: when they came into Canaan they fulfilled the righteous sentence of the Lord upon guilty nations. At this hour, under the gentler dispensation of grace, we wrestle not with flesh and blood; yet is our warfare none the less stern, and our victory none the less sure. All evil shall eventually be overthrown: the Lord shall display his justice against evildoers, and in that warfare his servants shall play their parts. The saints shall judge the world. Both the conflict and the victory at the end of it shall cause glory to God, and honour to his holy ones."

Execute is the verb asah and just means to do or to make, to build. It's a Qal infinitive meaning that God is the One doing the action and that it is a continuous thing.

Vengeance is a Hebrew noun niqamah that comes from a root verb which means to avenge, to punish or even to grudge. The Lord here does nothing wrong. He is sinlessly perfect in all His doings. 

We have many spiritual enemies like the devil and like the sins that stalk us week by week. We CAN by means of the Power of God exercise revenge upon those sins. Kill that old sin of worry that pesters you. Destroy that demon of lust that torments you. Ask God to help you conquer that lying or sarcastic tongue in your mouth.

The word heathen - gowy is usually used of the Gentile nations and speaks of those who are lost and away from God usually vile and filthy in their lives.

The word for punishments is tokechah and means reproof, rebuke, argument or even chastisement! In 2 Kings 19:3 this word is translated rebuke. Believer friend, REBUKE the devil. Rebuke those sins that so easily beset you. All in the name of Jesus and through the power of His Blood.

And the word people here are a bit different, Leom meaning a community of people or a nation of people.

The more we PRAISE the Lord, the more we shall DEFEAT the enemy! A defeated discouraged Christian who has lost his praise, will be much less likely to overcome the enemies of sin that tempt so often.

Thank God for the victory For the VICTORY = warfare. God has put it all together and given us a great "secret" of battle!

Psalm 149 turns from a Psalm of Praise into a Psalm of War!

Psalm 149:8 " to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron,”     

God willed it that His Old Testament people should defeat their enemies in literal physical battle. And they did. Read the lives of Moses, Joshua, and David! By God's power and presence of course, but with a "song" and a "sword!"  Those two words summarize Psalm 149 very well!

What they did we can do figuratively, spiritually! The "kings" of sin and the "nobles" of wickedness can be defeated by us Believers today as we use God's "song" and "sword" in our own lives!

The noun kings - melech comes from a little Hebrew verb that means "to reign."  Is there something "reigning" in your life that should not be? Let God help you kill that besetting sin! Be it anger or lust, jealousy, or whatever!

The verb to bind translates asar and means to tie down or to put in prison. It's the same verb used when Samson was bound by ropes in Judges 15:10. 

And the noun for chains - ziyqah originally meant what leaps forth from the fire. It's a picture of the blacksmith forging the metal to make those chains. (Just think of binding something in flames of fire.)

The word for nobles is the root word for honour or glory in the Old Testament. It means that which is so important that it's HEAVY to your thinking or heavy in your estimation. These nobles are important people it seems. BUT they fall before the praises and swords of God's victorious people too.

What "sin" is so heavy in your life that you can't manage it? God can help you conquer that thing. (Sin is a hard slave master)

The word fetters - kebel is from a verb that means to twine or braid together. It's another way of picturing one being bound by restraint.

Verses like this one, caused Paul to burst forth with praise, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."  Philippians 4:13

Psalm 149:9 “to execute on them the judgment written! This is the honour for all his godly ones.Praise the Lord!

The verb execute - asah in Hebrew and means to do, to make, or to fashion. Its tense implies active voice and continual (incomplete) action. It looks like God here has us helping Him in His work. (The Apostle Paul believed this concept.

1 Corinthians 3:9 "For we are co-labourers together with God."  A

gain Paul said that to the new Believers in 2 Corinthians 1:11 “Ye also helping together by prayer for us!"  

And the Lord Himself invites us to do the same in Isaiah 45:11 "Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me." 

Again in Ezekiel 36:36-37 God thunders:  "Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the LORD build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it. Thus, saith the Lord GOD; I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them."  God asks for our help. He doesn't NEED it but asks for it.

The noun judgment is the word that indicates a sentence given by a court of law. God has held court, reached a decision, and announced it clearly. We're just asking Him to go ahead and do the right thing He has declared. He has declared that He's coming back to this earth again. He has declared that He's going to judge the wicked someday. He's declared there will be a great White Throne. He's declared the books will be opened and the wicked will be cast into the Lake of Fire. To ask God to do what He has promised is not unwise. It's just following Bible precedent.

Where will one find a record of God's judgment? Our verse plainly tells us that it's "written."  In the Bible. The verb written translates a Hebrew term kathab that means to inscribe or to engrave. As a passive participle the verb suggests that the words were still being recorded. (The Bible had not yet been completed at the time David wrote these words) Now today, 3000 years later, God's Judgments are finalized in print form.

Look at these verses about God's Judgments: 

Psalm 119:52 says, "I remembered your judgments of old, O LORD; and have comforted myself." 

Psalm 119:62 adds, "At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto you because of your righteous judgments." 

Psalm 119:108 "Accept, I beseech you, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, and teach me your judgments."  

Psalm 119:120 "My flesh trembles for fear of you; and I am afraid of your judgments."   

Psalm 119:137 declares, "Righteous are you, O LORD, and upright are your judgments." 

And in Psalm 119:175 David prays, "Let my soul live, and it shall praise you; and let your judgments help me."

And to do these things is an honour for the godly ones/saints of God! This noun is hadar in Hebrew. It means splendour, majesty, magnificence or even ornament.

And the noun godly ones mean God's kind ones. (It is from the root word for "mercy!")  Here are kind ones helping God execute His judgment. Many of the older preachers believe that this Psalm will have its fullest and most complete fulfilment in the Millennium where the saints will judge the world.

Notice that the Psalm ends just like it began. Praise the Lord! Let me transliterate the Hebrew letters of the last sentence:  hall - u - yah! "Halal" is an intensive imperative verb that means to be clear, to shine, then to praise. Yah is God's very Name, a shortened form of Yahveh.

Halleluyah! In precise Hebrew it means:  Praise the Lord! Praise Yahveh!