Praise the Lord

Psalm 150 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Praise the Lord!
Praise God in His sanctuary;
Praise Him in His mighty expanse.
² Praise Him for His mighty deeds;
Praise Him according to His excellent greatness.

³ Praise Him with trumpet sound;
Praise Him with harp and lyre.
⁴ Praise Him with timbrel and dancing;
Praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe.
⁵ Praise Him with loud cymbals;
Praise Him with resounding cymbals.
⁶ Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!

The psalmist says “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!”  Indeed in all of creation we, humans, created in the image of God, are the only thing with a choice, a free will to decide whether or not we will praise the Lord. When He entered into Jerusalem before His arrest and crucifixion, Jesus was told to quiet His disciples, to keep them from praising Him. Luke 19:37-40 says:    As soon as He was approaching, near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen, shouting: “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord;
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”  Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.” But Jesus answered, “I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!”     Isaiah 55:12 says:   The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, And all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

There are many sounds which emanate from creation: the rumble of thunder, the crashing of mighty waves against the shore, the roaring wind, rain falling against the surface of the earth; additionally the sound of birds singing to greet the morning sun, a wolf howling at the moon, a lion roaring to let others know it is his territory, countless sounds from all of creation, nothing with a choice but to obey, honor and praise the God who created them. We alone have that choice, whether we will obey, honor and praise the God of creation. There was one before us who made that choice. Isaiah 14:11-15 says:  ‘Your pomp and the music of your harps Have been brought down to Sheol; Maggots are spread out as your bed beneath you And worms are your covering.’ “How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn!
You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations!  “But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north.  ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’  “Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, To the recesses of the pit.   The devil’s desire was to be worshipped rather than to worship. Now that he has fallen his desire is that men would worship him rather than God. From the beginning he sought to deceive man so that he might be praised. Now he is content with men simply not praising God.

God desires our praise. Matthew 21:16 says: “‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies You have prepared praise for Yourself’?”     The psalmist’s words are more than simply an attempt to elicit a response. They are a Holy Spirit inspired exhortation, an encouragement, an invitation to choose to praise the God of creation. The choice is up to each individual, whether to praise the God of creation or to follow the deception of the devil and choose not to praise God.

I, along with the psalmist and along with the Holy Spirit, along with The God of creation Himself encourage you to:    Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty expanse.  Praise Him for His mighty deeds; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness. Praise Him with trumpet sound; Praise Him with harp and lyre.  Praise Him with timbrel and dancing; Praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe. ⁵ Praise Him with loud cymbals;
Praise Him with resounding cymbals.  Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!     Amen