September 5th
Psalm 149
A
Hymn of Praise
1: Praise ye the LORD. Sing unto the
LORD a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints. 2: Let Israel
rejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion be joyful in their King. 3: Let them praise his name in the
dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp. 4: For the LORD taketh pleasure in
his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation. 5: Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon
their beds. 6: Let the high
praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand; 7: To execute vengeance upon the
heathen, and punishments upon the people; 8: To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with
fetters of iron; 9: To execute
upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the
LORD.
Psalm 150
Praise
the Lord again
1: Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in
his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. 2: Praise him for his mighty acts:
praise him according to his excellent greatness. 3: Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the
psaltery and harp. 4: Praise
him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and
organs. 5: Praise him upon the
loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. 6: Let every thing that hath breath
praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.
Before I began these Bible readings in the Psalms I was
quite daunted, however now I have come to the end I will be sad to leave them.
They have been a great blessing to me and I have learnt of the importance in my
life of Praise and Thanksgiving. Today we are reading the last two Psalms No
149 & 150. Both of these Psalms are Hallelujah Psalms. Psalm 149 has an
interesting structure…
A.
Hallelujah
B. Saints to praise
C. Israel to rejoice in the LORD
D. Let them praise his name
E. With the dance
E. With music
D. Let them sing praises unto him[1]
C. the Lord takes pleasure in Israel.
B. Saints are to praise
A.
Hallelujah
The Psalmist begins and ends with
Praise to the Lord and calls on all the saints to join him in singing praises
to the Lord. Israel
is encouraged to rejoice in the Lord and at the end the Lord will respond in
delight in the joy and praise of his people. But we might ask, how? How are we
to rejoice in the LORD? And the plan is simple – it’s in dancing and singing
and in music with a number of instruments. The Lord looks down and has joy in
his heart and he is delighted in the joy of his people. Worship is to be
carried on in singing dancing and musical accompaniment and the Lord will make
those who are meek beautiful by delivering them in their day of troubles. And
so let the saints be gloriously joyful and may this joy go with them to their
beds, even there their hearts will sing out loud to the Lord. They will sing
the high praises of the Lord and they will rise up with a double edged sword to
fight for the Lord, against the heathen and to punish peoples. They will
capture kings and chain them and the nobles will be put in handcuffs. And the
Lords people will bring the judgment of God which is written, this will be
their great honour. Praise the Lord. We see a great contrast here between Israel
and the Church. Israel
were the sword of the Lord. They were used by the Lord as a means of bringing
justice and judgment on a wicked world. But that’s not the same as the Church.
The church never takes up arms against the nations. They are made up of the
nations. The church is not a nation. The church is made up of individual
sinners of every nation. And we christians do not go to war against an enemy,
Christ said LOVE your enemies and do go those who would harm you. Psalm 150 is
a little Psalm and again it’s a Psalm that closes the whole book of the Psalms
full of Praise. Again he begins with Praise and ends with Praise.
A.
Hallelujah
B. The Sanctuary
C. Praise of the LORD’s power
C. Praise of the LORD’s might
B. The instruments of the Sanctuary
A.
Hallelujah
What follows is ten exhortations to
praise the Lord. The first two tell us where to praise the Lord – in the temple
and in his kingdom. The next two tell us what to praise the Lord about – His
might acts and excellent greatness. The next six phrases tell us how and with
what instruments we can praise him - the trumpet, the psaltery and harp, the
timbrel and dance, the stringed instruments and organs, the loud cymbals, the
high sounding cymbals. Then to close the Psalmist calls on everyone and every
creature that has breath to praise the Lord. Can you imagine the cacophony of
sound and joy that it expresses?
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