7 Praise the LORD from the earth, You great sea creatures
and all the depths;
8 Fire and hail, snow and clouds; 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 peoples; Princes and all
judges of the earth;
12 Both young men and maidens; Old men and children.
13 Let them praise the name of the LORD, For His name alone
is exalted; His glory is above the earth and heaven.
Psalm 148 is a psalm of purest praise. It is right in the
middle of the five “Hallelujah Psalms” that concludes the Book of Psalms. It is
the mountain peak of delightful and joyful praise. The word "praise"
is used thirteen times in these fourteen verses. This beautiful praise psalm
calls upon all of God’s wonderful creation to give praise to the LORD.
Years ago, I heard the statement, “When the praises go up,
the blessings come down!” This no doubt is true because when we send up our
praise to our great and good God in heaven, we are acknowledging that we are
His and everything we experience and enjoy on planet earth comes from Him. James
1:17 reminds us that: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above,
and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or
shadow of turning.”
When we praise the LORD, we are also acknowledging that He
is LORD and sovereign over all the earth. Every breath we breathe, and every
time our heart beats it is because He gives us our very life and existence. When
we are thankful and grateful and take the time to give the LORD the glory and
honor that He alone is worthy of with our praise, He takes pleasure in it and
desires to give us more blessings!
God doesn’t have to send judgment upon us or our country,
all He has to do is to withhold His blessings and we are in deep trouble. A day
of judgment is coming for America if we don’t repent of our national and personal
sins, but it is obvious that already the LORD’s hand of blessing is quickly disappearing!
In the Bible when God’s judgement fell, a flood covered the whole earth and
only eight people survives with a few animals. When God sent His judgement, fire
from heaven fell on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and they disappeared.
Yes, it is time for all the earth to turn away from our pride
and selfish greedy pursuits and remember where the real blessings of life come from!
Psalm 148 is a call for this kind of praise! In verses 1-6, the heavens praise
the LORD. Now in verses 7-13, the earth is called upon to praise the LORD! The
sea creatures from the ocean depths head the list (Psalm 104:6; Gen. 1:21),
followed by the demonstrations of God's power in the atmosphere (Psalm 107:25).
"Fire" in verse 8 is probably lightning, although
some opt for volcanic disturbances. Lightning often accompanied hailstorms in
the Holy Land. To us, the storms are unpredictable and seem out of control as
they do extensive damage, but we are assured that they are accomplishing God's
will. The psalmist then moved from the sea and atmosphere into the land where
God placed trees for food and trees for building, wild animals and domestic
animals, small creatures ("creeping things"), and birds.
But men and women are the highest creatures in God's
creation, because they were made in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-28). If any of
God's creation has good reason to praise the Lord, it is mankind, because we
have the privilege of knowing God more intimately, and we have the promise of
one day being like Christ. Angels rejoice when sinners are saved, but they
cannot experience the grace of God (Luke 15:7, 10). We wonder how many world
leaders take time to thank and praise God (v. 11).
Whether we are male or female, young or old, famous or
unknown, we can all know the LORD and praise His great name. We know Him by
best by His name Jesus! What a privilege to be a child of the King!
God bless!
