Praise the Lord!

Psalm 148 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!

Did the psalmist know something that we have only recently come to know? He says:   Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; Praise Him in the heights! Praise Him, all His angels; Praise Him, all His hosts! Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all stars of light! Praise Him, highest heavens, And the waters that are above the heavens! 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.     Scientist recently have found that indeed the heavens, the sun, the moon, the stars are not only obedient to the Lord who created them, but they do in fact praise Him. You don’t have to take my word for it, just google music of the stars and you can hear the praises of the heavens to God.

The psalmist continues: Praise the Lord from the earth, Sea monsters and all deeps; Fire and hail, snow and clouds; Stormy wind, fulfilling His word; Mountains and all hills; Fruit trees and all cedars; Beasts and all cattle; Creeping things and winged fowl.    All of creation and every living thing lives in obedience to and offers praise to the Lord God. In Luke 19:39-40, when Jesus was entering Jerusalem, it says:  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!”   If you have ever heard the songs of the birds as they greet the new day, you would agree with them and the writer of Lamentations 3:22-23:   Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.      Each new day is a blessing from the compassionate, merciful and faithful God. Each day offers a new opportunity to praise Him, love Him and respond in obedience to Him. Man tries to explain the intricacies of creation and the unique qualities and characteristics of each animal and plant, saying it came about by a series of random acts and natural selection. Yet, with the intricate balance of creation, the relationship between animals and plants, the intricacy of molecular structure to the magnitude of the mountains, the oceans and the heavens, isn’t it more likely that it was planned and designed rather than just an accidental occurrence? All of creation, both living and nonliving does exactly what it does, in perfect balance, so that indeed every day is a new blessing. All of creation responds in obedience and praise, to the Lord God, its creator and designer.

The psalmist continues:   Kings of the earth and all peoples; Princes and all judges of the earth; Both young men and virgins; Old men and children. Let them praise the name of the Lord, For His name alone is exalted; His glory is above earth and heaven. 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!     It is people alone who have a choice. We are created and designed with a free will, an ability to choose what we say, what we do, how we will respond to God. There is a Christian worship song by Wayne Watson, from a number of years ago, titled “Almighty.”  The lyrics say:         Almighty, most holy God Faithful through the ages Almighty, most holy Lord Glorious, almighty God

The beasts of the field, the birds of the air Are silent to call out your name
The earth has no voice and I have no choice But to magnify God unashamed

Let the rocks be kept silent for one more day Let the whole world sing out, let the people say

Almighty, most holy God Faithful through the ages
Almighty, most holy Lord Glorious, almighty God

It’s a good song, but I always had a disagreement with the lyrics. The earth does in fact have a voice, as does all of creation. It is creation that really has no choice. It, all of creation, unashamedly magnifies the Lord. I, we, do have a choice. We alone, of all of God’s creation can choose whether or not to praise Him and give glory to His name.   As the song says: Let the rocks be kept silent for one more day Let the whole world sing out, let the people say Almighty, most holy God Faithful through the ages Almighty, most holy Lord Glorious, almighty God.  A time will come when man, like the rest of creation will have no choice. Philippians 2:10-11 says:  At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.       Today, while you have a choice, I join the psalmist and say:

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; Praise Him in the heights! Praise Him, all His angels; Praise Him, all His hosts! Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all stars of light! Praise Him, highest heavens, And the waters that are above the heavens! 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. Praise the Lord from the earth, Sea monsters and all deeps; Fire and hail, snow and clouds; Stormy wind, fulfilling His word; Mountains and all hills; Fruit trees and all cedars; Beasts and all cattle; Creeping things and winged fowl; Kings of the earth and all peoples; Princes and all judges of the earth; Both young men and virgins; Old men and children.     Everyone who reads these words,  Praise the Lord!   Amen.   Praise the Lord!   Amen.