" What Happened to Praise for the LORD?"
(Pastor's sermon blog from the sermon for December 27, 2020 – Michael H. Koplitz)
Psalm 148
1 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!
Psalm 148 is a song of praise to the LORD. One day all the people of the world will come together to praise the LORD. In the United States, the opposite is happening. People do not praise and celebrate the LORD and the Messiah as they used to. When I was a kid in the 1960s, I lived in Rosedale, Queens. It was a wonderful neighborhood of Jews and Italians. (This combination of ethnic groups probably invented the pizza bagel, lol.) December was always a light show. For my family, we had an electric Hannukah menorah that sat in the front window of the house. Each night of Hannukah, another light bulb would be illuminated. The Italian families would decorate their homes with Christmas lights. Both Jews and Christians praised and honored the LORD in light.
When my children were young, about thirty years ago, we would attend Christmas Eve worship at church. Afterward, I would drive the car around several neighborhoods so that the children could see the beautifully lit homes. Almost every home had a light show to honor and praise the Messiah Yeshua and the LORD. There was one home that had such a display that there would be lines of cars on the street just to see the house. They even had a police presence making sure that a car in front of the house stayed no longer than one minute. It was a time of great praise.
Today, I live in a townhouse development of 151 units. Around 30 townhomes have some Christmas lights. The praising of the LORD is not done by all. The neighborhoods that surround the townhomes thirty years ago were bright and sparkling in December. Now, maybe 20% of the homes have decorative lighting for Christmas. I have not seen a Hanukkah menorah in any home in my neighborhood.
The praising of the LORD has declined, which saddens my heart. People seem to have forgotten that it is through the love and grace of the LORD that we even exist. Christmas is not a celebration of Yeshua's birth in most households. Christmas has become a winter holiday that Hallmark, Walmart, and other retail stores use to make lots of money. Families gather together at this time for the sole purpose of gift-giving and fancy meals. That is very important and a wonderful thing to do. However, so many families have forgotten that it is Yeshua's birth that should be celebrated.
The Psalmist tells us that everything that the LORD created should be praising Him. The angels in Heaven and humans on Earth should praise the LORD because it was through His words that we were created. The celestial bodies, the luminaries, the mountains, and more, come together to praise the LORD. This Psalm also says that the Gentiles will join the Jews when the Messiah comes.
Wait a minute!!! That did happen. According to the Gospels, Yeshua came for both the Jews and Gentiles. Paul said that the power of the Gospel is for Jews first and Gentiles second. That is exactly what Psalm 148 says. The Psalmist understood that the LORD gave His Torah to the Jews because they were the only nation on Earth that would accept it and live by it. The LORD gave the Jews the task of sharing the love and grace of the LORD, through the Torah, to the world. The Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah and would make this command happen.
At the beginning of Yeshua's ministry, this did happen. Jews and Gentiles came together to learn from the Messiah and receive the LORD's grace and love. Unfortunately, politics came into the picture. I do not have the space to explain all the details of the early church's development. It is enough to say that the Proto-Orthodox church (which becomes the Catholic and Orthodox church) separated itself from its Jewish roots. The church does not understand that all people are intended to come together as one people led by the Jewish Messiah. The result is supposed to be that all people on the Earth will praise and honor the LORD led by the Messiah.
How do we get praising the LORD back into our society? Those of us devoted to the LORD, whether Jew or Gentile, must remind people about the LORD. Our words and actions can do this. Everything we say and do must glorify the LORD. A start this season is to get lights on your house. Whether you celebrate Christmas or Hannukah, get some lights on the house. Show the love that the LORD has for you by sharing that love with someone else, especially people who are not devout. The LORD has placed this burden on us. It is not an easy task in today's world, but it is not impossible. Believe in the power that you have because you praise and honor the LORD. Sing Psalm 148 from the roof and mountain tops. Let people hear that the LORD loves them always!
May the LORD bless you in your learning and studying of His Word.
