Title: The Musical, Singing, Dancing Army / Topic: Spiritual Warfare

Today’s Reading: Psalm 149; 1 Corinthians 15; 1 Corinthians 16

Scripture: Psalm 149
1 Praise the LORD. Sing to the LORD a new song...
3 Let them praise his name with dancing
and make music to him with tambourine and harp...
5 Let the saints rejoice in this honor
and sing for joy on their beds.
6 May the praise of God be in their mouths
and a double-edged sword in their hands,
7 to inflict vengeance on the nations
and punishment on the peoples,
8 to bind their kings with fetters,
their nobles with shackles of iron,
9 to carry out the sentence written against them.
This is the glory of all his saints.
Praise the LORD.

Observation: What an amazing psalm! It starts out so sweet and nice: singing, praising, dancing, musical instruments, and so forth. It sounds like a nice worship service. Then it shifts a little: "sing for joy on their beds" -- what's that all about? But wait, there's more! It gets really weird in verse 6: "May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands!" This is not so sweet and nice. And it continues to the end of the psalm. What does it mean?

Application: It sounds like a musical, singing, dancing army. And that is exactly what it is. But the music and singing and dancing isn't a distraction from the fighting, it is the fighting! This psalm describes a warfare but it is not the military kind -- it is spiritual warfare. I want to share four main points from this psalm:

1. Spiritual warfare is fought in both the spiritual and physical realm. "May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands" The spiritual warrior does one thing in the physical realm and there is a corresponding yet different thing that occurs in the spiritual realm.
2. There is a level of bondage and oppression that is ongoing and that we cannot detect with the five senses but that is real nonetheless. If we ignore it, we and others suffer. But if we will act in obedience, we can actually bind the enemy, preventing them from carrying out their evil designs. "...bind their kings with fetters, their nobles with shackles of iron."
3. Our enemies have already been judged and condemned and there has been a "sentence written against them." It is in spiritual warfare that this sentence is carried out.
4. This spiritual warfare is not something limited to an exclusive group. The last phrase makes that clear: "This is the glory of all his saints." For all of us who are believers and belong to God, this is for all of us!

Prayer: Lord, help me to understand and participate in the fullest in this worship/warfare. May I be effective in doing my part to defeat the enemy in the spiritual realm. Help me not to hold back and worry about what other people think. May I be joyous in worshiping You and faithful in warring against our enemies in every way I can.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.