Psalms 149:1-5

Context

Psalm 149¹

149:1 Praise the Lord!

Sing to the Lord a new song!

Praise him in the assembly of the godly!²

149:2 Let Israel rejoice in their Creator!

Let the people³ of Zion delight in their king!⁴

149:3 Let them praise his name with dancing!

Let them sing praises to him to the accompaniment of the tambourine and harp!

149:4 For the Lord takes delight in his people;

he exalts the oppressed by delivering them.⁵

149:5 Let the godly rejoice because of their vindication!⁶

Let them shout for joy upon their beds!⁷

[149:1] ¹sn Psalm 149. The psalmist calls upon God’s people to praise him because he is just and avenges them.

[149:1] ²tn Heb “his praise in the assembly of the godly ones.”

[149:2] ³tn Heb “sons.”

[149:2] ⁴sn The Lord is the king here, as the parallelism in the previous line (“their creator”) indicates.

[149:4] ⁵tn Heb “he honors the oppressed [with] deliverance.”

[149:5] ⁶tn Heb “in glory.” Here “glory” probably refers to the “honor” that belongs to the Lord’s people as a result of their deliverance (see v. 4).

[149:5] ⁷tn The significance of the reference to “beds” is unclear. Perhaps the point is that they should rejoice at all times, even when falling asleep or awaking.