The Honor of All His Saints Text: Psalm 149:6-9
Introduction: Militant Praise
We live in a sentimental, squishy age. Our generation wants a Christianity that is entirely therapeutic, a Jesus who is little more than a celestial guidance counselor, and a worship service that feels like a group hug. Into this treacly environment, a psalm like this one lands with the subtlety of a hand grenade. It speaks of exaltations and two-edged swords, of vengeance on nations and binding kings with chains. This is not the sort of thing you cross-stitch on a pillow.
Many modern Christians, when they encounter a passage like this, do one of two things. They either ignore it, flipping past it to get to the gentler psalms, or they relegate it entirely to a bygone era, treating it as a relic of an Old Testament faith that was somehow less spiritual and more brutish than our own. But the Word of God is not a buffet from which we may pick and choose the parts that are most palatable to our modern tastes. And the New Testament itself tells us that all Scripture is profitable. This means that this psalm, in all its glorious ferocity, is for us. It is for the new covenant church.
The key is to understand what has changed and what has not changed between the covenants. The principles of God's kingdom are eternal, but the application of those principles has been transfigured by the coming of Christ. The weapons have changed, but the war has not. The war is more intense than ever. The kingdom of God is still advancing, and it is still a militant kingdom. But our weapons are not carnal; they are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. This psalm, then, is not a license for Christians to form militias and take over Washington D.C. It is a description of the spiritual reality of the Church's mission in the world. This is the honor given to all His saints, and we must understand what it means to wield this honor faithfully.
The Text
Let the exaltations of God be in their throats,
And a two-edged sword in their hand,
To execute vengeance on the nations
And punishments on the peoples,
To bind their kings with chains
And their honored men with fetters of iron,
To execute on them the judgment written;
This is the majesty of all His holy ones.
Praise Yah!
(Psalm 149:6-9 LSB)
Worship as Warfare (v. 6)
The first thing to notice is the inseparable connection between praise and power.
"Let the exaltations of God be in their throats, And a two-edged sword in their hand," (Psalm 149:6)
This is not a picture of a soldier grimly going about his duty. This is a picture of a militant choir. They are going to war singing. The high praises of God are in their mouths, or as the text says, in their throats. This is not quiet, respectable, mumbling praise. This is robust, full-throated exaltation. True worship is not passive; it is an act of spiritual violence against the kingdom of darkness. When the people of God truly praise Him, they are declaring His sovereignty, His goodness, and His power in a world that is in rebellion against Him. This is a profoundly political act.
And as they praise, they carry a two-edged sword in their hand. In the Old Testament context, this was a literal sword. Israel was God's appointed agent to execute His judgments on the Canaanites. But in the new covenant, the nature of the sword has been clarified for us. The writer to the Hebrews tells us that "the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword" (Hebrews 4:12). In Ephesians, Paul calls the Word of God "the sword of the Spirit" (Ephesians 6:17). Our weapon is the Bible. It is two-edged because it cuts both ways. It is a word of salvation for those who believe and a word of judgment for those who persist in unbelief. It has a defensive edge, protecting us from the lies of the enemy, and an offensive edge, tearing down the false philosophies and idolatrous strongholds of the world.
The central point is this: the power of the Word is unleashed through the praise of God's people. A church that has lost its voice in worship will soon find that the sword in its hand has grown dull. A silent church is a disarmed church. But a singing church, a church whose throat is filled with the high praises of God, is a conquering church.
Executing Divine Judgment (v. 7)
The purpose of this praise and this sword is made explicit in the next verse.
"To execute vengeance on the nations And punishments on the peoples," (Psalm 149:7)
Here is where our modern sensibilities really begin to recoil. Vengeance? That sounds so un-Christian. Did not Jesus tell us to love our enemies? Yes, He did. And we are to do so. But we must distinguish between personal vengeance and covenantal, judicial vengeance. As individuals, we are commanded not to seek revenge (Romans 12:19). But God has appointed means by which He executes His righteous judgments in the world. In the Old Testament, one of those means was the nation of Israel. In the new covenant, God has given the sword to the civil magistrate to punish evil (Romans 13:4).
But the church has a role here as well, and it is a spiritual one. How does the church execute vengeance on the nations? By preaching the gospel. The gospel is a declaration of war. It announces that Jesus Christ is King and that all other lords are usurpers. It calls all men everywhere to repent and bow the knee. To those who refuse, the gospel is a word of condemnation. It pronounces the judgment of God upon their sin and rebellion. When the church faithfully proclaims the whole counsel of God, it is executing the written judgment of God on rebellious nations. We are not the ones who swing the final sword of eschatological judgment, but we are the heralds who announce that it is coming. We are declaring God's verdict over the cultures of men.
Binding Kings and Nobles (v. 8)
This spiritual conquest extends to the highest echelons of human power.
"To bind their kings with chains And their honored men with fetters of iron," (Psalm 149:8)
The gospel is not intimidated by earthly authority. It speaks to kings and governors, to presidents and parliaments. The Apostle Paul stood in chains before Agrippa, but it was Agrippa who was truly bound. Paul's gospel was not chained, and it had the power to bind the king's conscience with the truth of God. This is what the church does. Through the proclamation of the Word, we bind the consciences of rulers. We declare to them that they are not autonomous, that they are ministers of God, and that they will give an account to the King of kings for how they rule.
This is the spiritual reality of what Jesus said: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matthew 16:19). The church, by its faithful preaching and application of the Word, declares what is lawful and unlawful, what is righteous and unrighteous. In doing so, it binds the rulers of this age with the inescapable chains of God's law and God's gospel. They can rebel, they can rage, as Psalm 2 says, but they cannot escape the decree. The gospel will either be the chain that leads them to repentance and submission to Christ, or it will be the fetter of iron that holds them for the day of judgment.
The Honor of the Saints (v. 9)
The psalm concludes by summarizing this grand commission and assigning it to all of God's people.
"To execute on them the judgment written; This is the majesty of all His holy ones. Praise Yah!" (Psalm 149:9)
Our task is not to invent the judgment. We are not to act on our own authority or out of personal animus. Our charge is "to execute on them the judgment written." Our authority is a derived authority. We are simply speaking what God has already said. We are reading the verdict that has been handed down from the supreme court of heaven. The Bible contains God's judgments on idolatry, on sexual perversion, on injustice, on pride, and on every form of human rebellion. Our job is to declare it, without apology and without alteration.
And notice who receives this task. "This is the majesty of all His holy ones." The word is honor or majesty. This is not a burden; it is a glorious privilege. And it is not given to a special class of super-Christians, to the pastors or the apostles only. It is the honor that belongs to "all His saints." Every believer who has been set apart by God shares in this honor. Every Christian mother teaching the Bible to her children, every Christian businessman conducting his affairs according to God's Word, every believer sharing the gospel with a neighbor, is participating in this great work of binding kings and executing the judgment written.
This is our high calling. We are to be a people whose throats are filled with the praises of God and whose hands are filled with the two-edged sword of His Word. This is how the kingdom advances. It is not through political maneuvering or carnal power plays, but through joyful, robust, courageous, and faithful worship and witness. We sing the praises of our conquering King, and we wield the sword of His Word, and by these means, He is pulling down strongholds and bringing every thought captive to His obedience. This is our honor. So, Praise Yah!