Please keep your Bibles open to Psalm 149. As we go through this, I would especially like to look at the last four verses of this Psalm which speak about how the saints will be involved in the judgment. We read in Psalm 149:1-9:
Praise ye JEHOVAH. Sing unto JEHOVAH a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints. Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion be joyful in their King. Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp. For JEHOVAH taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation. Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand; To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye JEHOVAH.
Know that the Psalms are songs, songs of God’s people, songs of praise that speak of His mighty works. Many of the Psalms speak of praising God for what He has done. He has opened our eyes to the fact that we are just sinful wretches, yet He had a purpose from before the foundation of the world to have a people for Himself from among this miserable mass of sinners. If we are among those who know that God has saved them, then it is our desire to praise the Lord and to thank Him and to be obedient to His commandments.
The last several Psalms, especially, just kind of build this up as the book of Psalms ends. If you look at Psalm 145:1-2, it says:
I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever. Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.
Then Psalm 146 starts out:
Praise ye JEHOVAH. Praise JEHOVAH, O my soul. While I live will I praise JEHOVAH: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.
And Psalm 147 starts out:
Praise ye JEHOVAH: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely.
And Psalm 148:
Praise ye JEHOVAH. Praise ye JEHOVAH from the heavens: praise him in the heights. Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts. Praise ye him…
This Psalm then just continues on speaking of praising God.
Then finally, Psalm 150 concludes:
Praise ye JEHOVAH. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let every thing that hath breath praise JEHOVAH. Praise ye JEHOVAH.
Again, Psalm 149:1 says:
Praise ye JEHOVAH. Sing unto JEHOVAH a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints.
From time-to-time in the Bible, we read about singing “a new song” or that the Lord has done “a new thing.” In the first instance, this is looking at salvation.
Turn back to Psalm 40. Psalm 40 is a Messianic Psalm. In Psalm 40:2-3, we read:
He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in JEHOVAH.
Upon salvation, God puts a new song in our mouth. At this point, we want to praise the Lord for the rest of our existence on this earth.
Another verse that speaks of the word “new” is 2 Corinthians 5:17. This is the same principle that “all things are become new” upon salvation. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says:
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Back to Psalm 149:2, we read:
Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.
In Psalm 100, we read that it is God “that hath made us, and not we ourselves.” He is the Creator God of this universe. He is His Royal Majesty and His Eternal Majesty, but He is also our King. He was also the King of Israel in the Old Testament and they should have recognized that He was their King.
Look at Isaiah 43:14-15 where we read:
Thus saith JEHOVAH, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships. I am JEHOVAH, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King.
It is sad to read of the people’s response when the Lord came unto his own, when the Messiah came to Israel. For example, turn to John 19 and listen to the grievous words that were spoken when Christ was brought before Pilate. In John 19:14-15, we read:
And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews…
This is referring to Pilate.
…and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King! But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.
What a horrible, terrible thing to say! Either they were afraid to offend Caesar by acknowledging that the LORD God was their King, or they did not remember the Scriptures, which is hard to believe because many of them knew the Scriptures very well. It is just a grievous thing to realize that they said, “We have no king but Caesar.”
Back again in Psalm 149:2, we read:
…let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.
In Psalm 149:3, we read:
Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp.
In other places in the Bible, we read of praising God “in the dance” and “with the timbrel and harp.” This always seems to be in the context of a victory.
Psalm 30 speaks of dancing and it is in the context of salvation. Psalm 30:10-11 says:
Hear, O JEHOVAH, and have mercy upon me: JEHOVAH, be thou my helper. Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;
Turn back to Exodus 15. There we read of Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron. This is speaking of the victory that God had given the Israelites over the Egyptians. We read in Exodus 15:20-21.
And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to JEHOVAH, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.
Miriam was singing of the victory over the Egyptians when God drowned them in the Red Sea and when the Israelites passed through as the Lord dried up the waters before them.
In Judges 11, we read of Jephthah who the Israelites came to and asked to fight against the children of Ammon. He won that victory. However, before he went into that battle, he made a vow to the Lord. He vowed that if the Lord gave him this victory, he would sacrifice the first thing that came out of his house upon his return. Very sadly, the first thing that came out of his house when he returned was his daughter! Jephthah offered her up. In this way, she was a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. So in Judges 11:34, as Jephthah is returning after his victory, we read:
And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter.
We could go on. When David slew Goliath, the Israelites danced and sang.
Yet Ecclesiastes 3:1 starts out with:
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
And in Ecclesiastes 3:4, we read:
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
This is speaking of how God has set a time in this life for everything. These verses are contrasting judgment with victory, salvation with affliction and tribulation. Usually when we read about dancing in the Bible, it is associated with a victory.
