Psalm 148: Praise for the Coming King

• Read Psalm 148 from the ESV.
• Read my Psalm 148 poem from A New Song.

Looking back at Psalm 147 we see that God’s hand works both in nature and in his people as he unveils his majestic greatness. Psalm 147:18 declares that the natural laws ruling the stars, planets, weather, and elements come from God’s mouth bringing and sustaining life upon the earth. Psalm 147:19 tells us that God spoke his spiritual laws – the Torah as given to Israel – which bring spiritual life to an otherwise dead people. And, as we now turn to at Psalm 148, we find both realms – the universe and the creatures in the universe – proclaim God’s greatness.

The psalmist organizes Psalm 148 based on the locations from which praise shall be uttered. The psalm begins with a call for the heavens and those within the heavens to praise God. (148:1) The chief occupants we normally think of for the heavens are the angels, but the psalmist also includes the sun, the moon, and the stars. I’m not sure what sort of voice these celestial orbs will use, but the psalmist seems to have a different view of the stars than Timon and Pumba from The Lion King. Their discussion as they lay in the grass at night goes like this:

Timon?
Yeah?
Ever wonder what those sparkling dots are up there?
Pumba! I don’t wonder, I know.
Oh. What are they?
They’re fireflies…fireflies that got stuck up…on that big bluish-black thing.
Oh. Gee. I always thought they were balls of gas burning billions of miles away.
Pumba. With you, everything’s gas.

Pumba’s view, which by the way is not that far off from the modern view of the stars, contrasts sharply with the psalmist’s view. The psalmist sees the heavenly bodies as capable of singing praise to the LORD. Let that sink in for a minute…the stars can sing! They may, in fact, be “balls of gas burning billions of miles away” but they are also capable of singing praises to God. Inanimate matter knows its creator and sings praise to him along with the angels and the heavenly hosts!

This reminds me of a night some 2000 years ago when “suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.” (Luke 2:13-14) Along with the heavenly hosts, a star shone down from the heavens onto the lowly manger into which had been born the savior of humankind. At that moment, during that very night, the heavens proclaimed the glory of God.

The second location in Psalm 148 from which praise shall be uttered is the earth. (148:7) The earth contains all manner of beasts, weather, geological formations, plants, and people, all of which are told to sing the praises of God. Now, I understand how kings, princes, rulers, men, women, and children can sing God’s praises, and I can sort of understand how birds, cattle, and beasts can praise God (it’s spring now and I can hear nature coming alive!), but mountains, hills, weather, and trees? How do the mindless elements of nature praise God?

I think an answer to that comes from Luke who tells us that as Christ was riding into Jerusalem on a donkey the Pharisees told his disciples to be quiet. Jesus’ reply to them was this, “I tell you, if these (the disciples) were silent, the very stones would cry out.” I once heard it said that “nothing” is that which rocks dream of, and if it weren’t for God, I think that would be wholly correct. But Luke tells us that the rocks, while dreaming of nothing, were ready for Jesus to say the word, releasing their tongues to praise the Lord. They, along with all other forms of life, long to sing the praises of God. Isn’t it interesting that on the day of Jesus’ birth and the day Jesus entered Jerusalem as king, the elements longed to sing the praises of God?

This question takes us back to Psalm 148 where we see that the psalm is not just about the two locations of praise – heaven and earth. Psalm 148 tells us that the heavens and the earth praise God because “He has raised up a horn for his people.” (148:14) If you are familiar at all with the Old Testament you will know that when a horn is spoken of it usually indicates a leader, a king, or a strong ruler. The psalmist tells us that all of heaven and earth praise God because he has raised up a king who will rule his people.

Luke wrote about the heavens praising God on the night of Jesus’ birth; he also wrote that the rocks could praise God as Jesus rode into Jerusalem like a king prepared to inherit a kingdom. The psalmist also wrote of the heavens and earth praising God, but not just because his word controls nature, or his word brings the law to his people, but because God provides a ruler for his faithful people. Centuries later John would write that God’s “Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” (John 14:6)

God’s word rules over the laws of nature, Praise the Lord!
God’s word proclaimed all spiritual laws, Praise the Lord!
God’s incarnate word, Jesus, is an example of righteousness, Praise the Lord!
God’s living and incarnate word, Jesus, is the coming king to rule over the kingdom of God; let all the heavens and the earth Praise the Lord!