Psalm 149

Psalm 149

Victory Praise!

I.                    We must praise God because our only victory is in Him, so we must praise Him with all we are and all we have. (Vv. 1-4)

a.       The Psalmist calls the people of Israel to praise God because as their Maker and their King, He takes pleasure in them and is their Savior who delivers them from affliction. They are to rejoice in God as their Maker, their King, and their Savior; He is all of these things, all of the time, and in every circumstance. So the Psalmist calls them to praise Him by singing a new song to Him, dancing, and playing instruments. God isn’t calling them to compose a new song with new lyrics which have never heard before in order to worship and praise Him. The song will still be about God’s amazing deliverance, but the passion and delight in God’s mercy, grace, and love for His people demonstrated through a fresh experience of His deliverance will be continually new. And this new song is to be sung and shared in the congregation of the “godly ones”. The picture of expressing themselves through dancing and instruments is a picture of  joy which can’t be contained. But what does this praise psalm set in the context of Old Testament deliverance say to us as Christians in the 21st century? The Israelites celebrated God’s salvation in terms of His deliverance from foreign nations, His blessing of their dwelling in the promised land, and His future promises to preserve them. If we know Christ as our Lord and Savior, we know God’s salvation and eternal deliverance from sin, death, and judgment. And if we truly know Christ in this way, then we have occasions for celebrating His salvation continually every day with each victory over sin in our lives and each victory over doubt, fear, anxiety, and dissatisfaction in life. As sin broken human beings living in a sin broken world, we face obstacles to our hope, joy, peace, and satisfaction which are absolutely insurmountable in our own strength. But in Christ we see those obstacles utterly destroyed through His sacrifice, death, resurrection, and His fulfilled promises. But we must submit to God as our Maker, and the only One who defines and explains who we are and what we’re to be. We must submit to Him as the only sovereign King in control of all things, and who providentially draws us to Him for salvation. We must praise Him as individual believers, but we must also not forsake sharing in praising Him corporately, sharing in life’s wins, losses, challenges, and joys. We must praise God together, with all we are and all we have, because He alone is worthy! (Vv. 1-4; Exod. 15:1-2, 20; 33:1-3; 1 Sam. 18:6; Neh. 12:27-43; Ps. 40:1-3; 63:5-6; 95:6; 96:1-3; 98:1-6; 100:3; 144:9; Jer. 31:1-4; Mark 14:26; Luke 1:46-55, 68-79; 2:14; John 3:16; Acts 16:25; Rom. 5:1-11; 8:28-32; 11:33-12:2; Eph. 2:1-10; Heb. 10:23-25; Jas. 4:6, 10; 1 Pet. 5:6-7; Rev. 14:3; 15:3-4; 19:6-8)

II.                 We must praise God because our only victory is in Him, so we must praise Him by trusting Him, and walking in our victory in Him (Vv. 4-9)

a.   In this last stanza, the Psalmist calls God’s people to what seems like a strange mixture of praise for God, and vengeance and judgement on the world. But when considered in the context of God’s people and their relationship with Him, it comes into focus. God had delivered His people from their captivity in Babylon, so they should feel elated and triumphant in Him, they should praise Him joyfully from their beds because they reside in their own land again, His praise should be continually on their lips because of His overwhelming greatness, goodness, and mercy which delivered them, but they must also take steps to be on guard against the ways of the nations around them which led to their disobedience and captivity. God warned that worshiping the false gods around them would result in being removed from their land. Now, if they wage war by praising God and remaining faithful to Him, they can trust Him to judge the nations which surround and oppose them and Him. He is the judge of all, whose glory will fill the earth, and He will justly judge all who oppose and reject Him. We also pursue and praise the world’s people, places, and delights, and accept its pitiful substitutes in place of the true, abundant, and overwhelming joy of walking in our salvation in Christ. Our battle is a spiritual battle against the spiritual forces of darkness which desire to prevent the Name of Christ from being praised and exalted, a battle against Satan, the flesh, and the influence of the world. Our weapons are faith, prayer, fellowship in the body, and God’s Word. When we trust Christ’s finish work, walk faithfully, humbly, and obediently in His Word, and praise God with our whole lives because our victory in Him is victory over life’s circumstances. (Vv. 4-9; Exod. 34:6-7; Deut. 6:4-15; Ps. 2; 3; 4; 42:8; 45:3-7; 77:6; Hab. 2:14; Matt. 5:38-48; Luke 6:22-28; Rom. 8:31-39; 12:14-21; 2 Cor. 10:3-5; Eph. 6:10-17; 2 Tim. 2:3-26; Heb. 4:12-16; 1 Pet. 3:8-18; 5:8-11; Rev. 12:11-12; 19:11-21)