In Psalms 146-150, the focus is purely on praising God. There are no requests, and there are no cries of distress; they are all simply psalms of praise, where the psalmists praise God for who He is and what He’s done. In this psalm, the psalmist simply praises God because He will judge those who have mistreated His people.
The psalmist begins by declaring the great hallelujah, Psalm 149:1, that is, praise the LORD, Psalm 149:1. They encourage all of the assembly of His faithful people to sing a new song, Psalm 149:1 / Isaiah 42:10 / Revelation 5:9 / Revelation 14:3.
They encourage all of Israel to rejoice in their Maker, and the people of Zion, Psalm 149:2, that is, Jerusalem, to be glad in their King, Psalm 149:2. This is because God created the nation of Israel, and so, Israel should worship her Maker and King, Isaiah 54:5.
The praising of God also included dancing, Psalm 149:3 / Jeremiah 31:13 / Lamentations 5:15, and making music with the timbrel and harp, Psalm 149:3 / Amos 5:23 / Ephesians 5:19 / Colossians 3:16.
The reason for praising God is simply because the LORD takes delight in His people and crowns the humble with victory, Psalm 149:4 / James 4:6 / 1 Peter 5:5 / Isaiah 60:7.
We can almost imagine the joy in the hearts of God’s faithful people. They’re so full of joy that they even sing songs of joy in their bed at night, Psalm 149:5 / Job 35:10 / Acts 16:25.
When the praises of God are in their mouths, Psalm 149:6, this would indicate that they were ready and totally reliant upon God for victory over their enemies, Psalm 149:6 / 2 Chronicles 20:20-21.
When the praises of God are in their mouths, this would indicate that they are equipped with God’s word; that is, they totally rely upon God and His word, Psalm 149:6 / Ephesians 6:17 / Hebrews 4:12 / Revelation 19:15.
In other words, when they are spiritually equipped, they would have confidence that God would fight their enemies for them and grant them the victory over their enemies, Nehemiah 4:9 / Nehemiah 4:16-23.
When His people are spiritually prepared, they will be fully equipped to inflict vengeance, Psalm 149:7, that is, judgment upon the nations and punishment on the people, Psalm 149:7 / Deuteronomy 7:1-2 / Deuteronomy 32:41-43. Even kings and nobles won’t be able to escape the judgment of God, Psalm 149:8-9 / Ephesians 6:12-18 / 2 Corinthians 10:5.
This judgment will be the glory of all of God’s faithful people, Psalm 149:9 / Acts 17:31 / 1 Corinthians 6:2. The psalmist ends their psalm in the same manner they began, Psalm 149:1, with the great hallelujah, praise the LORD, Psalm 149:9.
The psalmist encourages God’s faithful people to praise the LORD because He will judge their enemies. Judgement, especially Judgment Day, isn’t a popular topic today for various reasons.
Some don’t want to hear about the prospect of heaven or hell, and for others, it’s a day to which they’re not looking forward to. God’s Day of Judgment is ‘unique’ because there has never been, nor will there ever be again, an event like it.
That Day will be convened, not to decide the eternal destinies of those who appear before Him, because that decision is made by every individual during earthly life.
There is a well-known saying which is very appropriate in dealing with Judgment Day, which states that, ‘justice must not only be done; it must be seen to be done’.
When ‘the books’ are opened before God, Revelation 20:12-15, it will not be because He needs to be reminded of what we’ve done in our lives, or because He needs to weigh up the evidence, for or against us. It will be in order that every individual may know and understand clearly why God’s verdict is just, and why the sentence is deserved.
No one who is banished eternally from God’s presence will be left in any doubt as to the reason. No one will be able to say, ‘I don’t deserve this!’, or ‘I don’t understand why I am being treated in this way!’ Justice will truly be ‘seen’ to be done.