The Whole Creation Invoked to 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!

In Luke 19:37-40, as Jesus entered Jerusalem before He was arrested and crucified, it says:   As He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying: “ ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”  And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.”  But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.”  All of creation is obedient to and praises God. Only man was created with a free will and a choice of whether or not to worship, praise and be obedient to God. The psalmist 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.   In the mind of the psalmist it is enough that God created all things. For that alone, if nothing more they should praise Him.

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; Kings of the earth and all peoples;
Princes and all judges of the earth; Both young men and virgins; Old men and children.  All people too, along with the rest of creation, regardless of their age or stature, were created by God and for that alone they/we too should praise Him. In Job 38-41 we can read the account of Job being confronted by God. God speaks of all the living and nonliving things of creation and how they are obedient to His will and plan; that they do what He created them to do. Job’s response to God is recorded in the beginning of chapter 42, he says:  “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.  “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”  One day, whether in this life as Job, or when this life has passed, each one of us will also stand before the Lord and answer to Him. Philippians 2:5-11 says:  Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that 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.   We have a choice now, whether we will be obedient to and worship and praise the Lord. One day there will no longer be a choice, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Hebrews 9:27 says:  It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment.  None of us, regardless of our standing, stature or resources on earth will get out of here alive.  Since every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord, the only choice we have in that matter is to choose when we will bow and confess; we can choose if we will offer the lives we have been given in obedience to Him, that we might know eternal life with Him and through Him; or if we will squander these few years of our earthly existence, opposed to God and seeking to satisfy self and our will not His. We can choose to worship and praise Him now and forever or bow before Him and forever be seperated from His love, His goodness and His glory.

It’s our choice. Like the psalmist, I say:  Let us 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, salvation through Jesus Christ. Praise the Lord!  Thank You heavenly Father, God of creation; Lord Jesus Christ, Lord of Lords and King of Kings, my Savior and precious Holy Spirit my guide. Never will I allow anything to cry out in my place. I choose now, and forever to worship and praise You; to live in obedience to Your will and Your plan for me. You are my creator, my Redeemer and Savior; my guide and the One who sustains me. For me there is no choice but to Praise the Lord!  Amen.