Psalm 149, Dancing with Swords

We close out the psalter with five hymns of praise. Each begins and ends with hal·lū-YAH ("Hallelujah!") The last verse of the last psalm praised God for raising up the people of Israel, a people close to His heart.  This psalm elaborates on that theme.

Psalm 149:1, A new song

Praise the LORD.

Sing to the LORD a new song, 

his praise in the assembly of the saints.

Like a number of other psalms (see 33:3, 96:1, 98:1), call us to praise YHWH with a new song, emphasizing creative praise.

Psalm 149:2-3, Rejoice and dance

Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; 

let the people of Zion be glad in their King.

 Let them praise his name with dancing 

and make music to him with tambourine and harp.

Praising God includes dancing and singing to him with music, including tambourine, harp and dancing.

Psalm 149:4-5, He crowns the humble

For the LORD takes delight in his people; 

he crowns the humble with salvation.

 Let the saints rejoice in this honor 

and sing for joy on their beds.

YHWH watches over His people and gives salvation to the "humble", those who lean on Him, who rejoice in Him and sing for joy even on their beds (mishkab, מִשְׁכָּב, "couches", translates Alter.)

Psalm 149:6-9, Enemy defeated

May the praise of God be in their mouths 

and a double-edged sword in their hands,

 to inflict vengeance on the nations 

and punishment on the peoples,

 to bind their kings with fetters,

 their nobles with shackles of iron,

 to carry out the sentence written against them. 

This is the glory of all his saints. 

Praise the LORD.

The people of God are to praise God with their mouths while holding double-edged swords. The military images here are strong, with "vengeance" and "punishment" on opposing kingdoms, placing enemy kings in irons. Israel, the people of God, will be victorious against the nations around them.

First published December 5, 2025; updated December 5, 2025

Psalm 148, Above All Earth and All Heavens

After the eight psalms of David, we close out the psalter with five hymns of praise. Each begins and ends with hal·lū-YAH ("Hallelujah!", that is, "Praise YHWH!") Kidner sees the apocryphal Song of the Three Servants as an expansion of this psalm.

Psalm 148:1-2, Heavens and waters above the heaven

Praise the LORD. 

Praise the LORD from the heavens, 

praise him in the heights above.

 Praise him, all his angels, 

praise him, all his heavenly hosts.

YHWH is to be praised in the high heavens above, by all His courtly staff and messengers. The Hebrew word malak (מֲלְאָךְ), made plural in verse 2, can simply mean "messenger" but in context, in the synthetic parallelism of that verse, surely these messengers are spiritual beings, part of the heavenly hosts and so the NIV translates the word as "angels."

Psalm 148:3-6, Sun, moon and stars

 Praise him, sun and moon, 

praise him, all you shining stars.

 Praise him, you highest heavens 

and you waters above the skies.

 Let them praise the name of the LORD,

for he commanded and they were created.

 He set them in place for ever and ever;

he gave a decree that will never pass away.

Looking back to Day 4 of Genesis, the psalmist praises God for creating the sun, moon and stars and urges those objects to praise their creator. 

We note that, with the ANE view of cosmology, the psalmist praises God for making "waters above the skies," that is, waters above the firmanent. The Hebrew word for "heavens" is shamayim (שָׁמַיִם) which has, embedded in it, the word mayim (מַיִם) meaning "water."

Psalm 148:7-12, From sea creatures to young men and maidens

 Praise the LORD from the earth, 

you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,

 lightning and hail, 

snow and clouds, 

stormy winds that do his bidding,1:

 you mountains and all hills, 

fruit trees and all cedars,

 wild animals and all cattle, 

small creatures and flying birds,

 kings of the earth and all nations, 

you princes and all rulers on earth,

 young men and maidens, 

old men and children.

Stimulated by the creation of the heavens, the psalmist, as in the previous psalm, runs through a list of majestic natural objects (below the heavens) that the Creator has made. (See also Job 38, Psalm 104. and Psalm 147.)

