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!

Obedience is perhaps the highest from of honor and likewise, imitation is a high form of praise. The psalmist invokes praise from creation saying:  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.  All of these were created by God for His pleasure and purpose. They were not created with a free will to choose, but rather to do what they were created to do. They honor God with their obedience. Their obedience, doing what they were created to do, fulfilling His word, is the voice of their praise. 

Philippians 2:10-11 says: At the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.   The psalmist says: 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!  Of all of creation, only people were given a free will; the ability to choose whether or not we will respond to God and honor Him with obedience. One day that choice will no longer exist, every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.   We are distinct from creation, not only in that we have a free will to choose how we will respond to God, but also, after God created everything else, in Genesis 1:26-27 says:  Then God said, “Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the livestock and over all the earth, and over every crawling thing that crawls on the earth.” So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.   We were created in the image and likeness of God; given the ability to praise and honor Him not only with our obedience, but also with being like Him. In Leviticus 20:26 God says:  You must be holy because I, the LORD, am holy. I have set you apart from all other people to be my very own. 

Romans 12:1 says:  I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.  Our response to God in everything that happens is part of how we honor and praise Him. Romans 8:28-29 says:  We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.   Revelation 4:11 says:  Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.  We too, along with creation, were created for God purpose and pleasure; to please Him.  If we will respond to everything that happens in our lives, both the good and the difficult things, God will cause them to work together for our good. Romans 5:8 says:  God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  1 John 4:19 says:  We love, because He first loved us.  If in everything we do, we respond to God’s love demonstrated in the cross, by loving God, He will cause us to be conformed to the image of His Son. Through the cross and our obedience to Him, we will be restored to His image and likeness. We will be glorified in Him and our lives will give glory to Him. 

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; Praise Him in the heights! … 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!  Amen. I will praise the Lord and honor Him with obedience. Amen.