So in Psalm 149:3, we read:
Let them praise his name in the dance…
I do not believe that a child of God should be dancing. I really believe that dancing in the Bible is associated with victory. When you look at what the world has done with dancing, I just do not believe there is any place in this world that would involve dancing for a child of God. Some of you may be offended by that. Maybe I am taking it a little bit too far, but this is just the way that I feel about this. Dancing should be associated with victory.
Then Psalm 149:4 says:
For JEHOVAH taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.
It is the meek whom God saves. We read that Christ was “meek and lowly [humble].” We read in the Beattitudes, “Blessed are the meek,” which is a verse that is similar to Psalm 37:10-11 where we read:
For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
It is not this sin-cursed earth that the meek are going to inherit; it is the new heavens and the new earth where they:
…shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
In the Epistles, you can read that Christ is our peace; He has made peace for us. Before salvation, we are spoken of as the enemies of God; however, Christ has made peace for us.
Psalm 149:4 again says:
For JEHOVAH taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.
Then Psalm 149:5 says:
Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds.
God uses the word “bed” in different contexts in the Bible. He attaches different spiritual significance to it sometimes. But here, I believe that the bed is just speaking of resting, when we are at rest, and it is speaking of salvation where it says:
…let them sing aloud upon their beds.
Those who are saved are now resting from their labors. They are resting in what Christ has done for them.
Turn to Isaiah 57 and we will look at one verse that speaks of the bed in this context. In Isaiah 57, God goes on to speak about when He will bring judgment upon Israel and that they will be in tribulation. Isaiah 57:1-2 starts out:
The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness.
So God is using the word “bed” here in the same way as in Psalm 149:5 where it speaks of our rest in salvation, our rest in Christ.
Then Psalm 149:6 says:
Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand;
Anyone who has spent time in the Word of God understands that when the Bible speaks of the sword, it very often is speaking of the Word of God, the Bible. God flat-out tells us this in Ephesians 6. In Ephesians 6:14-17, we read:
Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
Upon salvation, we enter into this warfare. We are now at war with the enemies of God. “The sword of the Spirit” that we are to take with us is the Word of God.
Hebrews 4:12 is another well-known verse that speaks of the Word of God. Hebrews 4:12 says:
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.
This is speaking about how the Word of God is like a sword.
In Revelation 19, there is a verse that spiritually shows us that the sword is the Word of God. Revelation 19:11, we read:
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
This is certainly speaking of the Lord Jesus, which is similar to some language found in Psalm 45.
Then in Revelation 19:12-15, we read:
His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
Certainly, this is Christ.
And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 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.
Then we read in Revelation 19:21:
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.
It is the Word of God that is bringing judgment and that will bring judgment, which is what we are reading about in Psalm 149.
Speaking of the saints again in Psalm 149:6-7, it says:
Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand; To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people;
This sounds as though at the consummation the saints are going to be used of God to slaughter and to bring judgment. However, this is not what this verse is saying. This is saying that all through time God’s people will be bringing this Word and this Word will be used by God to judge all the sinners of the world.
The translators used the word “execute” here and this word was translated into “execute” in other places in the Bible as well. This word is like our word “do” or “make” or “bring about.” It means “to accomplish” or “to bring to pass.” It is simply saying that God uses His people all through time to bring the Word of God to the world and that this is what brings judgment.
Let me show you one place in the Bible where this word that was translated “execute” is translated in another way. Before the book of Psalms is the book of Job. Right before Job is the book of Esther. Look at Esther 3. Esther 3:9 says:
If it please the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed…
This is referring to Haman and Haman wants to kill the Jews.
If it please the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed: and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge…
“Have the charge” is the same word that was translated into the word “execute” in Psalm 149.
Esther 3:9 continues:
…those that have the charge of the business, to bring it into the king’s treasuries.
The people of God “have the charge” of bringing the Word to the world. In this way, judgment is brought. However, the saints are not going to participate in the judgment in any other way.
We read in Psalm 50, “God is judge himself.” Turn back to Psalm 50 and we will look at several verses that speak of who the Judge is. In Psalm 50:5, we read:
Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.
This covenant that God’s people have made with God does not really work the way this sounds. This covenant is salvation and it is a covenant that has been made by sacrifice; however, it certainly has been made by the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus who suffered the equivalent of eternal damnation for the people of God.
He says in Psalm 50:5-6:
Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice. And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself. Selah.
It is God who will do the judging.
Let us now look to see how this works. Turn to Acts 17. In Acts 17, the Apostle Paul is in Athens. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he says in Acts 17:30-31:
And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day…
He is speaking of Judgment Day.
Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
So in Psalm 50, we read that “God is judge himself,” but now we are reading that He is going to judge the world by Jesus Christ, “by that man whom he hath ordained,” the One whom “he hath raised…from the dead.”
Turn to John 12. Christ is speaking here in John 12:46-47:
I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.