The "great sea creatures" are the tannin (תַּנִּין); see Genesis 1:21, where they were formed on the fifth Day of Creation.

Psalm 148:13, Above all earth and heaven

 Let them praise the name of the LORD, 

for his name alone is exalted;

his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.

In this verse the created subjects, such as men and women of verse 12, are instructed to turn and praise YHWH for the other parts of His creation. As Alter points out, this verse nicely summarizes the entire song. 

Psalm 148:14, Even Israel

 He has raised up for his people a horn,

the praise of all his saints, of Israel, 

the people close to his heart.

Praise the LORD.

The song ends by turning its focus to the local people, the people of Israel, who, like all creation, are close to the heart of God.

This last verse has a sharp change in focus from the rest of the psalm. Some view this change as a natural conclusion, where the psalmist bring his thoughts back home to those around him. Others see this change as evidence that this verse really fits much better in the next psalm and so the text of the psalter should be broken at the end of verse 13, not verse 14. A more interesting suggestion (Kidner) is that the psalmist, stirred by the sudden focus on his own people, is stimulated to write a separate psalm, Psalm 149, on that theme. We will look more closely at that psalm tomorrow.

First published December 4, 2025; updated December 4, 2025

Psalm 147, From the Stars to Jerusalem

After the eight psalms of David, we close out the psalter with five hymns of praise. Each begins and ends with hal·lū-YAH ("Hallelujah!")

Psalm 147:1, Fitting to sing

 Praise the LORD.

How good it is to sing praises to our God,

how pleasant and fitting to praise him!

It is fitting to sing praises to God. And also, pleasant and good, says the psalmist. (The Hebrew word zamar, זָמַר, means "to sing praises.")

Psalm 147:2-3, Building Israel

 The LORD builds up Jerusalem; 

he gathers the exiles of Israel.

 He heals the brokenhearted 

and binds up their wounds.

YHWH intervenes in the life of Jerusalem and Israel, taking care of the wounded and broken. The rebuilding of Jerusalem and the gathering of exiles would place this psalm in the Second Temple period of Ezra and Nehemiah.

Kidner sees a lot in common between this psalm and the promises of Isaiah 40.

Psalm 147:4-5, Names the stars

 He determines the number of the stars 

and calls them each by name.

 Great is our Lord and mighty in power; 

his understanding has no limit.

With his gaze moving from earth into the heavens, the psalmist says that God names the stars and His knowledge and understanding is infinite. (We now estimate that there are 100,000,000,000 galaxies averaging 100,000,000,000 stars each, giving us roughly 10^22 stars in the visible universe. Abram is, of course, unable to count the stars in Genesis 15:5 but God knows each of them.)

Psalm 147:6, Humble righteous

 The LORD sustains the humble 

but casts the wicked to the ground.

YHWH supports the humble and is opposed to the wicked.

Psalm 147:7, Sing with harp!

 Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving; 

make music to our God on the harp.

It is right to make music and sing worship songs to God.

Psalm 147:8-11, Lord of all Creation

 He covers the sky with clouds; 

he supplies the earth with rain

and makes grass grow on the hills.

 He provides food for the cattle 

and for the young ravens when they call.

 His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, 

nor his delight in the legs of a man;

 the LORD delights in those who fear him, 

who put their hope in his unfailing love.

 

The gaze of the psalmist moves down from the stars, to the clouds and rain and then the earth and its inhabitants. Ultimately, one's power is trust in YHWH, not in the physical strength of men or horses.

One is reminded of Job 38 and its statements about creation; to this Kidner adds Psalm 104.

Psalm 147:12-14, Peace to our borders

 Extol the LORD, O Jerusalem; 

praise your God, O Zion,

 for he strengthens the bars of your gates

and blesses your people within you.

 He grants peace to your borders 

and satisfies you with the finest of wheat.

