Sunday, March 4, 2018 pm
STUDIES IN PSALMS
Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah
Psalm 148
Tonight, we study another of the final group of psalms, and the second
grouping of “Hallelujah” psalms.
As with previous psalms, these are pure praise to God.
This psalm calls for praise more than any other.
We sing a song based upon this psalm occasionally.
Genesis 1:1, In the beginning God
created the heavens and the earth. This
is a fundamental to our faith.
We are here because we believe in God of heaven.
The same God of Abraham, David, and Christians of the first
century. Our faith professes
that He created the worlds by His word (Hebrews 11:3).
Sadly, much of the world today doesn’t get this, which is why we
are so broken. And it is a
willful ignorance, as the more we examine the intricacies of this
universe (and world), we see the hands of a creator.
Paul in Romans 1:20-25 spoke of this.
David in Psalm 14:1 declared,
“The fool has said in his heart,
‘There is no God.’” Whoever wrote this particular psalm declares
that ALL creation praises him.
And it with these eyes that we notice God is worthy to be
praised. This psalm describes
how ALL things praise Him.
a.
Hallelujah!
Means, “Praise YHWH”
b.
From the heavens,
IN the heights – all
throughout “the heights”.
c.
the psalmist begins by
addressing how the heavens declare the glory of God – Psalm 19:1.
d.
Angels and hosts
(crowds)
– the idea of hosts is a large number – we do not know how many angels
there are – Hebrews 12:22 speaks of an innumerable company of angels;
Jesus spoke of 12 legions of angels coming to rescue Him if He desired
(Matthew 26:53) – sources say a legion in the Roman army was 6000
soldiers – that would be 72,000 angels.
Angels, their very appearance throughout Biblical history praised the
Lord. One example would be
Luke 2:9-14 – where angels appear to shepherds when Jesus was born.
They were praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest, And
on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
(14)
Similarly, the hosts
around the throne of God in Revelation 4 & 5 praise Him.
e.
Sun, moon and stars, all
you stars of light
– God has given us these “stars” as a source of light.
Of course, we now know so much
more about their power and influence upon the earth.
They are positioned in such a way as to sustain life on this
planet. We know the
influence of the moon on gravity and other forces.
f.
Heaven of heavens (highest heavens)
g.
Waters above
(rain, etc.) – from
the heavens, our sustenance begins.
Nature doing its part to sustain the earth.
h.
Let them praise His
name, for He commanded and created (5) – the point of this psalm.
Genesis 1:1, 4-6 – God created light on the first day (night and
day); 14-19 – on the 4th day, sun, moon and stars was created
to rule over the day and night.
We are also reminded that was the WORD of God that spoke the world into
existence. Genesis 1:3,
“Then God said…”; Hebrews 11:3, “by
faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God…”
2 Peter 3:5, reminds us that we must never forget this!
i.
Established forever and ever, a decree that will not pass away (as long as He wills, they
will remain). And that is so
as long as heaven and earth lasts – I think of Genesis 8:22 where the
LORD made a promise that while the earth remains, there will be seasons
and days.
IN describing the certainty of His covenant with David the LORD through
Jeremiah said, “If you can break My covenant with the day and My
covenant with the night, so that there will not be day and night in
their season, then My covenant may also be broken with David My
servant…” (Jeremiah 33:20-21)
j.
One of the great demonstrations of our creator is to look up at the
vastness of this universe. A study of the heavens makes
the case for God.
The size of the universe is mind boggling.
WE cannot begin to comprehend how big it is.
Its vastness causes some to
question the existence of God, but in reality, it our LIMITED minds that
are the challenge.
However, science and laws of nature concerning “the heavens” present
some challenges to naturalism (the fact that all things natural just
came into existence).
1) Laws of energy show the universe is deteriorating – this includes the
energy of the sun, as well as all other things.
2) The universe is expanding showing there was a starting point.
3) Furthermore, naturalism theorizes that the universe just came
into existence from nothing (the big bang).
All of these elements of the universe call for a CAUSE to start things
(both time and matter). GOD,
as an all-powerful, all-knowing and all-seeing Creator, is a plausible
answer for this (because He is of a realm outside of the natural realm).
ADD TO THIS, the incredible order and various constants (things that
must ALL be present for a system to work) that need to be in place for
this world to sustain life, shows a designer at work.
Examples of this are the distance from the sun and moon,
rotations of the planets including earth, etc.
WHEN we look to the heavens, and even more now so (with our abilities)
than when this psalm was written, we see just how glorious God is.
Psalm 8:1-4 shows the humility of man as he considers God’s creation.
k.
