HOW MUCH ARE WE LOVED? THISSSSSSSS MUCH! REJOICE, AND PRAISE THE LORD

September 6, 2017

HOW MUCH ARE WE LOVED? THISSSSSSSS MUCH! REJOICE, AND PRAISE THE LORD FOR HIS VICTORY!

Psalm 149

Bobby Senter

Central Truth

God loves and takes pleasure in His people. Humbly trusting in Christ's life, death, and resurrection means we are saved through His righteousness. A right response to this truth is rejoicing and singing His praises boldly, creatively, and consistently. This is God's plan for redeeming the world until Jesus returns.

For the Lord takes pleasure in his people,
he adorns the humble with salvation.
Let the godly exult in glory;
let them sing for joy on their beds.
(Psalm 149:4-5)

Sing to the LORD a New Song

1 Praise the LORD!
Sing to the LORD a new song,
    his praise in the assembly of the godly!
2 Let Israel be glad in his Maker;
    let the children of Zion rejoice in their King!
3 Let them praise his name with dancing,
    making melody to him with tambourine and lyre!
4 For the LORD takes pleasure in his people;
    he adorns the humble with salvation.
5 Let the godly exult in glory;
    let them sing for joy on their beds.
6 Let the high praises of God be in their throats
    and two-edged swords in their hands,
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 judgment written!
    This is honor for all his godly ones.
Praise the LORD!

Psalm 149 is a song of praise to God, the Redeemer. This Scripture tells us that God adorns—makes beautiful, righteous, and pure—those of us who humbly accept and obey His commands in a right response to His gift of salvation through Jesus. When I meditate on that profound truth, I find myself rejoicing about the new things God is doing in and around my life and desiring to sing His praises in the public assembly (Psalm 149:1).

The idea of rejoicing and singing God's praises in public was ludicrous to me a few years ago. In 2014, God drew me to a place called The Porch—Watermark’s young adult ministry—where He revealed to me that He was writing a new song in my life. Praise the Lord! Even after becoming a Christian, I struggled with really understanding the fact that the Creator of the Universe viewed me—a performance driven, selfish, idol factory of a human—with love and pleasure (Psalm 149:4) as His son, according to His promise (Galatians 3:26-29). But God was faithful to change my heart through His people and their encouragement, studying and spending time with God in His Word, and serving others as a servant of Christ.

The writer of Psalm 149 tells us that God has blessed His people with the sword of His Word (Psalm 149:6 and Hebrews 4:12). Here, God commands the Israelites to rely on Him to drive out and conquer enemy nations. God fulfilled His promise to adorn us in salvation by the work of Jesus, and He left us the Holy Spirit to give us the power to boldly share this Good News. Today, God asks us to be faithful by singing His praises and leveraging our gifts and talents to fight the Evil One, who remains in this world. This is a tremendous blessing and responsibility, one that should "let the godly exult in glory" and cause us to "sing for joy." Praise the Lord!

1. How do you think God views you? How has this changed over the years? See John 1:12-13 and Galatians 4:4-7.

2. What are the best environments for you to be reminded of, rejoice in, and sing of the fact that God has clothed you in righteousness through Christ? How often do you intentionally place yourself in those environments?

3. What are your gifts and talents? If you have trusted in Christ, how can you more effectively leverage and highlight them to the world as a reflection of God's good work in your life? Share this with a community group member or mentor!