God protects Jerusalem, barring the gates to invaders, providing peace within its borders and giving abundant crops of wheat. The Septuagint (says Kidner) breaks this psalm in two, placing verses 1-11 in one psalm and 12-20 in the next.

Psalm 147:15-18, Snow like wool

 He sends his command to the earth; 

his word runs swiftly.

 He spreads the snow like wool 

and scatters the frost like ashes.

 He hurls down his hail like pebbles. 

Who can withstand his icy blast?

 He sends his word and melts them; 

he stirs up his breezes, 

and the waters flow.

 

God's "word" in verse 15 is His command; what He commands will happen. (See also Isaiah 55:11.)

Verse 16, "He spreads the snow like wool and scatters the frost like ashes" is, in Hebrew, the alliterative

kaṣ·ṣā·mer kə·p̄ō·wr, kā·’ê·p̄er yə·p̄az·zêr.

(literally "like wool the frost like ashes He scatters.")

Psalm 147:19-20, Only Israel

 He has revealed his word to Jacob, 

his laws and decrees to Israel.

 He has done this for no other nation;

 they do not know his laws. 

Praise the LORD.

The final words of the song bring us back to the descendants of Jacob, God's special people.

First published December 3, 2025; updated December 3, 2025

Psalm146, Creator of All Mankind

After the eight psalms of David, we close out the psalter with five hymns of praise. Each begins and ends with hal·lū-YAH ("Hallelujah!")

Psalm 146:1-2, Sing praises

 Praise the LORD. 

Praise the LORD, O my soul.

 I will praise the LORD all my life; 

I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

 

As in the previous psalm, the singer is ecstatic, insistent on praising YHWH. 

The Hebrew word zamar (זָמַר) means "to sing praises."

Psalm 146:3-4, Useless mortal men

Do not put your trust in princes, 

in mortal men, who cannot save.

 When their spirit departs,

they return to the ground; 

on that very day 

their plans come to nothing.

Princes, who are mere mortal men, are suddenly gone at the moment of their death. Put no trust in them!

As in Genesis 3:19, there is wordplay, for "man" (adam, אָדָם) returns to "dust" (adamah, אֲדָמָה.)

Psalm 146:5-6, God of Jacob

 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, 

whose hope is in the LORD his God,

 the Maker of heaven and earth, 

the sea, and everything in them-- 

the LORD, who remains faithful forever.

The God of Jacob is YHWH, the Creator of all the universe. Those who rely on Him are "blessed" (asher, אֶשֶׁר, happy.)

Psalm 146:7-9, Oppressed, hungry, blind,..

 He upholds the cause of the oppressed 

and gives food to the hungry. 

The LORD sets prisoners free,

 the LORD gives sight to the blind, 

the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down,

 the LORD loves the righteous.

 The LORD watches over the alien 

and sustains the fatherless and the widow, 

but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

God is the God of the vulnerable: the oprressed, hungry, imprison, blind, bowed down, alien, widow, fatherless, ..., but, in a last line, He is opposed to the wicked.   (See also Isaiah 61:1-2 and Luke 4:16-21.)

As Alter points out, the Hebrew scriptures have a certain "geometric" view of righteousness. Throughout the Psalms and Proverbs, the way of the righteous person is a straight line while the wicked travel in crooked, stumbling paths. The Hebrew word avath (עָוַת), translated "frustrates" by the NIV, means "to bend", "to turn upside-down", "to pervert."

Psalm 146:10, Everlasting God

 The LORD reigns forever, 

your God, O Zion, for all generations. 

Praise the LORD.

YHWH, God of Zion, is eternal. The psalm ends as it began, with a final Hallelujah!

First published December 2, 2025; updated December 2, 2025

Psalm 145, Praise, Praise, Praise!

A psalm of praise. Of David.

The last Davidic psalm in the psalter has 22 pairs of lines of constant, steady praise of God.

