May 12, 2004
Title: Psalm 148: Things Celestial and Things Terrestrial Praising the Lord
Text: Psalm 148
Introduction
1. A sheep rancher in the remote mountains of Idaho found that his violin was out of tune, …
• He tried and tried to make the violin sound like it should…
• But without a tuning pitch, he was unable to get it right.
• He was a frequent listener to a radio station in California,
• So, he wrote the station concerning his problem,
• And he asked them--at a certain hour and a certain minute on a certain day-- to strike the right note for him.
• And they did!
• They stopped everything else,
• They silenced all other sounds for a moment, …
• Then they struck that note.
• And, In his shepherd’s hut in the distant mountains, …
• the shepherd heard that sound, …
• and from that single note he put his instrument into tune again.
• That’s why we are here tonight…
• This is a special time to get in touch with God….
• We need to listen for the note…the perfect pitch…
• So that we can keep our hearts in tune. (source unknown)
• Our lives get out of tune sometimes, don’t they?...
• Listen to God’s voice tonight…
• He is sounding the note…
• And if you listen…
• And adjust your life to His note…
• Then your life will come back into tune with Him.
2. As we continue our study of the Psalms, we turn our attention to Psalm 148.
• Psalm 148 is a beautiful picture of praising and worshiping the Lord.
• This Psalm contains 2 stanzas of glorious praise for God…
• With each stanza ending with the reason for that praise.
• As Spurgeon says in the “Treasury of David”…
• “as a flash of lightning flames through space, and enwraps b oth heaven and earth in one vestment of glory, so doth the adoration of the Lord in this Psalm light up all the universe and cause it to glow with a radiance of praise”. (1.)
Read Text: Psalm 148:1-14
1. Things Celestial Praising God vs. 1-6
A. In our study of the Purpose Driven Life…
• We’ve learned that our first purpose in life is to worship God…
• Here in this first stanza, we see that this doesn’t just apply to us, as human beings…
• But the purpose of all created things above the earth…
• Is to praise the Lord.
• The Psalmist starts out by simply saying “Praise the Lord”…
• In those 3 words, David sums up the whole of the message of Psalm 148.
• But, not content to leaven it at that, he goes in to more detail…
• “Praise the Lord from the heavens…
• And from the heights above” Vs 1.
• This is an all inclusive statement that everything above the earth shall praise the Lord.
B. But then, the Psalmist gets even more specific about the praise…
• He mentions that the angels and the heavenly hosts…
• They should lift up their voices in praise…
• And we see throughout Scripture that they have indeed lifted up their voices in praise…
• Luke 2:13 says, “Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God”
• John describes the sounds of the heavenly hosts praising God in Revelation 19:6-7, when he writes, “Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: "Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory!”
C. David mentions the sun, moon, stars…
• How can the sun, moon and stars praise God?
• David tells us in Psalm 19 that, even though we know that these celestial bodies have no voice…
• Yet, they DO have a voice that praises God…
• The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. Psalms 19:1-4 (NIV)
• Wherever you go around the world…
• You can glance up into the sky and see the beauty of God’s creation…
• Day or night…as you look into the sky…
• You can almost imagine them giving glory to their Creator…
• And, in fact, based on Romans 1:20…
• God will actually speak to people who have no knowledge about God whatsoever…
• Simply by looking up into the night sky…
• Seeing the expanse of the stars…
• Feeling the overwhelming sense of our own insignificance…
• Feeling with certainty that there is a Creator much more powerful than I…
• And I most certainly should bow down and worship Him…
• Let me read that to you and see if you agree…
• For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. Romans 1:20 (NIV)
• The cannibal in deep dark Africa…
• Can look up into the sky…
• And God will speak to his soul…
• Because the sun, moon, and stars are giving praise to the glory of God.
D. David tells us that the highest heaven…
• And the rain up in the sky…
• all of them give praise to the Lord.
• Next time you see the rain…
• Imagine that each rain drop is lifting its voice in praise to its Creator.
E. Then in verses 5 & 6, David gives the reason they are to praise…
• They certainly don’t need a reason…
• They should praise the Lord anyway…
• But…they are given a reason nonetheless…
• David says, simply because God spoke the Word…
• And they were created…
• That is sufficient reason to give praise.
2. Things Terrestrial Praising God vs. 7-14
A. Not only are things celestial praising God…
• But next, David turns his attention to things terrestrial praising God…
• Things on earth.
• And following the example of the first stanza…
• in this second stanza…he gets more specific…
B. He talks about the great sea creatures…
• And everything from the depths of the sea…
• According to research conducted by the National Geographic Society, the 40-ton humpback whale-has a fascinating singing ability. Recordings have been made of the humpback whale singing in various pitches in solos, duets, trios, and choruses of dozens of interweaving voices lasting from six to thirty minutes. Imagine what it must be like to hear those songs from the depths of the ocean depths-sung by 40-ton whales!
• He talks about examples from nature:
• Lightning, hail, snow, clouds, and stormy winds.
• He talks about examples upon the land:
• Mountains, hills, trees, animals, small & large creatures
C. Then, David turns his attentions upon people…
• Telling us that ALL people…
• Great and small…
• Young and old…
o The Psalmist says, “From the lips of children and infants
you have ordained praise” Psalms 8:2 (NIV)
• Men and women…
• Rich and poor…
• Powerful and weak…
• All are to praise the Lord.
• I don’t know…has he left anyone out?
D. Several commentators (Stephen J. Lennox, et. al) pointed out that many of these things mentioned in Psalm 148 were frequently things that people worshipped.
• People have (and still today) worship angels…
• People have and still today worship the sun, moon, and stars…
• Animals, mountains, trees, and even stormy weather.
• But David, in describing all these things that people might turn to and worship them instead of the One True God…
• And showing that all these things exist only to give praise and glory to God… (2.)
• It certainly helps us put our praise and worship into the right place.
• It reminds me of a song that Carmen sung where he said something like: “keep your eyes upon the Creator and not on His creation”.
E. David concludes this stanza like he did the first one…
• Giving us reason to praise God…
• Not that we need a reason…
• We should praise God anyway…
• But David tells us, He has raised up for his people a horn Psalms 148:14 (NIV)
• Many times, when you see a horn used metaphorically in Scripture…
• It is referring to strength…
• Like a rams’ horn would be strong…
• So, essentially, David is telling us to praise the Lord for Him giving us strength…
• But other commentators indicate that this is a reference to Jesus Christ…
• As in Luke 1:69, which is a clear reference to Jesus Christ, “He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David” Luke 1:69 (NIV)
• So, then, David is telling us to praise the Lord for Jesus Christ Who brings us salvation.
Conclusion
1. So…all this begs the question… “how are we doing?”
• The angels…sun...moon…stars…the singing of the whales…
• Mountains, the wind, the rain…
• All giving praise and glory to God…
2. Let’s follow the example that we see in the heavens and on the earth…
• Let’s join in the great chorus of all things celestial…
• And all things terrestrial…
• And praise the Lord!!
1. Charles Spurgeon, “Treasury of David” Psalm 88-150 Vol 2. (Lynchburg, VA: The Old Time Gospel Hour), p. 437.
2. Stephen J. Lennox, “Psalms: A Bible Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition” (Indianapolis, IN: Wesleyan Publishing House, 1999), pp. 429-30.
