The Lord loves us and adorns us with salvation.
January 7, 2023 - Saturday, Christmas Week
Psalm 149:1-2, 3-4, 5 and 6a and 9b
Psalm 149 is yet another psalm that invites us to sing to the Lord a new song. There are two specific reasons for this praise: “the Lord loves his people, and he adorns the lowly with victory” (Ps 149:4). Love and victory. Let us look first at the word translated as “love”.
The phrase, “the Lord loves his people” can also be translated as “the Lord takes pleasure in his people”. But, we know that there were moments when the Lord did not delight in his people. Saint Paul writes that the Lord was not pleased with the generation that left Egypt and so most of them died in the desert (1 Cor 10:5). The Lord was also not pleased with those who lived in the years leading to the Babylonian exile. The prophets tell us that He abhorred their sacrifices and their evil deeds (see Is 65:12; 66:4; Hosea 8:13, 9:4). So, it seems that the Lord delights in his people when they obey him and live by his commandments but he is saddened when they rebel against him.
We are familiar with the songs of the angels, “Glory to God in the highest and peace to people he takes pleasure in” (Luke 2:14). The Gospel tells us that the Father takes pleasure in His beloved son, Jesus Christ (see Mark 1:11). He came to do the Father’s will and was obedient to the end. How about us? At the moment of our baptism, the same voice of the Father speaks to us: you are my beloved son or daughter, in you, I am well pleased. We have become adopted children of the Father, brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, and the living temples of the Holy Spirit. But, how can we remain faithful to the end? How can we enter into the joy of our Lord (see Matt 25:23)? Obedience is the answer. The words of Jesus should become ours: “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me” (John 6:38).
Let us turn now to the word “victory”. This Hebrew word sounds like the name of Jesus, “Yeshua” and its primary meaning is salvation. And who are those lowly adorned with God’s salvation? The Hebrew term is “anavim” which describes all those who do not count in society. They have no voice, no power, and no economic means. But, they had one particular characteristic: they trust in the Lord; they depend on Him. In the Gospel of Matthew, they are called meek or humble and pronounced blessed because they shall inherit the earth (Matt 5:5).
The entire statement of the Psalmist carries a profound message. Through Jesus Christ, the Father adorned the poor and needy, meek and humble people with salvation. This salvation is much greater than a victory over enemies or a return from exile. This salvation that we are adorned with liberates us from the power of sin and death and transforms us within. God writes his commandments on our hearts and enables us to fulfil them. This salvation, brought to us by Jesus Christ, is the best evidence that the Lord delights in his people. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).