This psalm is an acrostic psalm. It has 21 verses, each beginning with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet. As the Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters, one letter (נ, nun) and one verse was missing in Hebrew manuscripts and many English translations. That verse has been recovered (from some ancient Hebrew manuscripts, including the Dead Sea Scrolls) and is now included by the NIV as the second half of verse 13.

Psalm 145:1-2, I exalt You

I will exalt you, my God the King; 

I will praise your name for ever and ever.

 Every day I will praise you 

and extol your name for ever and ever.

 

David begins with promises to constantly praise God. He weaves in three Hebrew words, rum, barak and halal. The verb rum (רוּם) means to exalt, lift up; the verb barak ( בָרַךְ) means to bless/praise, and halal (הָלַל, from which we get the word hallelujah) means to praise, extol.

Psalm 145:3-7, Most worthy

 Great is the LORD 

and most worthy of praise; 

his greatness no one can fathom.

 One generation will commend your works to another;

 they will tell of your mighty acts.

 They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty,

 and I will meditate on your wonderful works.

 They will tell of the power of your awesome works, 

and I will proclaim your great deeds.

 They will celebrate your abundant goodness

 and joyfully sing of your righteousness.

David praises God's greatness and says that each generation will pass on news about this greatness to the next generation. Now 100+ generations from David, the praise continues, carried partly by this very song.

The stream of words

greatness, majesty, mighty acts, splendor, wonderful works,...

introduces us to the many Hebrew words that can be used to describe YHWH: God is great, gadol (גָּדוֹל), from which comes the feminine noun gedullah (גִּדוּלָה) meaning greatness, majesty, dignity; David then commends or glories in (habach , שָׁבַח) God and His strength, power, mighty acts (gebaruh, גְּבוּרָה.)

Psalm 145:8-9, Slow to anger

 The LORD is gracious and compassionate,

slow to anger and rich in love.

 The LORD is good to all;

he has compassion on all he has made.

YHWH is not just powerful but gracious, caring, and compassionate. Verse 8 echoes Exodus 34:6. , praising God for His love and patience, His graciousness in anger. (Not everyone is excited about this character of God: see Jonah 4:2.)

Psalm 145:10-13a, Glory of Your kingdom

 All you have made will praise you, O LORD;

 your saints will extol you.

 They will tell of the glory of your kingdom

and speak of your might,

 so that all men may know of your mighty acts 

and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, 

and your dominion endures through all generations. 

God is not only great and powerful but has invited human beings into His kingdom and if creating an everlasting kingdom that runs through all generations. (A version of verses 12-13a is spoken by King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4:3.)

Psalm 145:13, Faithful and loving

The LORD is faithful to all his promises 

and loving toward all he has made.

The first letter of verse 13 begins with מ, mem, and the first letter of verse 14 begins with ס, samekh, skipping nun. But some ancient texts and some ֹof the Qumran Dead Sea Scrolls have a verse that begin with nun and translates to the two lines above. Modern texts such as the NIV have inserted this verse to the end of verse 13.

Psalm 145:14, Lifting those who fall

 The LORD upholds all those who fall

and lifts up all who are bowed down.

The theme of a human kingdom, begun in verse 10, continues with praise for YHWH who lifts up the vulnerable and inadequate. The NET in verse 14 translates the last stich as

"and lifts up all who are bent over,"

a rather poignant description of us vulnerable struggling humans.

Psalm 145:15-16, Satisfied desires

 The eyes of all look to you,

 and you give them their food at the proper time.

 You open your hand 

and satisfy the desires of every living thing.

 

God's good ness includes food at the proper time (the "daily bread" of Matthew 6:11) and numerous blessings for every living being.

Psalm 145:17-20, Near and listening

 The LORD is righteous in all his ways

and loving toward all he has made.

 The LORD is near to all who call on him, 

to all who call on him in truth.

 He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; 

he hears their cry and saves them.

 The LORD watches over all who love him, 

but all the wicked he will destroy.

YHWH listens, is near, saves those who call on Him but destroys the wicked.