When Christ came, He came as a suffering servant. He came to be the Lamb of God, the sacrifice. At that time, He did not come to judge the world.
Then John 12:48 says:
He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
So Psalm 50 says that “God is judge himself.” Acts 17 says that God “will judge the world…by that man whom he hath ordained,” Christ. Now we are reading here where Christ is saying that it is the Word that will judge in the last days, and we read that Christ has given His disciples charge of this Word. He has sent them into the world. Through this, the world is judged.
Now turn to John 17. This is what is known as Christ’s High Priestly Prayer. In John 17:6-8, we read:
I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
Now look at John 17:14-20:
I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
We can continue on developing this thought, but this is just the principle that God’s people go out into the world with the Word and it is the Word that judges mankind. In another sense, all mankind were judged at the fall of Adam and Eve. At that point, this world was cursed and mankind became spiritually dead; they became under the Law at that time.
Let us continue on in Psalm 149 where it speaks a little bit about the Law. In Psalm 149:6-7, we read:
Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand; To execute…
Or to “have the charge” of bringing:
…vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people;
We are to bring that Word which brings judgment.
Then Psalm 149:8 says:
To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;
Again, we were cursed in Adam and Eve. At their fall, all of mankind was put in “chains.” The Law is spoken of as binding all of us, and we have to be loosed from those bonds.
Look at Galatians 3. In Galatians 3:22-23, we read:
But the scripture hath concluded all under sin…
We all came “under sin” and “under the law” when Adam and Eve fell.
But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But before faith came…
That is, before that salvation:
…we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
It is as if we were in prison, in bonds, in fetters and chained up by the Law.
Now look at Galatians 4:1-5 where we read:
Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.
This is speaking of being an heir of salvation.
Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
This is what it is talking about where it speaks in Psalm 149:8 of binding their kings. Psalm 149:8 says:
To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;
The unsaved of the world are bound by the Law. When it speaks here of “kings” and “nobles,” it is actually not looking at mankind in general. If you work through this, it is looking at those in the church who rebel against the truth. “The kings of the earth” is a phrase that God sometimes uses to apply to those in the church. He also sometimes refers to them as just “nobles” or “kings.”
Turn back to Psalm 2. Psalm 2:1-4 says:
Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves…
Or they establish themselves; they appoint themselves rulers.
The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against JEHOVAH, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
This is speaking of how the unsaved are going to resist God’s Law.
Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
This is what we are reading about in Psalm 149, that the Law binds. Psalm 149:8-9 says:
To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; To execute upon them the judgment written…
Where is this written? This is written in the Word of God.
…this honour have all his saints. Praise ye JEHOVAH.
It is an honor to bring the Word of God to the world and this honor is given to all the saints.
We are now understanding how judgment works as we are learning more about God’s judgment. We are now beginning to find harmony in places where we did not have harmony before.
Turn to Jude. Jude 12-13 is speaking of false teachers. Then in Jude 14-15, we read:
And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
In verse 14, the word “cometh” should be read “has come” or “is come.” This has already happened and will continue to happen throughout time. So let me read this the way it should be read. Jude 14-15:
And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord [is come or has come] with ten thousands of his saints,
This refers to all the believers:
To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly…
Turn to Deuteronomy 33. Deuteronomy 33:1-3 says:
And this is the blessing, wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death. And he said, JEHOVAH came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them. Yea, he loved the people; all his saints are in thy hand: and they sat down at thy feet; every one shall receive of thy words.
Do you see how this speaks of the Lord coming with ten thousands of his saints? However, this says the Lord came from Mt. Sinai and Mt. Sinai is associated again with the Law of God. That is where He gave the Law. He physically gave the Law to Moses there in the form of Ten Commandments. God gave the Law to Moses and we can read these ceremonial laws that are in Exodus and Leviticus and Numbers and Deuteronomy. Actually, however, the Law came right from the beginning in the Garden of Eden; but here He is speaking of how the Lord “came with ten thousands of his saints” and then it says that He “rose up from Seir.”
If we look at Isaiah 63, this is actually speaking of Christ’s resurrection after the atonement. God sometimes uses Edom in the Bible as a figure of hell. Isaiah 63:1 is another verse that you are familiar with. It says:
Who is this that cometh from Edom…
Edom is Seir. Deuteronomy 33:2 speaks of the Lord rising up from Seir, which is Edom.
Isaiah 63:1-3 says:
Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat? I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment.
He is speaking of coming from Edom, from the atonement, and then He is goes right into speaking about Judgment Day.
Again, the point that I want to make with Deuteronomy 33:2 is how God associates the Law with the Lord coming “with ten thousands of his saints,” which is what we are reading about in Psalm 149:6-9. Let me read Psalm 149:6-9 one more time:
Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand; To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye JEHOVAH.
Shall we pray.
(There was no question/answer session pertaining to this study.)