Psalm 149 4

Psalm 149:4 kjv

For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.

Psalm 149:4 nkjv

For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation.

Psalm 149:4 niv

For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with victory.

Psalm 149:4 esv

For the LORD takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation.

Psalm 149:4 nlt

For the LORD delights in his people;
he crowns the humble with victory.

Psalm 149 verses

Psalm 149 4 Meaning

The verse reveals that the sovereign God, Yahweh, expresses profound pleasure and acceptance in His covenant people. This divine favor manifests tangibly as He adorns, glorifies, and restores the meek, the lowly, and the afflicted among them. Through His saving acts of deliverance and victory, God elevates the humble, granting them honor and splendor that transforms their former state of lowliness into one of beauty and vindication.

Psalm 149 4 Context

Psalm 149 is a psalm of communal praise and eschatological triumph. The immediate context of the chapter calls for God’s people to sing a new song of praise to their Maker and King, with dancing and instruments. Verse 4 serves as the profound reason for this ecstatic worship: God’s intrinsic nature to take delight in His people and His transformative work among the humble. This verse bridges the earlier celebratory worship with the subsequent verses (5-9), which describe the saints, having received this divine beautification and salvation, carrying out God’s judgments on the nations. Historically, this theme resonated with Israel's experiences of God delivering them from enemies and establishing them as a favored nation. Prophetically, it points to the vindication and glorification of God's righteous remnant and ultimately the Church.

Psalm 149 4 Word analysis

• For: ki (כִּי) - This conjunction indicates a reason, introducing the foundational truth that underpins the exhortation to praise in the preceding verses. It links God's character to the response expected from His people.
• the LORD: YHWH (יְהוָה) - The covenant name of God, emphasizing His unchanging, self-existent nature and His personal relationship with Israel, His chosen people. This signifies a relationship of deep commitment and divine promise.
• takes delight: ratsa (רָצָה) - To be pleased with, to accept favorably, to have affection for. This signifies more than mere tolerance; it denotes deep pleasure, divine approval, and loving favor. God genuinely delights in His people.
• in His people: ammo (עַמּוֹ) - Specifically refers to God’s covenant community, Israel. In the New Covenant, this expands to encompass all believers who are united in Christ and adopted into God’s family, His treasured possession.
• He beautifies: yepha'er (יְפָאֵר) - From pa'ar (פָּאַר), meaning to glorify, adorn, make beautiful, to honor. It implies bestowing dignity, splendor, and distinction. God actively grants honor and radiant glory, contrasting with any prior state of shame or insignificance.
• the humble: anavim (עֲנָוִים) - Refers to the meek, the afflicted, the lowly, the poor in spirit, or those who are oppressed. These are individuals who recognize their dependence on God, often experiencing humility through external suffering or internal contriteness. They submit to God’s will rather than their own strength.
• with salvation: biyeshu'ah (בִּישׁוּעָה) - From yeshu'ah (יְשׁוּעָה), meaning deliverance, rescue, victory, prosperity, welfare, well-being, or spiritual redemption. It’s a comprehensive term covering divine rescue from various forms of distress—physical, social, and spiritual. This salvation is what adorns and glorifies them.

Word-group analysis

• The LORD takes delight in His people: This phrase establishes a profound theological truth about God's character. His relationship with His chosen ones is not merely contractual but deeply affectionate and approving. This delight is the source of all the blessings that follow, providing the ultimate reason for worship and praise. It signifies God's loving predilection and benevolent intent towards His community.
• He beautifies the humble with salvation: This powerfully combines God’s transformative action with the means and the beneficiaries. God actively glorifies those who are in a low or oppressed state, and the method by which He does so is "salvation." This implies that salvation itself brings inherent dignity, honor, and a renewed spiritual and existential status, transforming what was humble or shameful into something radiant and glorious in God’s eyes and eventually to the world. It’s an act of divine vindication and exaltation.

Psalm 149 4 Bonus section

The "humble" (anavim) in this context are often portrayed in the Old Testament as those who faithfully endure oppression and patiently wait for God’s deliverance, making them distinct from the proud and rebellious who rely on their own strength or worldly power. God's act of "beautifying" them serves as a divine reversal, where worldly systems that despise or marginalize the humble are challenged by God's exaltation of them. This beautification also speaks to the internal work of God, refining character and adorning believers with virtues that come from a salvific relationship with Him. Furthermore, the psalmist likely envisions both spiritual and physical dimensions of salvation and beautification, culminating in a future when God’s people are fully vindicated and shine with His glory.

Psalm 149 4 Commentary

Psalm 149:4 is the heart of the psalm, explaining why the saints are called to rejoice. God's delight in His people is not a passive emotion but an active love that leads to profound transformation. He sees not their present lowliness, but their potential and position through His grace. "He beautifies the humble with salvation" illustrates God’s covenant faithfulness. Those whom the world disregards, the meek and oppressed, are precisely those upon whom God pours out His glorifying salvation. This beautification is a restoration of divine image, dignity, and honor, often demonstrated through deliverance from hardship or through spiritual redemption and moral excellence. It shows that God does not merely save but elevates, turning weakness into strength, and ignominy into glory, thus equipping His people to fulfill His purposes, including their subsequent role in the broader cosmic justice described in the latter half of the psalm. For instance, think of Joseph, elevated from prison to power; David, chosen from a shepherd to a king; or indeed, the New Testament Church, once outcast and weak, now adorned as Christ's glorious bride.