1 Praise Yahweh! Sing to Yahweh a new song, his praise in the assembly of the saints.
2 Let Israel rejoice in him who made them. Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.
3 Let them praise his name in the dance! Let them sing praises to him with tambourine and harp!
4 For Yahweh takes pleasure in his people. He crowns the humble with salvation.
Free Grace note
He crowns the humble with salvation This is the heart of the psalm: Yahweh takes pleasure in his people, and he crowns the humble with salvation. Notice who receives the crown. Not the proud or the accomplished, but the humble, those who have stopped trusting themselves. And notice who does the crowning. God places it; the humble do not seize it. Salvation is pictured as a gift set on the lowly. This is the same reversal Jesus taught, that the one who humbles himself will be lifted up (Luke 14:11 speaks of it, and the pattern runs throughout Scripture). The maturing believer learns to rest here: you do not win the crown by conquering. You receive it by bowing low before the King who already delights in you.
5 Let the saints rejoice in honor. Let them sing for joy on their beds.
6 May the high praises of God be in their mouths, and a two-edged sword in their hand;
Free Grace note
The two edged sword in its place The high praises of God in their mouths and a two edged sword in their hand (verse 6) can trouble a thoughtful reader, especially the verses about binding kings and executing judgment. In its setting this pictures God finally setting the whole world right, carrying out the judgment he has written. That day is real and it belongs to him. Crucially, it is not the means by which anyone gains salvation; the psalm already located salvation in verse 4, a crown God places on the humble. The New Testament makes the believer's weapon the word of God, called the sword of the Spirit in Ephesians 6:17. Judgment is God's to execute in his time. Your standing before him rests not on any conquest of yours but on the free gift given to the lowly who trust him.
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 written judgment. All his saints have this honor. Praise Yah!
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