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Psalm 148 (NIV)
1 Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
praise him in the heights above.
2 Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his heavenly hosts.
3 Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, all you shining stars.
4 Praise him, you highest heavens
and you waters above the skies.
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for at his command they were created,
6 and he established them for ever and ever –
he issued a decree that will never pass away.
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,
8 lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
stormy winds that do his bidding,
9 you mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,
10 wild animals and all cattle,
small creatures and flying birds,
11 kings of the earth and all nations,
you princes and all rulers on earth,
12 young men and women,
old men and children.
13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for his name alone is exalted;
his splendour is above the earth and the heavens.
14 And he has raised up for his people a horn,
the praise of all his faithful servants,
of Israel, the people close to his heart.
Praise the Lord.
The focus of this psalm is the Lord. Is this a command or an invitation to praise him?
The psalmist has issued his directive in two sections. In the first, the praise is to come “from the heavens” (verse 1); in the second, praise is to come “from the earth” (verse 7).
It is almost as if the psalmist has been guided by the first chapter in the Hebrew Bible, Genesis 1, in compiling and sequencing what or who is to give this praise. The angels and the heavenly hosts are first, as if God’s witnesses, as he brings order to the chaos of the beginning of creation. Sun, moon, stars and the waters above the land are called to bring praise to the Lord before the psalmist turns to address that which is on the earth. And the psalmist has emphasised that all these are of the created order; the Lord is their creator.
Turning to what is on the earth, the psalmist addresses first what is in the sea, then the elements above the land, then the vegetation brought forth from the land and only then the animals, both wild and domesticated. Last of all, human beings are brought in to this chorus of praise: kings, princes and rulers, young men and women, old men and children (verses 11-12).
The culmination of the psalm is to explain why it is necessary to call all of creation to offer up this praise. The Lord’s “name alone is exalted”; “his splendour is above the earth and the heavens” (verse 13). But what is this “horn” which the Lord “has raised up for his people”? This horn is to receive the praise of all his faithful servants (and that includes, I hope, all who are reading this reflection). The horn is a symbol of strength, we realise, but to what or to whom does the psalmist point here?
The people were waiting for the Lord’s anointed one. The psalmist sees this horn as raised up already, suggesting that he has been given a prophetic insight into how the Lord would redeem the people close to his heart – through the Messiah, the Lord.
Praise the Lord indeed!