Saturday April 27
The Theme of Worship
Psalm 150:1-6
1 Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty firmament!
2 Praise Him for His mighty acts; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness!
3 Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; Praise Him with the lute and harp!
4 Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!
5 Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with clashing cymbals!
6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!
Today is a special day as we conclude our chats in the Book of Psalms. We started our chats on Psalms on September 14, 2022. Our chat today will be the 538th one as we have gone through this wonderful book of praise and worship these past couple of years.
Remember the psalms began in chapter one describing the “Blessed man” or the person who “does not walk in the council of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper” (Psalm 1:1-3).
For sure the “blessed person” is the one who seeks the LORD with their whole heart and desires an intimate relationship with Him through His Word and the Holy Spirit. The “blessed person” will always be found praising and worshiping the LORD! It seems to be so fitting that the very last psalm is a great reminder and summary of what genuine and true worship and praise is really all about!
True praise always focuses on the LORD and our awesome God (v. 1a). The place of worship is found any place that God’s people meet together, in the sanctuary, the tabernacle, the temple, the synagogues, and the church. But also, in the heavens where not only the angels and saints that are already there, but the moon, sun, the stars, and everything in them praise the LORD (v. 1b).
In verse 2, we find the eternal themes of praise and worship, “His mighty acts” and “His excellent greatness”. The Old Testament is a record of "the mighty acts of God" as performed for the nation of Israel, the chosen people of God. Especially notable are the exodus from Egypt, the conquest of the Promised Land, the expansion of the Davidic kingdom, the deliverance of the Jews from Babylon, and the restoring of the nation. In the four Gospels we see the acts of God as done by Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and in the Acts and Epistles, we have the record of the Holy Spirit's mighty acts accomplished through the people of God.
The acts of God reveal the character of God, His holiness, love, wisdom, power, grace, and so on—what the psalmist called "His excellent greatness". The nation of Israel had a calendar of special feasts to help them remember who God was and what God had done (Lev. 23), and there is nothing wrong with the church having a similar calendar for the great events in the ministry of Christ. However, we must beware lest the routine use of the calendar becomes more important than the meaning of the days, or that the observing of these days is a means of salvation (Rom. 14:1-15:13; Gal. 4:8-10; Col. 2:16-17). We cannot plumb the depths of all that God is or all that He has done (Psalms 106:2; 145:4, 11, 12). This is why our eternal worshiping of God will never become boring!
Finally, the psalm ends with describing the means of worship: Musical Instruments and Human Voices (vv. 3-6)
When it is used correctly, by God's grace and for God's glory, the human voice is the most perfect musical instrument in the world, but we find no prohibitions in Scripture against using manmade instruments in the worship of God. Instruments will be used in heaven (Rev. 5:8; 8:6-12), and there will also be singing (Rev. 5:9-14; 6:12; 11:16-18; 15:1-4; 16:5-7; 19:1-9).
The psalmist seems to be describing an orchestra that has string instruments, percussion instruments, and wind instruments. But the final verse sums it up. Whether you can play an instrument or not, no matter where you live or what your ethnic origin, male or female, young or old, "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!" After all, that breath comes from the Lord (Acts 17:25), and if things that do not have breath can praise the Lord, surely we can, too! Praise the Lord!
Lord, thank you so much for the Book of Psalms that brings us into Your holy presence!
God bless!