Psalm 145:21, Sing praises, every creature

My mouth will speak in praise of the LORD.

 Let every creature praise his holy name

for ever and ever.

The last verse begins with a Hebrew word derived from tehillah, (תְּהִלָּה) 8416, a feminine noun, meaning songs of praise. (based on the word halal, appearing earlier.) It is from this word, tehillah, that we get Tehillim, the Hebrew title for the Psalms.

Some Hebrew Vocabulary

I don't have the energy to list all the praise words in this psalm, but here are a few:

• rum (רוּם) is to exalt, 
• barak ( בָרַךְ) is to bless/praise,
• halal ( הָלַל) is to praise, extol.
• God is great gadol, (גָּדוֹל) of which comes gedullah (גִּדוּלָה), a feminine noun meaning greatness, majesty, dignity,
• shabach ( שָׁבַח) is to commend, glory in,
• gebaruh, (גְּבוּרָה) strength, power, mighty acts,
•  tehillah, (תְּהִלָּה), a feminine noun meaning song of praise.

First published December 1, 2025; updated December 1, 2025

Rebuild Now!, An Introduction to Haggai

Most of the minor prophets in the Old Testament spoke prior to the Babylonian captivity. But the last three prophets, those at the very end of the Old Testament, occurred after the exile, when the people of Israel have returned to Judah and are rebuilding the temple and the city. Haggai and Zechariah began their prophecies about 520 BC, as the temple was being rebuilt. (Haggai and Zechariah are explicitly mentioned in Ezra 5:1-2.) Malachi, the last Old Testament prophet, probably spoke around 460 BC, when Ezra and then Nehemiah were active.

Haggai's prophecy begins in the second year of King Darius, about 520 BC. He has one agenda -- the temple must be rebuilt! A theme verse might be 1:8:

Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the Lord. 

For those reading the book much later, the message emphasizes putting God first, before other material needs.

Other important verses are 1:14:

So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God,

and 2:6-7:

This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty.

Little is known about Haggai. His name translates as "my feast", and so he may have been born on a feast day. The Septuagint gives him as author of Psalm 138 and Psalms 146-9. He may have been a priest, but commentators debate that. It is suspected that Haggai was elderly when he made his prophecies. Some read into 2:3 the suggestion that Haggai saw the original temple seventy years before. Whether or not this verse records Haggai's memories of Solomon's temple, Haggai does not appear again in history after the end of his prophecy in December 520 BC. But his prophetic voice is past on to a younger man, Zechariah, in the book immediately following the book of Haggai.

According to Joyce Baldwin (p. 32), much of the book of Haggai is found in the ancient Scroll of the Twelve from the caves of Murabba'at.

Outline

The short book of Haggai falls into four parts. 

• Haggai 1, Build now!
• Haggai 2:1-9, Encouragment for the longterm
• Haggai 2:10-19, Blessing
• Haggai 2:20-23, The Future Day

Each part is preceeded by a date. We know enough about the reign of Darius that we can translate those dates into the modern Julian calendar with a possible error of no more than a single day (says Baldwin.)

Resources and References

For the book of Haggai I have relied on the following resources:

• a commentary by Robert L. Alden in the seventh volume of the Expositor's Bible Commentary, Zondervan 1985.
• a commentary by Joyce Baldwin in Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi: An Introduction & Commentary (The Tyndale Old Testament Commentary Series) 1981.
• a commentary by J. Alec Motyer in The Minor Prophets: A Commentary on Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, edited by Thomas Edward McComiskey, 2018. 

If I refer to Alden, Baldwin or Motyer in the notes, it is in reference to the commentaries above. 

There are additional resources. The following are online.

• Amongst the online commentaries provided by EasyEnglishBible, is an online commentary on Haggai.
• The Gospel Coalition now has a set of online commentaries. Their commentary on Haggai is here.
• The Bible Project videos are always excellent. I recommend their video on Haggai.

