PSALMS 150
Other translations - previous - meaning - Psalms - BM Home - Full PageThat the lord is to be worshiped, because he is omnipotent, verses 1, 2; that he is to be worshiped from every affection of good and truth, verses 3 to 6.
Verses 1, 6. Hallelujah, praise Jah; see Psalm 68:4, Exposition.
Verse 1. Praise him in the firmament, or expanse, of his power. The internal man is called an expanse; the knowledges which are in the internal man are called the waters above the expanse, and the scientifics belonging to the external man are called the waters beneath the expanse. Man, before he is regenerated, does not even know that any internal man exists, much less does be know the nature and quality thereof, in consequence of his immersion in corporeal and worldly things, he cannot conceive there is any distinction between the internal and external man: and the things of the internal man being lost in the same immersion, he forms one obscure confused mass, out of two substances that are totally distinct, wherefore it is first said, Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters; and further, Let it distinguish between the waters to the waters, but not distinguish the waters between the waters; as it is said afterwards in the next verses, "And god made the expanse, and divided between the waters which were under the expanse, and between the waters which were above the expanse: and it was so; and god called the expanse heaven," Gen 1:7, 8. The next thing therefore which man observes in the course of regeneration is, that he begins to know there is an internal man, or that the things which are in the internal man are goodnesses and truths which are of the lord alone: and whereas the external man, when he is regenerating, is of such a nature, that he still supposes the good things which he does to be done of himself, and the truths which he speaks to be spoken of himself, and whereas, being such, he is led of the lord, as by somewhat of the things of his proprium, to do good and to speak truth, therefore mention is first made of a distinction relating to the waters under the expanse, and afterwards of that relating to the waters above the expanse. It is also an arcanum of heaven, that man, by the things of his proprium, as well the fallacies of the senses as the sensual lusts, is led and inclined of the lord to the things which are good and true, and thus that all and every moment of regeneration proceeds from evening to morning, as from the external man to the internal, or from earth to heaven; wherefore now the expanse, or internal man, is called heaven. AC 24.
Verses 2, 3, 4. See Psalm 149:1, 2, 3, Exposition.
Verse 4. Praise him with the timbrel and dance. That hereby is signified celebration from joy and gladness, appears from the signification of timbrel, as being predicated of the affection of spiritual good, or of the good of truth, and as signifying its delight or joy, see just above, AC 8337; and from the signification of dance, as being predicated of the affection of spiritual truth, and as signifying its pleasantness or gladness, of which we shall speak presently. In ancient times gladness of heart was testified not only by musical instruments and by singing, but also by dances; for joys of the heart, or interior joys in the body, burst forth into various acts, as into singing, and also into dances: and whereas in ancient times the gladnesses, which excelled all others, were spiritual gladnesses, that is, were derived from the affections of spiritual loves, which were those of good and truth, therefore also it was at that time allowed to adjoin dances to songs and musical harmonies, and thus likewise by these methods to testify joy: hence it is that dances are mentioned in the Word, and thereby are signified the gladnesses of the affections of truth or faith derived from good or charity; as in Jeremiah, "Again you shall adorn your timbrels, and shall go forth into the dances of them that sport. Their soul shall become as a watered garden, and they shall not sorrow any more, then shall the virgin be glad in the dance, both young men and old together," Jer 31:4, 12, 13; again, "The joy of our heart shall cease, our dance has been turned into mourning," Lam 5:15; and in David, "You have turned my mourning into dancing," Psalm 30:11; again, "Let them praise his name in the dance, with timbrel and harp let them play to him," Psalm 149:3, 150:4. AC 8339.