Wednesday April 17
Delightful and Joyful Praise
Psalm 148:1-14
1 Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens; Praise Him in the heights!
2 Praise Him, all His angels; Praise Him, all His hosts!
3 Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all you stars of light!
4 Praise Him, you heavens of heavens, And you waters above the heavens!
5 Let them praise the name of the LORD, For He commanded and they were created.
6 He also established them forever and ever; He made a decree which shall not pass away.
7 Praise the LORD from the earth, You great sea creatures and all the depths;
8 Fire and hail, snow and clouds; Stormy wind, fulfilling His word;
9 Mountains and all hills; Fruitful trees and all cedars;
10 Beasts and all cattle; Creeping things and flying fowl;
11 Kings of the earth and all peoples; Princes and all judges of the earth;
12 Both young men and maidens; Old men and children.
13 Let them praise the name of the LORD, For His name alone is exalted; His glory is above the earth and heaven.
14 And He has exalted the horn of His people, The praise of all His saints-- Of the children of Israel, A people near to Him. Praise the LORD!
Psalm 148 is pure praise. It contains not a single prayer, plea, or petition, only praise. I found it interesting to note that in all the commentaries that I read about this psalm, not one of them speculated as to who was the psalmist and when it was written. I can only guess that the reason for this is that God wanted us to focus on praising and worshiping Him. Psalm 148 is right in the middle of the five “Hallelujah Psalms” that conclude the Book of Psalms. It is the mountain peak of delightful and joyful praise.
If I had to guess when it was written, I would probably say Psalm 148 is connected to Psalm 147 and was written by an unknown psalmist at the same time, which was after the captivity and the temple had been rebuilt and the walls of Jerusalem had been restored in the times of Ezra and Nehemiah. But whoever and whenever is quickly set aside and it is obvious that this psalm calls all those in highest glory to praise the LORD. It calls on everyone and everything on earth to praise Him.
The word "praise" is used thirteen times in these fourteen verses. The psalm begins in the highest heavens and ends with the little nation of Israel. If any psalm reveals the glory and grandeur of the worship of the LORD, it is this one, for it is cosmic in its dimensions and yet very personal in its intentions. How anyone could trivialize the privilege and responsibility of worship after pondering this psalm is difficult to understand.
Verses 1-6 begins with calling on the heavens to praise the LORD. We do not praise a god who was manufactured on earth; we praise the one true and living God who reigns from the highest heavens, the God who created all things. Solomon was right when he said, "Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You" (1 Kings 8:27; Deut. 10:14; Neh. 9:6; 2 Cor. 12:2). The "hosts of heaven" include the angels (Psalm 103:20-21) and the stars and planets (Deut. 4:19), all of which praise the Lord.
Scripture gives us a few descriptions of worship in heaven (Isa. 6; Dan. 7:9-10; Rev. 5:11-14), and we are cautioned not to worship the angels (Col. 2:18; Rev. 22:8-9). The sun, moon, and stars also praise God simply by doing what they were commanded to do (Psalms 8:1-3; 19:1-6; 89:36-37; 136:7-9). We cannot see the angels in heaven, but we can see the heavenly bodies by day and night, and they tell us that there is a God and that He is wise, powerful, and glorious (Romans 1:18-20).
The pagan nations worshiped the creation instead of the Creator and Israel often fell into the same sin. The waters above and below take us back to Genesis 1:6-7 and 7:11, and Psalm 104:3. Why should the hosts of heaven praise the Lord? Simply because He made them and gave them the privilege of serving Him and His people and bringing glory to His name.
God created us to worship and praise Him! We have so many reasons for praising Him, and yet too often, we do not do it.
God bless!