Psalm 149 Part 1

The last five of the 150 collected psalms begin and end with the phrase Hallelujah. In many (or most) of the previous songs, there was trouble, crisis, or evil described and brought before God. In these last psalms, it is all praise.

God loves to receive the rejoicing and praise of His people expressed in song, especially the ‘new song.’ If God’s unfailing love is new every morning, then our response can also be new every morning. Lamentations.3:22-26NLT says, “The faithful love (chesed) of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning…” God is ever new in his manifestations; his lovingkindness is fresh every morning; his deliverances are new in every night of sorrow; then let our gratitude and thanksgivings be new also!
It is wonderful for the individual person to offer praise to God; it is even better and greater to do so ‘in the assembly of the faithful. The community of God’s people makes praise all the richer, especially praise offered in song.

If one ever lacked reasons to praise God, there is one great reason that is always at hand. It is always right and honourable for us to praise and rejoice in our Maker. The final call to a judgment-bound world is to return to worshipping God as the creator. This message in Rev.14:7 quotes from the fourth commandment which identifies Yahweh as the creator God.

God is the Maker of all humanity but is recognized here as King only over His people. This recognition is a source of incomparable joy to His people, who realize they could never hope for a ruler greater in love, wisdom, and power. The happy expressions of joy and gratitude among God’s people in their Creator and King were evidenced by dance, song, and instrumental music. If God is so rich in grace and mercy that He takes ‘pleasure in His people’(v4) – despite all their sin and weakness – it is cause for great rejoicing. Weak and defective though the church may be, it is still the object of God’s supreme regard on earth. That’s worth celebrating.