1 Praise the Lord!
Sing to the Lord a new song,
And His praise in the assembly of saints.
2 Let Israel rejoice in their Maker;
Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.
3 Let them praise His name with the dance;
Let them sing praises to Him with the timbrel and harp.
4 For the Lord takes pleasure in His people;
He will beautify the humble with salvation.
5 Let the saints be joyful in glory;
Let them sing aloud on their beds.
6 Let the high praises of God be in their mouth,
And a two-edged sword in their hand,
7 To execute vengeance on the nations,
And punishments on the peoples;
8 To bind their kings with chains,
And their nobles with fetters of iron;
9 To execute on them the written judgment—
This honor have all His saints.
Praise the Lord!
Taking up the note struck at the end of Psalm 148, this psalm narrows it focus once again to God’s people—specifically, His people as delineated by the expression “godly ones” (signifying the remnant of Israel whose future hope is “everlasting life,” and excluding those of Israel who have only “everlasting condemnation” in store), which occurs three times (vs.1, 5, 9). The focus of this psalm (and the following one) is ultimately on the hereafter, when the kingdom of God is established on earth and all of Israel represented therein are “godly ones.” [This] is suggested by (1) the expression “congregation of godly ones,” implying a unified and outwardly distinct group; (2) the parallelism with the ethnically comprehensive expression “Israel” and “sons of Zion” in v.2; (3) the explicit reference in the same verse to their King, who, in the view of the ensuing parallelism in v.3 can only be God; (4) the reference to God “beautifying” the afflicted ones with salvation (v.4), which, insofar as these “afflicted ones” are identical with the “godly ones” (as indicated by the surrounding parallelism), takes as its most likely reference to Christ’s future work of “perfecting” His godly ones by raising them up “imperishable” to inherit the kingdom of God; and (5) the reference in vs.7-9 to executing vengeance (i.e., just retribution, per the principle in Genesis 12:3) on the Gentiles and the judgment written—i.e., their final judgment as recorded in Scripture (e.g., Isaiah 45:14-17; Zechariah 12:6-9; Psalm 110:3-7). — Wechsler, pages 353-354.
Williams’ take:
This is the fourth Halley Psalm and corresponds to the Book of Numbers. At the close of that book Israel stands at the entrance of Canaan, her brows wreathed with victory over the Moabite and the Amorite. In this Psalm she stands at the entrance of the Millennial Kingdom crowned with victory over Anti-Christ and the False Prophet. …
“Beds,” or couches of glory (v.5) here mean thrones. Eastern princes are enthroned upon cushions or divans (Esther 7:8; Amos 6:4).
The future tense should be used in verses 5-9. This section foretells the efficiency, the piety, and the equity of the government which Israel will exercise over the Nations of the earth. It will be efficient, for a two-edged sword will be in their hand; it will be pious, for the high praises of God will be in their mouths; it will be just, for it will exact vengeance; it will be impartial, for it will bind kings; and it will be legal, for it will execute the judgment written int he statute books of heaven. …
In that day, as predicted by Messiah Himself, His apostles will sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel; and, as foretold in the Scriptures, Israel will sit on thrones judging the nations of the earth. — Williams, page 414.
