Psalms 149:1-9·~1 min

Sing to the LORD a New Song

A new song is raised to the LORD in the congregation as Israel rejoices in its Maker and Zion's children rejoice in their King with dance and instruments. The reason for this joy is that the LORD takes pleasure in his people and beautifies the humble with salvation.

H¹allelujah! ²Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; ³Let them praise His name with dancing, ⁴For the LORD takes pleasure in His people;

The faithful are called to exult in glory and sing even from their beds while keeping God's praises in their mouths and a two-edged sword in their hands. The psalm portrays them participating in the execution of judgment against nations, kings, and nobles according to what is written, and declares this to be the honor of all God's faithful ones.

⁵Let the saints exult in glory; ⁶May the high praises of God be in their mouths, ⁷to inflict vengeance on the nations ⁸to bind their kings with chains ⁹to execute the judgment written against them.

Section summaryThe psalm begins with hallelujah and calls for a new song to the LORD in the assembly of the saints, as Israel rejoices in its Maker and the children of Zion exult in their King with dancing and music because the LORD delights in his people and crowns the humble with salvation. It then pictures the faithful exulting in glory and singing on their beds even as the high praises of God remain in their mouths and the sword of judgment in their hands, to execute vengeance and the written judgment on nations and kings, which is counted as the honor of all God's faithful ones.

Role in the chapterThis section functions as a hymn of celebratory and judicial praise. Its work is to hold together joy, salvation, kingship, and judgment, portraying the faithful as a people whose worship is inseparable from the LORD's righteous victory.