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PSALM 149

1. hallelujah! Sing to jehovah a new song, sing his praise in the congregation of the saints.
2. Let Israel rejoice in his Maker; let the sons of Zion exult in their King.
3. Let them praise his name in the dance; with timbrel and harp let them sing praises to him.
4. For jehovah takes delight in his people; he adorns the meek with salvation.
5. Let the saints be joyful in glory; let them sing aloud upon 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 upon the nations, and punishments upon the peoples;
8. To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron.
9. To execute upon them the judgement written; He is the honour to all his saints: hallelujah!

Verses 1, 2, 3. Sing to jehovah a new song, sing his praise in the congregation of the saints. Let Israel rejoice in his Maker; let the sons of Zion exult in their King; let them praise his name in the dance; with timbrel and harp let them sing praises to him. Again in Isaiah, "Sing to jehovah a new song, his praise from the extremity of the earth, let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up the voice," Isaiah 42:10; and again, "Sing, O you heavens, because jehovah has done it, jubilate your lower parts of the earth, cry aloud, you mountains, with singing, O forest, and every tree therein, because jehovah has redeemed Jacob, and has exhibited himself glorious in Israel," Isaiah 49:23; 49:13. The subject treated of in these passages is concerning the lord, his advent and salvation by him; and because these things were about to come, therefore mention is made of a new song; the joy thence arising is described not only by singing, playing, making a loud noise, jubilating, clapping, but also by various musical instruments, whose sounds are in agreement therewith; it is likewise said that the rivers, the sea, the forest, the field, the trees therein, Libanus, the wilderness, the mountains, etc. should rejoice, exult, jubilate, sing, clap their hands, and cry aloud together; the reason why similar things are predicated of those objects is because they signify such things as appertain to the church, and consequently such as appertain to the man of the church; the rivers, things belonging to intelligence, the sea, things belonging to science, which are in agreement with truths and goods, the field, the good of the church, forests, the truths of the natural man, the trees, knowledges, Libanus, good and truth spiritual, the wilderness, the desire of truth that good may be thence attained, and the mountains, the goods of love: all these things are said to sing, to make a loud noise, to jubilate, to cry aloud, and clap the hands, when they are derived from heaven, for then celestial joy is in them, and thereby in man: for man is not in celestial joy, unless the truths and goods which are with him, are derived from heaven, the joy of the heart, which is truly joy being from there, and consequently the joy of the man with whom these things are; from these considerations it may appear why the like is predicated concerning them as concerning man, namely, because joy is in them and thereby in man; such joy is in every spiritual and celestial good, and thence in those with whom those goods are; for heaven flows in with its joy, that is the lord through heaven, into the goods and thence into the truths which are from him with man, and thereby into the man and not into the man deprived of them, or void; those goods and the truths thence derived, are what exult, jubilate, make a loud noise, sing, play, and thus rejoice by virtue of influx out of heaven, and thence cause the same in the heart of man. AE 326.

Verse 4. He adorns the meek with salvation. The meek signify those who are in the good of charity. AE 304.

Verse 5. Let them sing aloud upon their beds. For the signification of bed, see Psalm 63:6, Exposition.

Verse 6. And a two-edged sword in their hand. By a sword in the above passage is signified truth, combating, and destroying; this destruction especially appears in the spiritual world, where they who are in falses cannot sustain the truth, but are in a state of anguish, as if they struggled with death, when they come into the sphere of light, that is, into the sphere of Divine Truth, and thus also they are deprived of truths, and vastated. As most expressions in the Word have an opposite sense, so likewise has the sword, and in that sense it signifies the false combating against truth, and destroying it. AE 131.