ALL that is “out of this
world” praises Him!
a.
We now turn to the
forces ON earth, again a testament to His creation and thus they praise
Him.
i.
Sea creatures and all depths – the existence of various creatures in the sea, from the
greatest of animals (Whales, etc.), to the smallest of them are all part
of God’s creation and together they sustain this earth.
Their complexity as individual and distinct creatures shows
design and an ORDERLY system!
ii.
Fire and hail and snow and clouds (vapors)
- weather patterns. Water
that furnishes the earth.
The processes of nature – He created this world to sustain itself.
We need weather (and at times it is catastrophic in size) to
sustain us. Man thinks he
can (or we are) destroy nature, but in cyclical fashion, the world seems
to heal itself.
iii.
Mountains and hills – also a part of the system of nature.
We need the heights and depths of this world to sustain it.
Consider how weather is affected by terrain (e.g. storms tend to
follow patterns, often confined by mountains, etc.)
iv.
Fruitful trees and cedars – our source of oxygen that we need to survive (and plants
need our carbon dioxide emitted to survive).
v.
Beasts, cattle, creeping things and flying fowl:
Again, all part of our eco-system.
They also provide us with wonder as we examine their varieties
and complexities.
vi.
NOTE: A discussion of
evolution here would be beneficial (but time will not permit such in
detail) as we see various types of life and nature described.
It is worthy to note, that there is NO concrete evidence of
evolution between different classes of animals.
Also, dealing with living organisms, I am reminded of DNA, something
that we have discovered shows incredible organization and design even
greater that what our best computers are able to do.
vii.
I JUST WONDER, how much of these processes were understood when this psalm
was written?
b.
Mankind
– next the psalmist issues a call to all mankind!
i.
Kings of all the earth – those entrusted with rulership
ii.
All peoples
– EVERYONE
iii.
Princes and judges – again rulers and those entrusted with justly enforcing laws
or delivering the people
iv.
Young men and maidens - male and female
Old (aged) men children –
all ages
v.
Mankind is God’s greatest creation. We are created
in His image (Genesis 1:26-27).
We have abilities to reason, think, and create unlike any other
part of creation. WE ALSO
have the abilities with our minds to PRAISE God directly.
vi.
Yet, it seems that only mankind FAILS to give Him the praise He is due!
He fails to be grateful to God and rebels against Him.
It is because of this that our world is so broken!
Imagine a world where our leaders feared God and loved the people? Psalm
2:10-11, Now therefore, be wise, O
kings; Be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear,
And rejoice with trembling.
Imagine a world where
all were taught to respect each other and together bow humbly before our
Creator – cf. Philippians 2:3-4 – looking out for each other’s
interests.
vii.
How does man praise God?
First, there is the
exalted praise as described here. Psalm
50:23,
Whoever offers praise glorifies Me; And to him who orders his conduct
aright I will show the salvation of God.”
Second, when we obey God
we are in essence acknowledging Him and thereby praising Him.
John 15:7-8 – by bearing much fruit because His word abides in
us.
Third, through our example – Matthew 5:16, 1 Peter 2:11-12
c.
His name is to be exalted
i.
A name means many things
– 1) an identity; 2) reputation; 3) authority.
All of these belong to our LORD
ii.
His name alone is exalted – let no name be put above His.
Psalm 8:1, “How excellent is Your name in all the earth. Who have set Your glory
above the heavens!”
iii.
His glory above earth and heaven - we see the glory of God in His creation.
As we understand who He is, what He has done, may we glorify and
praise Him! Hebrews 13:15.
iv.
Let us treat His name with reverence – Psalm 111:9, “Holy and awesome is His name.”
Also think of this when we use the expression “Hallelujah” and the like.
d.
He has exalted the horn
of His people (14)
i.
The idea of a horn as
used here is the horn of an animal used for thrusting.
Symbolically, it meant strength or dominion.
The point of this verse is that
the LORD God recognizes those who genuinely are His and praise Him.
You might say it is accepted praise.
ii.
He knows those who are
His – 2 Timothy 2:19, Romans 8:28 – all things work together for good to
those who are called according to His purpose.
iii.
When we are faithful, He
will praise us in the end – cf. Matthew 25:21 – “Well done good and
faithful servant…enter into the joy of your Lord.”
iv.
This is a final cause to
praise Him – because we belong to Him.
Because we consider what He has done so that we CAN belong to
Him!
v.
Thought: If we (His
people) don’t praise Him, who will?
Let
us resolve that we WILL praise the LORD.
May our lives reflect that praise, not just in word, but also in
deed (cf. Matthew 5:16).
Think about it!