Psalm 149:4 says, “For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.”  What a wonderful verse to think about.  Let’s look at this verse in two sections.

“For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people.”  Even as a Father delights in his children, so the Lord delights in those who are His.  The Hebrew word for ‘taketh pleasure’ is “raw-tsaw’.  This word is translated as “pleased”, “accepted”, “enjoyed” in other places in the scriptures.  We can take from this that the Lord loves His people and finds His pleasure in them. 

Who are the Lord’s people?  It is those who have a relationship with Him.  Speaking to the believers in Galatia, we read in Galatians 3:26, “For ye are all the children of God BY FAITH IN CHRIST JESUS.”  We become the children of God by “faith in Christ Jesus.”  It is by trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ as our savior from sin that we are saved and become part of the family of God, part of the church, part of the body of Christ. We read in 1 John 3:1, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.”  What a blessing to be a child of God!  John 1:12 tells us, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.”  These are God’s people…those who know the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior and have been made the children of God by believing on His name.

“He will beautify the meek with salvation.”  The word used here for beautify means to adorn, to honor, to glorify.  It means that the salvation which God would bestow upon His people would be like an ornament, as if they were clothed with costly or splendid clothing.  Those who meekly depend upon the Lord are greatly uplifted and adorned.  Not only are those who meekly come to Him saved, but they are able to live lives of continual triumph in the Lord.  Romans 8:37 tells us that we are “more than conquerors through him that loved us.” We read of our salvation as clothing in Isaiah 61:10, “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the GARMENTS OF SALVATION, he hath covered me with the ROBE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.” 

What blessed truths for us, as believers, to contemplate!  What should be our reaction to these truths?  Let’s continue to read in that chapter and read Psalm 149:5-6, “Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand.”  This should cause our hearts to be filled with joy, our mouths to be filled with praise, and our hands to be clutching the Word of God as our source to knowing Him better. The Bible is referred to as a twoedged sword in Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”  The thankful believer will continue in joy, praise, and in learning!  (422.2)