Day 166: Praying the Psalms: Psalm 149

Through the Bible: Psalm 134, 146-150

1 Hallelujah!
Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise in the assembly of the faithful.
2 Let Israel celebrate its Maker;
let the children of Zion rejoice in their King.
3 Let them praise his name with dancing
and make music to him with tambourine and lyre.
4 For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;
he adorns the humble with salvation.
5 Let the faithful celebrate in triumphal glory;
let them shout for joy on their beds.

6 Let the exaltation of God be in their mouths[a]
and a double-edged sword in their hands,
7 inflicting vengeance on the nations
and punishment on the peoples,
8 binding their kings with chains
and their dignitaries with iron shackles,
9 carrying out the judgment decreed against them.
This honor is for all his faithful people.
Hallelujah!

Thank You for this joyful Psalm, O Lord! These are party words–

• Be glad!
• Rejoice!
• Dance!
• Make melody!
• Exult!
• Sing for joy!

This isn’t a meditative, softly spoken psalm, a whisper on one’s lips from the depths of his prayer closet. It’s line dancing at a wedding. It’s a parade through the French Quarter. It’s Bohemian Rhapsody, at the top of your lungs, in a car with your best friends from high school.

Psalm 149 is the gender reveal. It’s the pop of the champagne cork. It’s rushing the field when the underdog beats the number one at home.

It’s dancing all night, then waking up singing for joy the next morning.

And the reason for the raucousness? The rationale for the riotous joy?

You, my Father, take delight in me. You rake pleasure in your people. You adorn the humble with salvation.

There is a time to be sorry for sin. There is a time for repentance and sackcloth and ashes. There is a day for the wintering of the heart.

But this is not that day! Today is a head-banging Hallelujah! Today is a day to turn it up to eleven!

Inhabit the uninhibited praise of Your people, O Lord!