Psalm 149:6 Praise War

Psalm 149:6 May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands

Psalm 149, the penultimate psalm in the psalter, is very much a psalm of two halves. The first "half" (verses 1-6a) is characterised by praise and is very much the praise band's delight. Beginning with a hallelujah, the psalmist says Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of the saints. He calls on Israel to rejoice in their Maker, the people of Zion to be glad in their King. He urges praise with dancing and the music of "tambourine and harp". The reason for this is, of course, that (4) the LORD takes delight in his people and crowns the humble with salvation. The psalmist wants the saints to rejoice in this honour and sing for joy on their beds. He wants God's praise to be in their mouths. Most people are quite happy with this side of serving God and not too many object. Verse 6, however, is pivotal and there the psalm takes a turn. What we see on the other side of the coin is not so popular. Yes, people are happy about the praise of God being in the mouths of his people but what is that in their hands? A double-edged sword in their hands!? And look what it is for - to inflict vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, to bind their kings with fetters, their nobles with shackles of iron, to carry out the sentence written against them. Yet the psalmist says This is the glory of all his saints and adds a final hallelujah. Part of the problem is the very physical way in which Israel fought against the nations but even when we come to the New Covenant and ruthlessness against the world, the flesh and the devil there is still some reluctance or at least a lack of delight. We need, somehow, to keep this psalm's balance - praise and destruction, rejoicing and defeating, worship and mortification.