Psalms 149:4

For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation. FOR THE LORD TAKETH PLEASURE IN HIS PEOPLE - (Psalms 147:10.) HE WILL BEAUTIFY THE MEEK WITH SALVATION - parallel to . "The meek" are the literal, Israel, heretofore crushed down, primarily (with 'beautify," cf. , "put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem"); then, in the secondary sense, the spiritual Israel, one of whose leading graces is meekness ()....

4._For God hath taken pleasure in his people. _We have spoken elsewhere of the verb רצה, _ratsah _here it means _free favor, _the Psalmist saying that it was entirely of his good pleasure that God had chosen this people to himself. From this source flows what is added in the second clause, that God would give a new glory of deliverance to the afflicted. In the Hebrew ענוים, _anavim, _means _poor and afflicted ones, _but the term came afterwards to be applied to _merciful persons, _as bodily afflictions have a tendency to subdue pride, while abundance begets cruelty. The Psalmist accordingly mitigates the sadness of present evils by administering seasonable consolation, that God’s people, when oppressed by troubles, might look forward with hope to the glorious deliverance which was yet unseen. The sum of the passage is — that God, who had fixed his lo

1-5 New mercies continually demand new songs of praise, upon earth and in heaven. And the children of Zion have not only to bless the God who made them, but to rejoice in him, as having created them in Christ Jesus unto good works, and formed them saints as well as men. The Lord takes pleasure in his people; they should rejoice in Him. When the Lord has made sinners feel their wants and unworthiness, he will adorn them with the graces of his Spirit, and cause them to bear his image, and rejoice in his happiness for ever. Let his saints employ their waking hours upon their beds in songs of praise. Let them rejoice, even upon the bed of death, assured that they are going to eternal rest and glory....

Verse Psalms 149:4. _THE LORD TAKETH PLEASURE IN HIS PEOPLE_] The pleasure or good will of God is in his people: he loves them ardently, and will load them with his benefits, while they are humble and thankful; for, _HE WILL BEAUTIFY_] יפאר _yephaer_, he will make _fair, the meek_, ענוים anavim, the _lowly_, the _humble with salvation_, בישועה bishuah; which St. Jerome thus translates, _Et exaltabit mansuetos_ _in Jesu_, "And he will exalt the meek in Jesus." Whether this rendering be correct or not, there is no other way by which the _humble soul_ can be exalted, but by JESUS, as the redeeming Saviour....

FOR THE LORD TAKETH PLEASURE IN HIS PEOPLE - Let them rejoice on this account. He loves them; he approves their conduct; he bestows his favors upon them. All this should add to their joy, and fill their hearts with gladness. Compare the notes at Psalms 35:27. The Hebrew word here rendered “taketh pleasure” conveys the idea of complacency, satisfaction, delight. It is the opposite of being pained or offended. God has complacency in his people. He delights in their welfare; he delights in doing them good. HE WILL BEAUTIFY THE MEEK WITH SALVATION - The word here rendered beautify means to adorn, to honor, as the sanctuary, Isaiah 60:7 (rendered glorify); and it here means that the salvation which God would bestow upon them would be of the n

EXPOSITION A "Hallelujah Psalm," combining the praise of God for mercies already received with anticipations of future vengeance, through God's help, on heathen enemies that are still bent on persecuting God's "loving ones." The tone is that of Psalms 109:1; though the expressions used are less fierce. Metrically, the psalm seems to divide itself into three stanzas of three verses each (Psalms 109:1, Psalms 109:4, Psalms 109:7). PSALMS 149:1 PRAISE YE THE LORD. Sing unto th

FOR THE LORD TAKETH PLEASURE IN HIS PEOPLE,.... Not all mankind; though they are all his people by creation, and are under the care of his providence; yet they are not all acceptable to him; some are abhorred by him for their sins and transgressions: but these are a special and peculiar people, whom he has foreknown and chosen, taken into the covenant of his grace, and provided in it blessings for them; whom he has given to Christ, and he has redeemed; and who are called by the Spirit and grace of God, whereby they appear to be his people. These the Lord loves with a love of complacency and delight; he takes pleasure in their persons, as considered in Christ, in whom they are accepted with him; as they are clothed with his righteousness, and made comely through his comeliness; as washed in his precious blood, and adorned with the graces of his spirit: yea, he takes pleasure in their serv...

The whole Book of Psalms is full of praise, but the praise culminates at the close. There are five «Hallelujah Psalms» at the end of the Book; they are so named because they both begin and conclude with the word Hallelujah, «Praise ye the Lord.» It must be to the intense regret of all reverent persons to find the word Hallelujah so used today, in a hackneyed way, that it is made to be a commonplace instead of a very sacred word,-Hallelujah, or, Praise be unto Jah, Jehovah. He who uses this word in a flippant manner is guilty of taking the name of the Lord in vain. Psalms 149:1. _Praise ye the LORD. Sing unto the LORD a new song,_ You have had new mercies from the Lord; give him in return a new song. You have a new apprehension of his mercy, you who live under this gospel dispensation have something more to sing of than even David experienced; therefore, «sing unto Je

PSALM 144-150 THE HALLELUJAH CHORUS The five Psalms with which this marvellous book closeth are all Psalms of praise. The word “praise” is found in the Hebrew thirty-seven times. Each one of these Psalms begins and ends with a hallelujah; there are ten hallelujahs. First is a hallelujah which celebrates Himself, He who is the God of Jacob. Precious vision of Him who delights to call Himself “the God of Jacob,” the God who loves the sinner and has redeemed His people. Who is He? The Creator of all, by whom and for whom all things were made (Psalms 146:6). The Lord of judgment and redemption; the Lord who looseth the prisoners, openeth the eyes of the blind, raiseth them that are bowed down--and He will reign for ever. Hallelujah. Psalms 147:1 is the hallelujah for what He has done for Hi

CXLIX. A SONG OF TRIUMPH AND MESSIANIC EXPECTATION. Obviously this Ps. depicts a stage in the Maccabean war. It is addressed to the assembly of the saints, the Hasidim of Psalms 4:3. The heroes whom the Ps. celebrates are meek (Psalms 149:4) towards God, but they fight fiercely. The praises of God are in their mouth and a two-edged sword in their hands an admirable description of the Maccabean times, but unsuitable to any other period in Jewish history known to us. Maccabean also, though not exclusively Maccabean, is the confident belief that Israel will rule over all the world: it is the same belief which finds impressive utterance in the Book of Daniel, though there the victory is given immediately by God, here it is to be won by the sword of the saints. The Ps. falls into two divisions. In...