[Let] the high [praises] of God [be] in their mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand;To execute vengeance upon the heathen, [and] punishments upon the people;To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD.
Sometimes there are certain "world leaders" who really need to be restrained (several names come quickly to mind as examples of this, such as Hitler, Stalin, and Saddam Hussein). When these evil men wax bad to worse, God first waits for us to act, before he comes on the scene to right their wrongs. What's interesting about this passage in the psalms is the way it describes how God ordains for us to act to make this happen.
Let the high praises ... Let the praises which create a certain upward-drawing sensation...be in their THROATS... let (the upward-drawing sensation) well-up within the upper thoracic regions of their beings...
Anyone who has experienced praise accompanied by this supernatural manifestation of an uplifting sensation knows exactly what this psalm is talking about. The psalmist wants the believer to be aware of the fact that any experience of this peculiar sensation is a witness to the saints' tremendous spiritual authority, and the bestowing of a special honor reserved exclusively for the saints. It is an honor for the saints to experience the high praises of God, setting God's vengeance in order over evil tyrants. This sort of praise, then, is something the saints ought to engage in, and practice it vigorously.
Interesting.
psalms
back home