Psalm 148
Notes
Transcript
Psalm 148
If we could just grasp the greatness and glory of God…our hearts would overflow with praise to Him!
No matter what is going on in the world today, and much sure is happening, no struggle, no trial, no tragedy would ever be able to put out this fire inside of us if we truly see God for who He is!
In every situation we will be able to give God thanks!
20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Once we see God for who He truly is, we will long for Him to be able to receive the praise to which he is worthy.
This seems to be the desire of the Psalmist in Psalm 148.
The Psalmist goes from one end of creation to the other calling all of creation to praise the Lord.
It is as if he sees that there just isn’t enough of creation around us to give God the amount of praise that He deserves.
Other psalms teach us why we should praise the Lord, Psalm 148 teaches who and what should praise the Lord.
Everything that God created should praise His holy name!
Truthfully, one group ought to praise Him far more than the others…the people whom He has redeemed.
In a way Psalm 148 is prophetic because it points to the day that every knee shall bow before Christ and every tongue will confess His greatness and glory!
23 I have sworn by myself, The word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, Every tongue shall swear.
11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
But this psalm is also practicial in that it challenges us to offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually.
In this Psalm we see two main divisions of creation that are called to praise God.
The psalmist begins with all are...
I. Above the Skies
I. Above the Skies
1 Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the Lord from the heavens: Praise him in the heights.
2 Praise ye him, all his angels: Praise ye him, all his hosts.
3 Praise ye him, sun and moon: Praise him, all ye stars of light.
4 Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, And ye waters that be above the heavens.
A. What Should Praise
A. What Should Praise
The Hebrew word heavens, literally means the sky, the firmament, the air, but also includes the stars and heavenly bodies.
The Hebrew word here isa plural word that indicates three or more…this actually lines up with the biblical references to three heavens:
the atmosphere of the earth, what we see when we look up during the day.
Outer space - what we see when we look up during the night.
God’s dwelling place, the highest heaven, referred here as the heights - we cannot see this at all.
The Psalmist starts with the third heaven, the dwelling place of God, calling for His angels to praise Him.
The word hosts, of course, speaks of an army.
This refers to the great hosts of angels that battle in heavenly places against Satan.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Then the Psalmist moves from the highest heaven toward the earth.
He calls for the sun and the moon and the stars to praise God.
He calls for the heavens of heavens to praise Him.
Commonly thought of as what would be considered the heaven of our heavens…in other words what is beyond our sky…the outer space.
Others believe he has moved down to our heavens, our sky based upon the phrase “and ye waters that be above the heavens.”
Some having interpreted this to be the clouds in the sky.
Others believe there may be some form of waters above that we do not yet know about.
Either way, as Spurgeon says, “but let them be what they may, and as they may, they shall give glory to the Lord our God.”
It doesn’t matter if we fully understand the meaning, just recognize that all of God’s creation is called to praise the Lord!
B. Why They Should Praise
B. Why They Should Praise
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord: For he commanded, and they were created.
6 He hath also stablished them for ever and ever: He hath made a decree which shall not pass.
This is their motivation for praising Yaweh
He gives two reasons:
They have been created by Him and by their very existence God’s power and glory are revealed!
1 The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament sheweth his handywork.
6 The heavens declare his righteousness, And all the people see his glory.
Secondly, they are a permanent witness to God’s existence and power.
He put them in place permanently, and He established the laws that assure their existence.
We need to be faithful to praise our God, not only did he create the heavens and all that are therein…but he created us!
He reigns over the universe and maintains it for His glory!
The beauty and wonder of looking up at the sky at night testifies to His wonder and glory!
May it stir our hearts to praise Him with all of our hearts!
The second group that the Psalmist calls upon to praise the Lord are all of the groups that are ...
II. Below the Skies
II. Below the Skies
Psalm 148:7–12 (KJV)
7 Praise the Lord from the earth, Ye dragons, and all deeps:
8 Fire, and hail; snow, and vapour; Stormy wind fulfilling his word:
9 Mountains, and all hills; Fruitful trees, and all cedars:
10 Beasts, and all cattle; Creeping things, and flying fowl:
11 Kings of the earth, and all people; Princes, and all judges of the earth:
12 Both young men, and maidens; Old men, and children:
Now the psalmist redirects his attention from the heavens to the earth.
