1.
In the name of Jesus. Amen. The
message from God’s Word that we’ll be looking at today comes from Psalm 149,
which is the Psalm that’s read on the festival of All Saints’ Day. The message is entitled, “God’s Saints Sing a New Song,” dear brothers and sisters in
Christ.
2.
There
are different songs for different occasions. When we’re lonely, we sing the
blues. When we want to have fun, we “rock out.” When we’re sentimental, we want
to hear old favorites. When we’re patriotic, we want marching bands with colors
flying. Sometimes an event calls for new music. It’s been customary to compose
a new symphony for each coronation of a British monarch. In this psalm there’s
a call for the saints of God to sing such a new song. As God does a new work,
we as God’s saints in Christ Jesus will sing about it in a new way. One of the reformers of the 16th
century reminds us that, “There is no
greater or better work of man than to have true knowledge of God, to pray to
Him, and to proclaim Him” (LTh
1:49). Our Lutheran Confessions teach, “Our churches teach that one holy Church is
to remain forever. The Church is the congregation of saints” (AC VII
I). Everything that we as God’s saints
do in serving and glorifying the Lord must flow out of worship, for without our
Lord Jesus we can do nothing (John 15:5). The most important activity of the
Christian Church is the worship of God, for this is the activity we’ll continue
in heaven for all eternity.
3.
Psalm
149:1 begins saying, “1Praise the Lord!
Sing to the Lord a new
song, his praise in the assembly of the godly!” Verse 1 begins with the call to, “Praise the Lord!”
This praise includes singing to Him a “new
song.” Our worship as Christians is to be corporate and public. We are to praise Him in “the congregation of saints,” so that we as God’s saints continue to
sing a new song.
4.
Psalm
149:2–4 says, “2Let Israel be glad
in his Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King! 3Let
them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine
and lyre! 4For the Lord
takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation.” How are we to worship? God’s people are to “rejoice in their Maker.” We’re to
come before Him with praise worthy of God’s majesty. Worship as the saints of
God in Christ Jesus is then something that we must learn to do, and we will be
learning all our lives. In times of corporate worship, we as God’s saints
minister and serve one another (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16), but our primary focus is
on the Lord, glorifying His name. Yes, we may worship the Lord in private, and
we should (v. 5), but we must not forsake the assembly of the saints (Heb.
10:25), coming together for corporate worship within the church. As members of
the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:12–13, 27), we belong to one other, affect each
other, and need one other. The church family has young and old, new believers,
and seasoned saints (1 Tim. 5:1–2; Titus 2:1–8; 1 John 2:12–14), and nobody
should be ignored.
5.
Psalm
149:5–9 says, “5Let the godly
exult in glory; let
them sing for joy on their beds. 6Let the high praises of God be in
their throats and
two-edged swords in their hands, 7to execute vengeance on the
nations and punishments
on the peoples, 8to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with
fetters of iron, 9to execute on them the judgment written! This is honor for all his
godly ones. Praise the Lord!” The call to worship for us as God’s saints to
sing a new song continues. The saints of God in Christ Jesus are to be “joyful in glory” and “sing aloud on their beds” (v. 5). This
could mean that we as God’s saints are to worship privately in our own
devotional life as well as publicly in corporate worship.
6.
But,
notice how the psalmist tells us that Christian worship isn’t an escape. Christian
worship is a preparation for battle. Our worship to Christ Jesus, the Lamb who
was slain on Calvary’s cross for the forgiveness of our sins, becomes a weapon
for the warfare God calls us to in this world. As a pastor, I have often seen
the Lord come and minister to people as we worship. When the presence of God is
evident, demons flee and salvation comes.
7.
That’s
why worship and warfare go together, as the book of Revelation makes very clear.
Satan has always wanted to be worshiped (Isa. 14:12–15), and he’s willing to
pay for it (Matt. 4:8–11). Satan is constantly at work enticing the world to
worship him (Rev. 13), for he doesn’t mind if people are “religious” so long as
they leave out Jesus and His cross and empty tomb. Whether we like it or not,
the church is an army, this world is a battlefield, and there’s a struggle
going on for the souls of lost sinners (Matt. 16:17–18; Eph. 6:10ff; 2 Tim.
2:3–4; 2 Cor. 10:3–5). Jesus Christ, our Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6), is also
the Conquering Warrior (45:3–7; Rev. 19:11–21), and like the workers in
Nehemiah’s day, we must have both tools for building and swords for battling (Neh.
4:17–18). As God’s saints, our weapons are prayer, the sword of the Spirit, the
Word of God (Eph. 6:17; Heb. 4:12), and hymns of praise to the Lord. Worship is
warfare, for we are singing soldiers! Did not our Lord Jesus sing before He
went out to the cross to do battle against the devil? (See Matt. 26:30; John
12:31–32; and Col. 2:13–15.) It’s
because of what our Lord Jesus has done for us by dying on the cross for our
sins that we as God’s saints sing a new song.
8.
God
has declared in writing that “the day of
the Lord” will come when He will send judgment to a world that has rejected
Jesus as the Savior of mankind and chosen to worship Satan instead (Rev. 6–19).
We as God’s saints will appear to be the losers, but in the end, we will
conquer the enemy and rule with Christ (Rev. 19:11ff). Today, the sword belongs
to human governments (Rom. 13), and God’s servants don’t employ it (John
18:10–11, 36–37). But the day of the Lord will come “as a thief in the night”
(1 Thess. 5:2ff), and then Christ will “gird His sword … and ride prosperously
(45:3–5).” Until then, we as God’s saints must realize that worship is a part
of our spiritual warfare. To ignore worship, trivialize it, turn it into
entertainment, or make it a routine activity is to play right into the hands of
Satan. It’s an honor to serve in the Lord’s army of worshiping warriors!
9.
Psalm
149 reminds us that as Judgment Day draws near, we as God’s saints will sing a
new song on account of our Lord Jesus and the salvation we have in Him. The Scriptures tell us that even we as God’s
saints will join God in the acts of judgment day. The double-edged sword with
which we will strike God’s enemies is the sword of the Word of God (Revelation
1:16; 19:15; Hebrews 4:12). The Law of
God, which we as God’s saints have preached, will condemn the world, which
ignored it. The Gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that the world rejected, will increase the world’s guilt before
God. The specific way that we as
believers will work with Christ on Judgment Day isn’t clearly spelled out in
Scripture, but it is indicated by such passages as 1 Corinthians 6:2, 3, which
includes even the evil angels among those whom we shall judge. To be given the
glorious privilege of joining Christ in the work of judgment is cause to praise
the Lord and to sing a new song to Him as God’s saints. Please pray with me: “O
Christ, our King, we praise You in the Church! As Your saints, when we worship
and when we are alone, we adore You. Give us courage to engage in spiritual
warfare—against the world, our flesh, and the devil—with the two-edged sword of
Your Word, and grant us the victory through our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. O Lord, we thank You that You
have made us, and that we belong to You as Your precious saints, and that we
are the sheep of Your pasture (Psalm 100:3).
O God, you have called us out of the darkness of sin, death, and the
devil into Your marvelous light, we give You thanks for all whom You have
chosen to be made holy—both past and present.
What a joy it is that we too are Your Holy saints for the sake of Your
Son Jesus Christ.” Amen.
