Praise the Lord all ...

Psalm 148 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

The Whole Creation Invoked to Praise the Lord.

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 stars of light!
⁴ Praise Him, highest heavens, And the waters that are above the heavens!
⁵ Let them praise the name of the Lord, For He commanded and they were created.
⁶ He has also established them forever and ever; He has made a decree which will not pass away.

⁷ Praise the Lord from the earth, Sea monsters and all deeps;
⁸ Fire and hail, snow and clouds; Stormy wind, fulfilling His word;
⁹ Mountains and all hills; Fruit trees and all cedars;
¹⁰ Beasts and all cattle; Creeping things and winged fowl;
¹¹ Kings of the earth and all peoples; Princes and all judges of the earth;
¹² Both young men and virgins; Old men and children.

¹³ Let them praise the name of the Lord, For His name alone is exalted; His glory is above earth and heaven.
¹⁴ And He has lifted up a horn for His people, Praise for all His godly ones; Even for the sons of Israel, a people near to Him. Praise the Lord!

The psalmist exhorts everything to praise God. He begins speaking to the heavenly realm. Every time we are given a glimpse into the heavenly realm in scripture we see there is indeed eternal praise around the throne of God. Isaiah 6:2-3 says: Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3And one called out to another and said, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory."    Revelation 4:8 says: Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,' who was, and is, and is to come." So indeed the angels and the heavenly host do continually praise God.

The psalmist then moves on to elements of creation, the sun, the moon and the stars. He says:  Let them praise the name of the Lord, For He commanded and they were created.  He has also established them forever and ever; He has made a decree which will not pass away. In Job 38-41, God speaks to Job listing the many things which are obedient to Him. He says: “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding…“Or who enclosed the sea with doors When, bursting forth, it went out from the womb; ⁹ When I made a cloud its garment And thick darkness its swaddling band, ¹⁰ And I placed boundaries on it And set a bolt and doors, ¹¹ And I said, ‘Thus far you shall come, but no farther; And here shall your proud waves stop’? ¹² “Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, And caused the dawn to know its place, ¹³ That it might take hold of the ends of the earth…       In Romans 1:20, Paul says that creation is a testimony of God.      For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made.     Indeed creation praises God its creator.

The psalmist continues though with the living creation.     ⁷ Praise the Lord from the earth, Sea monsters and all deeps; ⁸ Fire and hail, snow and clouds; Stormy wind, fulfilling His word;
⁹ Mountains and all hills; Fruit trees and all cedars; ¹⁰ Beasts and all cattle; Creeping things and winged fowl;        I remember a time when my family was going through a difficult time, among other things my daughter was in the hospital in Philadelphia for an extended period of time. My wife and I would spend many days and nights there with her. I remember early one morning I went outside to get some sunshine and air. There amidst the concrete, the roads, the buildings and the traffic were a few trees and a small patch of grass. As I sat there feeling overwhelmed and despaired about the circumstances, I heard a small bird. It was singing the most beautiful and cheerful song. That bird taught me a lesson I will never forget. It didn’t complain or despair that other birds had entire parks or vast areas of trees and meadows. It simply lived its life in obedience and praise of God right where it was, singing joyfully to God in the midst of the noise and the harshness of man’s creation.    

Indeed all living and breathing created things, on land, in water and in the air, live in obedience to God, their creator. They live to give Him praise and honor and glory. We alone, of all creation, have a choice of whether or not we will be obedient to and praise the God of creation. The psalmist continues his exhortation:  Kings of the earth and all peoples; Princes and all judges of the earth; ¹² Both young men and virgins; Old men and children. ¹³ Let them praise the name of the Lord, For His name alone is exalted; His glory is above earth and heaven.
¹⁴ And He has lifted up a horn for His people, Praise for all His godly ones; Even for the sons of Israel, a people near to Him. Praise the Lord!     There are lyrics to a song by Phillips, Craig and Dean,” Come Now Is The Time To Worship”, which say:

Come, now is the time to worship.
Come, now is the time to give your heart.
Come, just as you are, to worship.
Come, just as you are, before your God.
Come.

One day every tongue will confess
You are God.
One day every knee will bow.
Still the greatest treasure remains for those
Who gladly choose you now.

Creation has no choice but to worship and glorify God. We should learn the lesson of creation, the lesson of the small songbird in the city, we should praise, worship and glorify God, not only for the good things He has done for us but simply because He is God. God loves us and all of His creation so much that He sent Jesus, His Son to redeem, reconcile and restore all things to Him.

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; Praise Him in the heights!  Praise Him  Kings of the earth and all peoples; Princes and all judges of the earth;  Both young men and women; Old men and children.   Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!(Psalm 150:6)   Amen and Amen.