Psalm 149: Hallelujah—Praise God Daily With Joy

Psalm 149 is the fourth Hallelujah psalm.

This is a short but happy song telling how to worship God.

Our prayers should not be rote chanting.

As God’s blessings are fresh and new each day, so should our praise be tailored to those unique gifts (v. 1). We should sing and dance unto the Lord, playing musical instruments as accompaniment (v. 3). Dancing, as we know it today, is totally different from the way it was practiced in David’s time (2 Samuel 6:14).

“The sacred dance of holy joy was a thing apart from the frivolous or debasing dances of the present day.” “By this means David expressed his grateful praise and thus gave honor and glory to God’s holy name. There was nothing in the dancing of David that is comparable to or that will justify the modern dance. The popular dance draws no one nearer to God, nor does it inspire to purer thoughts or holier living.” There is no inappropriate time to praise God with vigor (Psalm 149:5). The psalm takes an abrupt turn and speaks of Israel as God’s “two-edged sword” of justice (vv. 6–9). “Death and destruction are horrible thoughts to contemplate under any circumstances, and the most God-fearing and Bible-believing individual may willingly admit that he is filled with distressing thoughts as he reads of the destruction of the wicked at different times in the history of the world, and as he contemplates the final destruction of all evildoers. But it would be far more distressing to contemplate the kind of world and the kind of universe we would be forced to live in, if summary destruction were not ultimately meted out to all who were stubbornly determined to continue on in their sinful, corrupting ways.” Rejoice! God has given us a way out (John 3:16). “Rejoice, ye pure in heart! / Rejoice, give thanks, and sing; / Your festal banner wave on high, / The cross of Christ your King.”