Psalm 149
Notes
Transcript
Psalm 149
We are in a battle, and it is going on all around us every day as we battle against the forces of the Devil.
Satan never surrenders, but one day he will be defeated.
Until then, we must keep fighting.
The Devil knows he cannot defeat God, so his strategy, instead, is to destroy God’s people.
Like many of the Psalms, Psalm 149 remind us that we are at war.
We do not know the author or the specific situation that inspired the psalmist to write this Psalm, however the general setting can be seen.
Perhaps shortly after a great victory.
It is important to remember that pretty much all of Israel’s wars were holy wars.
They not only defended their land, but their God, as God brought them victory after victory.
Our spiritual warfare today is no different.
Israel fought against flesh and blood using physical weapons, but we fight against spiritual forces with spiritual weapons.
4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
12 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.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
But the point is still the same, Like Israel, we seek to fight against, and to stop those forces that seek to destroy God’s People and His purposes.
Psalm 149 is also prophetic in that verses 7-9 clearly point to the Second Coming of Christ..
Perhaps this Psalm prophetically points to a time of praise in heaven when we all gather around our Captain of Hosts, just before Christ returns with His saints to conquer the enemy.
Then, Israel will rejoice in God and be joyful in their King!
But until then we, as soldiers of Christ, must not the importance of praising the one who brings the battle, even as we do so by faith, before the battle even begins.
Prayer and God’s Word are vital for our warfare, but Praise has a definite place too!
We see two main sections here, but I will point out a, three points:
I. Praise the Lord Publicly
I. Praise the Lord Publicly
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.
God’s people are gathered together, before they go into battle, for one particular purpose…to praise and worship Him who will bring the victory.
This isn’t just something for Israel to do in ancient times, we too need to be prepared to make a practice of praise, before each battle!
We too are to assemble with other believers to praise the Lord publically.
25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
And in this time we need to
A. Sing Him a New Song
A. Sing Him a New Song
1 Praise ye the Lord. Sing unto the Lord a new song, And his praise in the congregation of saints.
God’s chosen people gathered together to sing a new song to their God.
One pastor pointed out that a new song suggests a new situation.
In other words, the previous song, that was sung for the previous battle will not do.
We must come before Him, fresh and new, ready to praise Him.
He will bring salvation in this battle, just as He has done before, if we are dependent upon Him, just as we were before.
However we cannot be dependent upon yesterdays grace.
It is an encouragement to us to keep trusting, to keep fighting to keep praising…however yesterdays song, is not sufficient for today battle.
So we Sing unto Him a new song…and we praise him int he congregation of saints.
We come together to gain our strength, from the Lord, and our fellowship with one another.
B. Rejoice in Our Creator
B. Rejoice in Our Creator
2 Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.
This time of gathering was a festive time.
The people rejoiced in God, the God who made them…their creator…but also they rejoiced in their true King!
I get the sense that this speaks, not only to the creation of their bodies, but also the creation of their nation.
He had formed their nation and chosen them specifically as His chosen people for a specific purpose:
That through them, he could give the world His Word and His Son.
Israel was created to be a Theocracy.
They were led and ruled by God.
But they sought a king to rule them.
When God did give them a king, God directed that king to follow Him in all their ways, and they were still led by God through him.
However too many kings went astray doing their own wills.
This invited judgement on their lives.
How true this is for us today too!
When we yield to God as King of our lives, and follow after His will…life is blessed and victory is secure.
When we follow after our own will instead, judgment is just around the corner, unless we repent.
As we rejoice publicly in our congregation, let’s remind each other, and stir each other’s hearts to Sing to Him a new song, and rejoice and worship Him as our creator and our king…let’s yield to Him!
C. Praise Him Fervently
C. Praise Him Fervently
3 Let them praise his name in the dance: Let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp.
This looks quite different than our Baptist churches…and that is OK.
The point isn’t that we ought to be dancing in the aisles, or banging on a tambourine…the point is the fervency of our praise.
Besides, this dancing that is talked about in this verse, looked nothing like the modern dances of today…this would more look like skipping or jumping for joy!
It is an outward expression of an inward exuberance of praise.
Our hearts ought to be so full of praise, that it cannot help but to come out!
Why do we praise Him publically?
Verse 4 tells us
4 For the Lord taketh pleasure in his people: He will beautify the meek with salvation.
It is for the Lord’s pleasure, not ours!
It is because He has saved us, and our natural response is to praise Him!
The Lord delights in His people!
I love what Commentator John Phillips points out from Genesis...
He says, that God commits just roughly 4% of the book of Genesis to the Creation of the world, and all that is therein, and then continues by devoting 25% of the book to tell us about Abraham, 25% to tell us about Jacob, and another 25% to tell us about Joseph.
Phillips concludes by saying, “That is the Holy Spirit’s way of showing us that God finds pleasure in His people…to think that God derives His pleasure in the likes of us. What an astonishing fact!”
God’s people worshiped him, not only because he delighted in them, but also because He crowned the meek or humble with salvation.
In other words, God’s people sang about His saving or delivering them from their enemies giving them the victory over them.
They humbled themselves by depending upon them, and he beautified their humility with salvation…with victory.
The Israelites understood this truth: When we clothe ourselves with humility, the Lord will adorn us with the victor’s crown!
