Psalms 149 - Introduction

Another jubilant anthem, in which Israel is exhorted to praise Jehovah its Maker, Who has restored it to a position of dignity and honour (Psalms 149:1-4); and a victorious triumph over all the nations of the world is confidently anticipated (Psalms 149:5-9). In Psalms 148:11 the nations are summoned to join with Israel in the chorus of universal praise: here their obstinate hostility is represented as doomed to punishment. "That nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted" (Isaiah 60:12).

This Psalm has been confidently assigned, and not without good reason, to the Maccabaean period. Religious ardour, united with a consciousness of vigorous strength, national enthusiasm coupled with passionate hatred of national enemies, were, it is pointed out, prominent characteristics of the Maccabaean period. The chǎṣîdîmof the Psalm are supposed to be the Hasidaeans, and in particular the "assembly of the chǎṣîdîm" (Psalms 149:1) is compared to the "company of the Hasidaeans" mentioned in 1Ma 2:42. It is suggested that the Psalm was composed either for the re-dedication of the Temple in b.c. 165 (1Ma 4:54), or for the rejoicings on the surrender of the Acra in b.c. 142 (1Ma 13:51).

The Psalm cannot however be separated from the other Psalms of this group, to which it is related in tone and language [91], and evidence has recently come to light, which seems to prove that two at least of these Psalms are earlier than the Maccabaean age. If the newly-discovered Hebrew of Ecclesiasticus preserves the original text, it is unquestionable that Psalms 147, 148 were known to the author, and must therefore have been written earlier than the beginning of the second century b.c. In the hymn which follows ch. Psalms 51:12 in the Heb. text, though not in the Versions, Psalms 149:6, "Give thanks unto him that gathereth the outcasts of Israel, for his lovingkindness endureth for ever. Give thanks unto him that buildeth up his city and his sanctuary, for his lovingkindness endureth for ever," are based upon Psalms 147:2; and Psalms 147:15 is a verbatim quotation of Psalms 148:14. The hymn is an imitation of Psalms 136 (see p. 776), and it is clear from its whole character that Ben Sira has borrowed from the Psalms and not the Psalmists from Ben Sira.

[91] Note that, like 147, it is largely dependent on Isaiah 40-66. See notes on Psalms 149:2; Psalms 149:4; Psalms 149:7.

Independently of this evidence the reasons urged in favour of the Maccabaean date are not so conclusive as they at first appear. The militant spirit of the Psalm has been exaggerated; Psalms 149:5 ff., even if suggested by some recent success, are in the main no more than an adaptation of the language of prophecy, and may be quite general in their reference, anticipating the speedy approach of Israel's triumph over the nations of the world foretold by the prophets: the chǎṣîdîmof the Psalm are the nation, and not, as in 1 Macc., a particular religious party in it. Moreover, though the argument from silence is precarious, there is nothing in the Psalm to suggest that Israel was in the midst of a life and death struggle for its religion and its very existence.

If now the group is considered as a whole, it is from Psalms 147 that the clearest indications of date are to be obtained, and this, as we have seen, may best be assigned to the time of Nehemiah.

The "zealot temper" of the Psalm has been somewhat exaggerated. Still, as Delitzsch points out, its spirit is that of the O.T., not of the N.T., and its standpoint approximates to that of the Book of Esther. "Under the delusion that its language might still be used as a prayer without any spiritual transmutation, it has been made the watchword of the most horrible errors. It was by means of this Psalm that Caspar Scioppius in his -Clarion of the Sacred War" (Classicum belli sacri), written, as Bakius says, not with ink but with blood, fired the Roman Catholic princes to undertake the Thirty Years" War. And within the Protestant Church Thomas Münzer employed it to stir up the flames of the Peasants" War. It is obvious that the Christian cannot make direct use of such a Psalm without ignoring the apostolic warning that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal (2 Corinthians 10:4)." But the morality of the Psalm must not be measured by the Christian standard. Only by slow degrees could the lesson be learnt, that the conquest of the nations was to be achieved in a nobler way than by force of arms; and it must not be forgotten that even in the Apocalypse the judgement of the enemies of God and His people is a subject for earnest prayer and solemn thanksgiving (Revelation 6:10; Revelation 11:18; Revelation 19:2).