He goes from one stretch of this earth and calls for worship of the Most High God.
And he begins...
A. In the Seas
A. In the Seas
He begins with the sea, he commands all marine life as well as the mysterious ocean depths themselves to praise the Lord.
Dragons are the giant sea creatures , such as whales, or other creatures that we don’t even know about yet.
The depths of the oceans are vastly unexplored, only an estimated 19% of the ocean bottom has been surveyed.
We truly do not know what lies in the deepest parts of the oceans.
and yet all of it is called upon to praise the Lord…the dragons and all deeps.
B. Above the Lands
B. Above the Lands
Verse 8 speaks about the elements above the seas and lands.
fire, hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds…all of it is said to fulfill His word!
He has created it all and determines their behavior.
He established laws that direct their cycles, and they do His bidding.
The Psalmist then moves to that which is
C. On the Land
C. On the Land
9 Mountains, and all hills; Fruitful trees, and all cedars:
10 Beasts, and all cattle; Creeping things, and flying fowl:
Now the mountains and hills, the fruitful trees, and cedars...
The Beasts (hayyah - a living thing, an animal)
The cattle
the creeping things (small animals, reptiles, beings that crawl and creep.
the flying fowl - all the birds of the sky
These are all called upon along with all these other groups to Praise the Lord from the earth (v.7)
And then the Psalmist turns to the final group of God’s Creation:
D. All Men
D. All Men
11 Kings of the earth, and all people; Princes, and all judges of the earth:
12 Both young men, and maidens; Old men, and children:
The crown of God’s creation is now called upon from the highest (the kings of the earth) to the lowest (the little children).
All are called to praise the name of the Lord.
People of all ages, and all standing are in the same category before the Lord.
They are all called upon to Praise the Lord!
And then we are given in verse 13-14 the motivation of our praise.
13 Let them praise the name of the Lord: For his name alone is excellent; His glory is above the earth and heaven.
14 He also exalteth the horn of his people, The praise of all his saints; Even of the children of Israel, a people near unto him. Praise ye the Lord.
Here, just as with the heavens, the psalmist gives us two reasons why we, and all the earth, ought to priase God.
First, He alone is the excellent God, the one true God.
His glory is above the earth and heaven together.
Nothing on this earth in it’s vast beauty can compare to the glory of God!
Secondly, Because He has exalted the horn of his people.
The horn speaks of power - his people speaks of Israel.
Out of all the people of the earth, God has chosen one man, Abraham and his descendants.
From that man one tribe was chosen above all else to bring forth the horn of his people.
From that tribe came one man whose descendant would carry forth the throne of David.
The horn — the power — of his people will be exalted.
The praise of this one will be risen from all his saints.
Even all of the children of Israel, a people near unto him… a people dear to His heart.
We who have received God’s salvation, ought to more faithfully and more loudly proclaim His praise than anything else in His creation.
We can praise Him for a reason that nothing else can — we are redeemed.
Peter revealed that the angels, God’s most powerful created beings, long to understand salvation through Christ.
12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.
I remember hearing a song in my childhood.
It’s a song holy angels cannot sing.
[Verse 1]
Angels never knew the joy that is mine
For the blood has never washed their sins away
Though they sing in heaven there will come a time
When silently they'll listen as I sing Amazing Grace
[Chorus]
It's a song holy angels cannot sing
Amazing Grace how sweet the sound
It's a song holy angels cannot sing
I once was lost but now I’m found
[Verse 2]
Holy is the Lord the angels sing
Before the throne of God continually
For me to join their song it’ll be a natural thing
They just won't know the words to Lovе Lifted Me
[Chorus]
It's a song holy angels cannot sing
Amazing Grace how sweet the sound
It's a song holy angels cannot sing
I once was lost but now I’m found
We ought to praise the Lord all of our days, for ever and ever!
He has created us
He has bought us
He is coming to get us
He will spend eternity with us!
Let’s Praise the Lord!