Worshipping The Lord (Psalm 149)

There are some psalms that we as Christians can easily transfer from their Old Testament backgrounds into a New Testament situation. Psalm 23 is an obvious example and we see in it so many truths regarding the way Jesus cares for his people. Or we can use easily a psalm such as Psalm 100 with its call to worship. Other psalms we know fit into the category of Messianic, whether it is one like Psalm 22 which speaks of the sufferings of Jesus, or Psalm 110 which speaks of his subsequent glory. But there are psalms that we may find it hard to understand because of their calls for war or for destruction of one’s enemies. There are some verses in this psalm that we may wonder about when they call worshippers to put on weapons of war and fight against God's enemies. So should we sing this psalm?

Requirement (v. 1)

As we can see from the first verse, the composer of the psalm is exhorting God’s people to meet together to praise him. In the original setting the individual may have been a temple official urging the gathered crowds to participate in God’s worship, perhaps on one of the great feast days of Old Testament Israel. Such a duty no longer is performed because the temple in Jerusalem no longer exists. Yet the change in procedures does not mean that the verse does not speak to us today in the New Testament era.

The first detail to note is the importance of singing to the Lord. A strange sight in a worship service is worshippers not participating in the singing of items of praise. One gets the impression from some people that they will not sing unless they are changed from crows into nightingales. In any case, the Lord made the crows and designed the kind of noise they should make. The reality is that everyone should praise God.

Connected to that requirement is the important of singing intelligently. We see this aspect in the name that is used of God. The psalmist calls him Yahweh, which was a special name for God that was revealed by him to Israel. It is a name that indicated his faithfulness to his promises, which means he was regarded as the deliverer and saviour of his people. Of course, his name Yahweh is interesting to us, because it highlights those details for us as well. Yet we must also recall that he has revealed more of himself to us. We know that our God is a Trinity of divine Persons, each of whom is committed to our salvation. When we praise God, we should keep in mind who he has revealed himself to be.

The second detail that I would mention is the requirement that the songs used in worship should be new songs. I don’t think the psalmist was suggesting that on each occasion when worship takes place new songs only should be used. He could have been calling on the people to sing this psalm, which he had just composed perhaps. But if he meant that, then it would not be a new song in this sense for long. So I suspect he means that the songs should new in the sense of being fresh in our experience. We all know what it is like to have stale worship, even when the most profound of songs are used. How often have we sung the wonderful words of Psalm 23 without experiencing a sense of the care of the Good Shepherd? An amazing feature of the psalms is that they can be fresh in our hearts because they are part of God’s Word.

The psalmist also mentions a third requirement, which is the importance of worshipping together. He urges the gathered people to praise the Lord. In doing so, he gives to them a corporate name – the godly, those who have been set apart by the Lord for himself. They owed him praise because of what he had done for them, delivering them from slavery in Egypt (and also Babylon, if this psalm was written after the exile). Having done so, he had brought them into a privileged position in which they enjoyed his blessings. In a far higher sense, we are to join together with the redeemed and worship the One who has done so much for us.

Rejoicing in Relationships (vv. 2-4)

The psalmist expands his concept of worship and mentions (a) relationships with God, (b) responses to God and (c) riches from God. He mentions two relationships in particular, those of Maker and of King. While it is possible that he is referring to God as the creator of all things when describing him as Maker, it is more likely that the psalmist is thinking of God as the maker of the nation of Israel. As we think of that beginning, we can see that it was a small beginning, that their ancestors were insignificant people who did not number very many (only about seventy had gone down to Egypt at the time of the prominence there of Joseph). Yet we also know that it was a select beginning because the Lord had chosen them to be his people. God had brought into existence a body of people that he would use for his glory.

In addition to mentioning their origins, the psalmist also reveals why they had remained in existence, and the reason was that the Lord was their King. In fulfilment of this role, God had given them a structure for life (his commandments), defence from the enemies during times when he was acknowledged as God, and restoration when they repented of their departures from him. So we can see that there were many reasons for Israel rejoicing in their God.

We as Christians have greater reasons for praising him. He is our maker in the sense that he has brought the church of Christ into existence (it too had small beginnings, but the early disciples had been selected by him). And down the years, the church of Jesus has enjoyed the structure of his laws, the defence of his arm, and the restoring grace that marks him as our God. So we should be marked by joyful praise.

But how do we show our gladness? The psalmist mentions that the Israelites were to engage in dancing and in making music. It looks as if he is asking those who use his psalm to imitate what the children of Israel did on the shores of the Red Sea after their Lord had defeated the Egyptians. On that occasion, Miriam had led the female Israelites in dancing and in making music before the Lord. Another occasion that marked such dancing was when David returned in triumph from warfare. The fact that the psalmist calls for such practices indicates that it was common for Israelites to engage in dancing and in making music when they worshipped.

What does this example say to us today? Usually such verses are looked at to see if they can be adopted completely by innovators in worship, and very little attention is paid to their original contexts and purposes. Here are some applications from the references he makes. First, it looks as if the psalmist is describing the role of women when he refers to dancing and timbrels. If he is, then he is saying to us that women have a part to play in his worship (this does not mean that they have to be dancers and musicians).

Second, the call to dance and play music is a reminder that worship involves all that we are, and not merely our words and inner thoughts. Worship does not require that we become dancers or musicians, but it does mean that we should be energetic and creative in how we respond to our great and gracious God.

Third, this call to dance and play music is a challenge to us to see the beauty of worship. The dancing that would have taken place in Israel would have been pleasant to the eye and the music would have been pleasing to the ear. While we do not expect everyone to imitate literally what happened in Israel, the lesson is obvious – the worship of God should be beautiful to observe because the participants are full of joy.

Moreover, their joy increases when they recall how the Lord responds to them. The psalmist mentions that God takes pleasure in his people – they mean something to him that nothing else in the whole creation can provide. But what does it mean for God to be pleased? It means far more than enjoying an experience. When monarchs in the ancient world were pleased with their subjects, they bestowed something on them, perhaps lands or riches. Our God adorns the humble with salvation, and what greater riches or blessings could be given? This is the story of the Christian life, and it will climax in the beauty that God will give to all of them when they are in his presence after the resurrection.

Roles (vv. 5-9)

In this third section of his psalm, the composer depicts passion and progress as essential features of God’s people. We can see the passion in the fact that they praise God when they are resting and when they are active. The reference to beds is not to them praising God instead of sleeping. Instead it refers to the practice in Israel of reclining on couches. When they relaxed, the psalmist says, they praised God. This allusion is a challenge to our conceptions of recuperation. Do we see such times as occasions of offering praise to God for all that he has done for us?

The other scenario depicted by the psalmist is of God’s people as a victorious army. We can see how this was the case literally in the history of Israel (perhaps the march into battle that was led by Jehoshaphat comes to mind).

In the history of the church, the imagery of literal conquest in war was mistakenly understood by some so-called Christian political groups such as the Crusaders in the Middle Ages and the Peasants uprising in Germany at the Reformation as justification for engaging in wholesale slaughter of their opponents. A less extreme form has occurred when Christians have argued that it is legitimate for the church to use weapons of war to ensure that Christianity becomes a dominant religion.

If the psalm is not describing such ideas, what do the verses in this section mean? First, they remind us that God’s kingdom is engaged in a warfare in which God’s army will triumph, and we know from the New Testament that we wage war against the powers of darkness through the spread of the gospel. Second, the verses remind us that final victory will not be realised until the second coming when in a way that we cannot understand his people will be associated with Jesus as he judges the world and angels (1 Cor. 6:1-2).