Psalm 149 — 150
Worship the Lord Triumphantly (vv. 6–9) Worship and warfare go together, as the book of Revelation makes very clear.26 Satan has always wanted to be worshipped (Isa. 14:12–15), and he is willing to pay for it (Matt. 4:8–11). Satan is constantly at work enticing the world to worship him (Rev. 13), for he does not mind if people are "religious" so long as they leave out Jesus Christ and the truth of the gospel. In recent years, some denominations have eliminated the "militant songs" from their hymnals and their worship, and this is disappointing. Whether we like it or not, the church is an army, this world is a battlefield, and there is a struggle going on for the souls of lost sinners (Matt. 16:17–18; Eph. 6:10ff.; 2 Tim. 2:3–4; 2 Cor. 10:3–5). Jesus Christ the Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6) is also the Conquering Warrior (45:3–7; Rev. 19:11–21), and like the workers in Nehemiah's day, we must have both tools for building and swords for battling (Neh. 4:17–18). Our weapons are prayer, the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God (Eph. 6:17; Heb. 4:12), and hymns of praise to the Lord. Worship is warfare, for we are singing soldiers! Did not our Lord sing before He went out to the cross to do battle against the devil? (See Matt. 26:30; John 12:31–32; Col. 2:13–15.) God has declared in writing that "the day of the Lord" will come when He will send judgment to a world that has rejected Christ and chosen to worship Satan (Rev. 6—19). God's people will appear to be the losers, but in the end, they will conquer the enemy and reign with Christ (Rev. 19:11ff.). Today, the sword belongs to human government and its agents (Rom. 13), and God's servants do not wield it (John 18:10–11, 36–37). But the day of the Lord will come "as a thief in the night" (1 Thess. 5:2ff.), and then Christ will "gird his sword … and ride prosperously (45:3–5). Until then, the church must take worship very seriously and realize that worship is a part of the believer's spiritual warfare. To ignore worship, trivialize it, turn it into entertainment, or make it a routine activity is to play right into the hands of the enemy. It is an honor to serve in the Lord's army of worshipping warriors!
psalm, it gives us a summary of some essentials of true worship.
The Focus of Worship: The Lord (1a, 6b) Hallelu Yah—hallelujah—"Praise the Lord!" Jehovah (or Yah, for Yahweh) is the covenant name of the Lord. It reminds us that He loves us and has covenanted to save us, keep us, care for us, and eventually glorify us, because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, His Son, on the cross. The new covenant was not sealed by the blood of animal sacrifices but by the precious blood of Christ. "God" is the "power name" of God (El, Elohim), and this reminds us that whatever He promises, He is able to perform. Worship is not about the worshipper and his or her needs; it is about God and His power and glory. Certainly we bring our burdens and needs with us into the sanctuary (1 Peter 5:7), but we focus our attention on the Lord.
The Places of Worship: Heaven and Earth (v. 1b) The "firmament" is the great expanse of heaven (11:4; 148:1; Gen. 1:6) where the angels and "spirits of just men made perfect" (148:1–7; Heb. 12:23) worship the Lord. The "sanctuary" was the Jewish tabernacle or temple where the priests and Levites led the people in praising God. We know that the Lord does not live in the structures that we design and build (Acts 7:48–50; 17:24–25), but there is nothing sinful about setting aside a place totally dedicated to worshipping the Lord. The early church met in the temple, in upper rooms, in private homes, and even in synagogues, and when persecution began, they met in caves and underground burial chambers. People who excuse themselves from public worship because they "worship God in nature" need to be reminded that the God of nature has revealed Himself in Jesus Christ and commanded us to gather together with other believers (Heb. 10:25). We can lift our hearts to the Lord from any geographic location, for our God fills heaven and earth.
The Themes of Worship: God's Acts and Attributes (v. 2) The Old Testament is a record of "the mighty acts of God" as performed for the nation of Israel, the chosen people of God. Especially notable are the exodus from Egypt, the conquest of the Promised Land, the expansion of the Davidic kingdom, the deliverance of the Jews from Babylon, and the restoring of the nation. In the four gospels we see the acts of God as done by Jesus Christ, the Son of God; and in the Acts and Epistles, we have the record of the Holy Spirit's mighty acts accomplished through the people of God. The acts of God reveal the character of God, His holiness, love, wisdom, power, grace, and so on—what the psalmist called "His excellent greatness" (NASB). The nation of Israel had a calendar of special feasts to help them remember who God is and what God had done (Lev. 23), and there is nothing wrong with the church having a similar calendar for the great events in the