We’ve been looking at Psalm 149 and have found it, I trust, to be very informative for our lives. We’ve seen that the people of God gather for worship and then scatter for witness to others in the world around us. In my previous article we saw how we’re to regularly give words of praise to God. In my final article from this Psalm, we’ll look at a word of judgment from God. I’ll conclude with some practical applications for our lives.
Our Psalm concludes with verses 7-9 beginning with: “to execute vengeance on the nations and punishments on the peoples.” We saw in verse 2 that God’s people are to, “rejoice in their King.” God is our Warrior King, and this Psalm follows other passages in the Old Testament that shows us that God fights for his people. For example, in Exodus 14:13-14 when the people of God are crossing the Red Sea and Pharoah’s armies are following close at hand we hear these words from Moses to God’s people: “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The LORD will fight for you…..” We see this same type of thing in Joshua 5:13-6:6 in the battle of Jericho. As Joshua encounters the man standing before him with a sword in his hand, he’s told to “Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” (see also Exodus 3). In Joshua 6:2, God says to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand.” The people had to follow what God called them to do, but God guaranteed the ultimate victory.
As we look in verses 7-9, we’re reminded that there are battles that all Christians will face, but God, ultimately, guarantees the final victory. God is there “to execute vengeance on the nations; to bind their kings in chains and their nobles with fetters of iron” and “to execute on them the judgment written!” All these acts of ultimate judgment by God on his enemies, i.e., the ones who will not turn to him in faith, is a reason for praise from his people. This truth of God as Warrior King who goes before us in our fight with the world, the flesh, and the devil is illustrated many times in scripture. Although we know that God fights for us even now, this Psalm, ultimately, points to a final future day when God will judge all his and our enemies. This Psalm is meant to encourage us in our relationship with our Covenant God in every way. He loves his people and he fights for us.…