Sweet excerpt from Spurgeon’s introduction: “The song is one and indivisible. It seems almost impossible to expound it in detail, for a living poem is not to be dissected verse by verse….For its exposition the chief requisite is a heart on fire with reverent love to the Lord over all, who is to be blessed for ever.”
Psalms 148:1 ¶ Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the LORD from the heavens: praise him in the heights.
Psalms 148:2 Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts.
Psalms 148:3 Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light.
Psalms 148:4 Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens.
The psalmist opens with a strong Hallelujah (Praise ye the LORD)! He turns his attention first to the heavenly hosts, both spiritual and physical, calling for all of His heavenly creation to praise the LORD in the heights of heaven.
Application from Spurgeon: “Stars without light would render no praise, and Christians without light rob the Lord of his glory. However small our beam, we must not hide it: if we cannot be sun or moon we must aim to be one of the "stars of light," and our every twinkling must be to the honour of our Lord.”
Psalms 148:5 Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created.
Psalms 148:6 He hath also stablished them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not pass.
As is usually the case, the psalmist calls for the people to praise the name (as representing His character) of the LORD as they praise the LORD.
All God had to do was speak and the angels and our universe came into being. So I guess you might say creation started with a big bang, it sprang into being out of nothing at the command of the Creator’s powerful voice.
Deuteronomy 5:22 “These words the LORD spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice….”
Psalm 29:3–4 “The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon many waters. The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.”
The psalmist notes that God established His creation for eternity., and His decree cannot be altered or overturned.
Spurgeon: “The highest praise of God is to declare what he is. We can invent nothing which would magnify the Lord: we can never extol him better than by repeating his name, or describing his character. The Lord is to be extolled as creating all things that exist, and as doing so by the simple agency of his word.”
Psalms 148:7 ¶ Praise the LORD from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps:
Psalms 148:8 Fire, and hail; snow, and vapour; stormy wind fulfilling his word:
Psalms 148:9 Mountains, and all hills; fruitful trees, and all cedars:
Psalms 148:10 Beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying fowl:
The psalmist now turns his attention to creation below the heavens. He urges all of God’s creation from the earth, its atmosphere and its deeps to join in praising the LORD. All nature acts in accordance to His command. In some way, he expects even the animal kingdom to join in praising the LORD. I know they certainly inspire me to praise the LORD for the amazing beauty, detail and instincts on display from the largest to the smallest in the animal kingdom.
Psalms 148:11 Kings of the earth, and all people; princes, and all judges of the earth:
Psalms 148:12 Both young men, and maidens; old men, and children:
Psalms 148:13 Let them praise the name of the LORD: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven.
Finally, the psalmist turns his attention to humanity, calling for all—from royalty to peasants, including young and old, both male and female—to praise the name of the LORD. Only the name of the LORD is worthy of exaltation. His grandeur and majesty overshadows the whole of His creation.
How sad it is to me that instead of exalting God’s name, people today use it as a curse word or as an exclamation point—certainly with no thought of honoring God and sometimes with the specific intent to dishonor Him.
Psalms 148:14 He also exalteth the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints; even of the children of Israel, a people near unto him. Praise ye the LORD.
It seems that the psalmist is writing from a time in which the people of Israel are honoring the LORD, the God of Israel. I liked the translation from the CJB: “He has increased the power of his people, granted praise to all his faithful, to the descendants of Isra’el, a people close to him. Halleluyah!”
I thought it was interesting to note that the Hebrew for the word “near” made reference to kinsmen. This truth would take on a special meaning when Jesus the Messiah came to earth as a descendant of King David.
Obviously, the psalmist is addressing the people of Israel in context. Because of God’s unchanging character, I believe it is always His desire to strengthen “His people,” all those that trust in Him as LORD. As sons and daughters of God in Jesus, we, too, are a people close to Him.
Galatians 3:26 “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”
Romans 8:14–17 “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”
Hallelujah!
Psalms 149:1 ¶ Praise ye the LORD. Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints.
Hallelujah! = Praise ye the LORD!
The psalmist opens with a big Hallelujah! He then urges the people to sing a new song to the LORD as they sing His praise together. The word for “new” makes reference to being “fresh, rebuilt and repaired” as well as new. As I thought about this, it made me think that the reference was more to the heart of the person singing than the actual song. We can sing an old song with a renewed heart of worship and praise that actually makes an old song seem new. I believe it is the heart of the person singing that gives meaning to the song being sung. It is wonderful to join with other saints in singing God’s praise; however, even then, the heart of each individual is what makes it special before the LORD.
It is also beautiful when truly “new” songs are composed to honor the LORD. I know it gives me great joy to write a new poem that expresses my heart before the LORD at any given time. The truth is that it helps me experience a more intimate connection with Him because it feels like He is my co-author as I pray through the process.
Psalms 149:2 Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.
Psalms 149:3 Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp.
Psalms 149:4 For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.
The psalmist is obviously addressing the people of Israel as he encourages them to rejoice in their Creator, the true King of Israel, the children of Zion. He encourages them to express their praise in dance and song and with instruments. The truth is that the LORD is delighted by His people, those that choose to trust and obey Him.
The word for “beautify” was interesting; it included the thought of boasting and glorifying. It gives me the picture of a proud parent that is eager to brag about His kids and immediately brought to mind Job. It’s like He couldn’t wait to draw Satan’s attention to Job because He knew that Job would honor Him would not yield to the devil’s attempt to get Him to deny His faith in God.
Job 1:8 “And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?”
I can’t help but wonder if He can brag about me in the same way. I would certainly like to think I would pass the test. Thinking—Am I more like Peter or Job?
Matthew 26:34-75 “Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice….And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech betrayeth thee. Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew. And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.”
The beautiful truth is that every person that places their faith in the LORD, will emerge as an overcomer and experience God’s salvation—as did both Job and Peter.
Psalms 149:5 Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds.
Psalms 149:6 ¶ Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand;
Psalms 149:7 To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people;
Psalms 149:8 To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;
Psalms 149:9 To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD.
Yes, the context is still addressing the people of Israel, but the application is valid for all who believe in God as their LORD. The psalmist again encourages the saints, those trying to live in obedience to the LORD, to rejoice in the honor that is theirs as God’s chosen people (which applies to the Jewish people and to those who are part of the true church today) and sing praises to Him aloud from their beds. In other words, we should always be praising God.
As they praised God as earnestly and sincerely as they knew how, the psalmist provides specific exhortation to stay prepared to fight the enemy, as indicated by the reference to the two-edged sword. A two-edged sword cuts both ways, allowing it to be far more effective in accomplishing the objective of the one wielding it. According to the psalmist, those objectives included:
Executing vengeance upon the heathen
Executing punishment upon wicked people
Binding kings and their nobles with chains of iron
Executing judgment according to God’s law
The fact that this instruction is directed to all the people of God is a bit confusing. Scripture clearly tells us that vengeance belongs to God.
Romans 12:19 “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.”
It also declares that we are to be governed by the authorities ordained of God.
1 Peter 2:13–16 “Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.”
This obedience to governing authorities is only to be ignored when we are commanded to disobey God’s word.
Acts 5:29 “We ought to obey God rather than men.”
I think the key difference is in application to Israel prior to the coming of Jesus to institute a new covenant based on grace rather than the law, the covenant that applies to the believer today. The weapons we are to use against our enemies are identified for us in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.’’
Ephesians 6:12–17 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God….”
And I think it is no coincidence that God’s word is compared to a two-edged sword.
Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
Hallelujah!