Today's Featured Psalm
Psalm 149

Read this Psalm

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!

Scripture taken from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Psalm Devotional
Sing Praise to the Lord for His Victories

Each of the five books of the Psalter closes with a doxology in simple praise to God (41:13; 72:18–19; 89:52; 106:48; 150:1–6). Psalm 149 is the fourth in a series of five doxologies](/psalms/category/great-doxology) that concludes the whole Psalter, rising in a crescendo for the finale in Psalm 150. Each psalm in the series begins and ends with the call to Praise the Lord, and Psalm 150 begins every line with this call. The chief end of man is to praise God and enjoy Him forever. These doxologies, with the whole of the Psalter, give us a special means to realize our primary purpose.

The reference to godly ones (vv. 1, 5, 9) reveals the structure of this psalm. The first reference begins the initial section in which we praise the Lord for His victory achieved (vv. 1–4). The third use concludes the second section in which we praise the Lord for His victory anticipated (vv. 6–9). The middle occurrence is transitional, connecting the two themes, in which we praise the Lord for all His victories, always (v. 5).

Listen to this Psalm

Refuge album art Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! (Psalm 149A)
The Book of Psalms for Worship | Refuge
Zion album art O Praise the Lord, O Sing Aloud (Psalm 149B)
The Book of Psalms for Worship | Zion