6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
The church is also to come together to praise and worship the God of our salvation!
We come together to exalt God.
We bring a new song before him!
We should never let it become routine, or stale.
We need to lift up our hearts with fresh praise!
We come together to worship our Creator and King!
We acknowledge His lordship over us, and yield to Him in humility.
And we fervently praise Him.
Some are more expressive than others in their praise…and that’s ok!
When we were in Tennessee we were at a church that was a praising church!
There were some that would let loose in their praise and there were others that were more subdued…but it felt real…not manufactured or fake.
No matter how we do it we need to praise Him Publicly!
But also verse five kinda hints at something, real quickly...
II. Praise the Lord Privately
II. Praise the Lord Privately
5 Let the saints be joyful in glory: Let them sing aloud upon their beds.
In addition to public worship, we..as God’s children… need to praise him privately as well.
No matter where we are or what we are doing, we need to take the time, and thought to praise the Lord.
Praise is not just meant to be a Sunday Morning thing!
But every day, all day.
Let them sing aloud upon their beds.
Let it be the last thought you think before sleep over takes you.
May it be the first thing you do when you awake in your beds in the morning.
The person who will praise God publically but does not think to praise Him privately is praising Him for the Show.
The person who will praise God privately, but refuses to praise Him publically is ashamed of Him.
The focus is too much on themselves, when all the focus ought to be upon Him!
What an honor and a privilege to be God’s people, and the object of His delight!
We ought to readily rejoice in His goodness, His mercy, and His salvation.
Not just in public services, but in the quietness of our own hearts and devotions to God.
6 I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: And my spirit made diligent search.
62 At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee Because of thy righteous judgments.
Praise Him all day, and into the night!
III. Praise as You Prepare for Battle
III. Praise as You Prepare for Battle
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.
This preparation for warfare reminds me of our need to prepare...
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 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.
13 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.
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
Our preparation is not only in the armour we wear, but also in our praise and readiness to depend upon Him.
The enemies of Israel were not just attacking the Israeli people, but they were trying to overthrow the purposes that God had for them.
So, the warriors were challenged to praise the Lord as they prepared for warfare.
A. By Taking up the Sword of the Spirit
A. By Taking up the Sword of the Spirit
6 Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, And a twoedged sword in their hand;
They weren’t just going to battle with only praise in their mouth…but also with a sword in their hand!
The warriors of God were ready to wield their two-edged sword.
A very deadly weapon that needed to be weilded carefully and thoughtfully.
Following their training, or more damage could have been done to themselves than the enemy.
The Bible tells us how that the Word of God is likened unto a two-edged sword.
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.
We utilize the Word of God, our true weapon against the forces of darkness around us...
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
Bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ - the Word of God.
Not only did God’s people take up the sword, but they went into battle
B. Trusting God to Judge
B. Trusting God to Judge
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:....
Israel’s warriors went out to battle with the confidence that God would give them the victory.
The Lord would judge their enemies, those who stand opposed to the Will of God and the People of God.
They marched into battle on a mission:
to execute vengeance on the foreign nations and people who threatened Israel, the Kingdom of God (v. 7)
to defeat and imprison the world’s wicked leaders who oppressed others. (v. 8)
To execute God’s Judgement —written in His word—against their enemies. (v.9a)
The Lord had promised to give Israel the victory over the nations that had occupied the promised Land.
1 When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;
2 And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:
They continue to fight this battle even today…simply because they did not complete what God had told them to do and drive out all the inhabitants.
They take up the Sword and run toward the battle.
We too need to take up our Sword of the Spirit and run to the battle, not away.
We go forth in obedience and faith and trust that God will judge the enemies.
And we go into battle...
C. Realizing the Honor we Have to Fight
C. Realizing the Honor we Have to Fight
9 To execute upon them the judgment written: This honour have all his saints. Praise ye the Lord.
What an honor it was for the Israelite warriors who fought for the Lord, and got to share in His victory!
What an honor it is for the saints of God today, to battle the forces of Satan by God’s Power!
Conclusion
Conclusion
God’s Word challenges us to go forth in His power and to put on the armour of God that He has provided for us…and fight!
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 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.
13 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.
We pick up the Word of God, our two-edged sword - actually better than any two-edged sword - God’s Word declares it as sharper - and we fight!
Just as Jesus defeated Satan with the Word of God, so we must attack with God’s Word when we face temptation!
But we have to have the ammunition!
What good does the gun do in battle if the bullets are left behind.
Read the Word of God
Memorize the Word of God
Meditate on the Word of God
and use the Word of God to fight the battle.
One day Jesus will destroy his enemies with the sword of His mouth — His mighty Word
15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
We can live the victorious Christian life if we depend upon and use the Word of God!
As we battle daily, we fight with the confidence that we will be victorious through Him!
God has already made His judgement and pronounced His sentence upon Satan, and his forces…they know their end already!
They will be banished with all evil doers to the Lake of Fire forever, never to attack us again!
We are already conquerors through Christ!
5 Through thee will we push down our enemies: Through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us.
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
We can live in confidence that, if we yield to Him, He will prevail!
14 Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
Let’s Praise the Lord Publicly - He is Worthy!
Let Us Praise the Lord Privately - all day every day.
Let us Praise Him as we Prepare for Battle.