Psalm 148  Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens; praise him in the heights!  ² Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his host!  ³ Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars!  ⁴ Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens!  ⁵ Let them praise the name of the LORD, for he commanded and they were created.  ⁶ He established them forever and ever; he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed.  ⁷ Praise the LORD from the earth, you sea monsters and all deeps,  ⁸ fire and hail, snow and frost, stormy wind fulfilling his command!  ⁹ Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars!  ¹⁰ Wild animals and all cattle, creeping things and flying birds!  ¹¹ Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth!  ¹² Young men and women alike, old and young together!  ¹³ Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his glory is above earth and heaven.  ¹⁴ He has raised up a horn for his people, praise for all his faithful, for the people of Israel who are close to him. Praise the LORD!

Our devotion today comes from Jerome Creach, who is the Robert C. Holland Professor of Old Testament at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh, PA.

“Psalm 148 is part of the Psalter's concluding section that offers and calls for praise to the Lord. Psalms 146-150 are linked by the words "praise the Lord" that appear in the first and last verse of each psalm. Psalm 148 focuses on God's control of the created order as reason for praise. But verse 14 also hints at God's salvation of Israel as reason to celebrate God's might.

Psalm 148 does not say that the Lord "reigns" or that the Lord is king, but this is implied throughout the psalm. In fact, God's universal rule is really the motivation for the psalm's call to praise. With this emphasis on God as divine sovereign Psalm 148 helps conclude the Book of Psalms with perhaps the Psalter's most important theological claim: "the Lord reigns" (NRSV, "the Lord is King;" Psalms 93:1; 96:10; 97:1; 99:1). The claim is important because it was uttered and written in the Psalms in the midst of a theological crisis. During the exilic (587-539 B.C.E.) and post-exilic periods God's people were defeated and dominated by the great empires of their day. It must have seemed at times that God was not in control.

The many complaints throughout the Psalter appropriately express such doubts (Psalms 44, 74, 88, 89). But the Psalter's final word is not doubt, but hope: "Praise the Lord."

Psalm 148 begins by calling for praise from the heavenly realm, from the place God is enthroned as king over the universe (verse 1; see Psalm 115:3, 16). The first six verses then expound on that initial call to praise. All those who dwell in the heavens as well as the heavens themselves-- both creatures and inanimate things -- are called to praise.  Verses 7-12 proceed in the call to praise downward from the heavens to the earth and sea.

The inclusiveness of praise in Psalm 148 has important implications for our understanding of our relationship to the rest of creation. As verses 9-12 make clear, human beings stand in alongside other animals and the inanimate objects of the earth to praise God. This suggests that the human exercise of dominion over the earth (Genesis 1:26, 28) is intended to be a partnership for the good of creation and ultimately to give glory to God.

Francis of Assisi composed his Canticle of the Sun with this point in mind. In this song based on Psalm 148, Francis calls to the sun, wind, and fire as brother and to the moon, waters, and earth as sister.  Although humans have unique responsibilities to oversee the rest of the creation, they ultimately are called to praise God, like everything else God created. 

The ending of Psalm 148 is also important for understanding the nature of praise God's people are called to voice. Verse 14 turns from the praise of God throughout the universe, from all God's creation and because of God's mastery of the cosmos, to praise of God for God's saving acts on behalf of Israel. 

Indeed, Psalm 148 will not allow praise of God that turns into praise of self. It will also not allow the people of God to remove themselves from the rest of creation. God's saving deeds on their behalf is intended to give particular expression to the work of God in creation." 

In our prayers this week:  Ann, Daniel, David, Brianna, Woody, Scott S., Anna.  Also, we keep the family of Mary Schaeffer in our prayers as they mourn the loss of Mary’s sister-in-law.

God’s Peace,