I place hyperlinks in pink, created so that one can click on a link and see the linked site open in another window... and go down a rabbit hole if they wish!

Like most Old Testament writings, there is considerable wordplay. There is alliteration, punning, chiasmi, and so on. I do not know Hebrew and so I lean on the commentators to alert me to some of these.

Abbreviations

Anyone serious about study in the Old Testament must become aware of the ancient Near Eastern culture in which these works were written. If I discuss that culture in a blogpost, I will often fall back on the abbreviation ANE for "ancient Near East."

Psalm 144, Peace and Prosperity

Of David.

David praises God for His deliverance, victory and eventual national prosperity.

Psalm 144:1-2, Rock and shield

Praise be to the LORD my Rock, 

who trains my hands for war, 

my fingers for battle.

 He is my loving God and my fortress, 

my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, 

in whom I take refuge, 

who subdues peoples under me.

David expresses a number of martial, military images as he regards YHWH as his "rock", "fortress", "shield", etc.. YHWH is both a refuge and a power for David. Much of this passage echoes Psalm 18:2.

Psalm 144:3-4, Breath and brief shadow

 O LORD, what is man that you care for him,

 the son of man that you think of him?

 Man is like a breath; 

his days are like a fleeting shadow.

"Why do you even pay attention to us?" asks David. "Our lives are so short!" (The first half of this portion echoes Psalm 8:4.)

Psalm 144:5-8, Part the heavens

 Part your heavens, O LORD, and come down;

 touch the mountains, so that they smoke.

 Send forth lightning and scatter [the enemies]; 

shoot your arrows and rout them.

 Reach down your hand from on high; 

deliver me and rescue me from the mighty waters, 

from the hands of foreigners

 whose mouths are full of lies, 

whose right hands are deceitful.

YHWH is asked to tilt or part the heavens, so that He can come down and intervene in human affairs. Portions of this stanza echo parts of Psalm 18:9-17. (A number of verses in this psalm overlap with phrases from Psalm 18.)

In verse 6, God is asked to "shoot" His arrows; in verse 7 He is to "reach down" His hand. In both cases, the verb is shalach (שָׁלַח, send, shoot, push away.) 

Where the NIV translates "Send forth lightning," the Hebrew of verse 6 begins bə·rō·wq bā·rāq, a rippling alliteration that sounds like the crack of lighting (notes Alter.)

Psalm 144:9-11, New song of victory

 I will sing a new song to you, O God;

on the ten-stringed lyre I will make music to you,

 to the One who gives victory to kings, 

who delivers his servant David 

from the deadly sword.

 Deliver me and rescue me 

from the hands of foreigners 

whose mouths are full of lies, 

whose right hands are deceitful.

God, who gives victory to kings, is worth worshiping with a new song and a ten-stringed lyre. It is God who delivers David, from both physical enemies and deceitful foreigners. (Psalm 33:1-3 also sings a new song with a ten-stringed lyre.)

Psalm 144:12-14, Pleasant peace

 Then our sons in their youth 

will be like well-nurtured plants, 

and our daughters will be like pillars 

carved to adorn a palace.

 Our barns will be filled with every kind of provision.

 Our sheep will increase by thousands, 

by tens of thousands in our fields;

 our oxen will draw heavy loads.

There will be no breaching of walls, 

no going into captivity, 

no cry of distress in our streets.

The result of victory will be a pleasant time of peace, with strong young men and women (sons like strong green plants, daughters like ornate colorful pillars in the palace) and barns full of grain and seed. The flocks will be plentiful and fields full of oxen. This is the pastoral paradise of the ancient Near East, a hint of Eden.

Psalm 144:15, Abundancy from YHWH

Blessed are the people of whom this is true; 

blessed are the people whose God is the LORD.

The pastoral setting described earlier is the blessing of those who rely on YHWH as their God and protector.

Some Hebrew Vocabulary

The verb shalach 

שָׁלַח

means to send, shoot, push away.

First published November 29, 2025; updated November 29, 2025