Psalms 149:4
For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He adorns the afflicted with salvation.
BSB
ASV
For Jehovah taketh pleasure in his people: He will beautify the meek with salvation.
KJV
For the Lord taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.
For the Lord is well pleased with his people, and he will exalt the meek in salvation. "Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth." If, therefore, it is said there, Blessed are the meek — that is, the gentle — for they shall possess the earth; and here it is said, And he will exalt the meek in salvation; and these meek shall possess the earth by inheritance: therefore this earth is not below, but is above. For what does he say? He will exalt the meek in salvation.
He will beautify them with salvation, with temporal salvations (when God works remarkable deliverances for his people those that had been among the pots become as the wings of a dove covered with silver, Ps. lxviii. 13 ), but especially with eternal salvation. The righteous shall be beautified in that day when they shine forth as the sun.
For the Lord taketh pleasure in his people; and therefore they should take pleasure in him. If our joy be pleasing to him let us make it full. What condescension is this on Jehovah's part, to notice, to love, and to delight in his chosen! Surely there is nothing in our persons, or our actions, which could cause pleasure to the Ever blessed One, were it not that he condescends to men of low estate. The thought of the Lord's taking pleasure in us is a mine of joy never to be exhausted. He will beautify the meek with salvation.
I FIND that the text bears other interpretations. I will mention two of them. It might be read—and I think correctly—"He will beautify the afflicted with deliverance." Let me speak about that meaning first of all, for it is worth retaining. God's own people are frequently made to mourn. Their Lord takes pleasure in them, but yet, for their good, He often sends them grief. At times they are distressed and their enemies appear to triumph over them.
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
The walk8
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
Zephaniah 3:17The LORD your God is among you; He is mighty to save. He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you with His love; He will rejoice over you with singing.”
leads to
The LORD is pleased with those who fear Him, who hope in His loving devotion.
Therefore He is able to save completely those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them.
No longer will you be called Forsaken, nor your land named Desolate; but you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the LORD will take delight in you, and your land will…
Yes, I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul.
Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. For the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and He also has become my salvation.”
Through
1 Peter 3:4but from the inner disposition of your heart, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in God’s sight.
leads to
Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or height, for I have rejected him; the LORD does not see as man does. For man sees the outward appearance, but the…
Through
Psalms 147:11The LORD is pleased with those who fear Him, who hope in His loving devotion.
leads to
Surely the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in His loving devotion
