WHY?
Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the LORD from the heavens: praise him in the heights.
Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts.
Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light.
Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens.
Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created.
He hath also stablished them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not pass.
Praise the LORD from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps:
Fire, and hail; snow, and vapour; stormy wind fulfilling his word:
Mountains, and all hills; fruitful trees, and all cedars:
Beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying fowl:
Kings of the earth, and all people; princes, and all judges of the earth:
Both young men, and maidens; old men, and children:
Let them praise the name of the LORD: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven.
He also exalteth the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints; even of the children of Israel, a people near unto him. Praise ye the LORD
Months ago I wrote in my Daily Visit with God this piece about Psalm 148,[1]
“It seems to me that the last three Psalms answer the “What?, Who? and How?” questions concerning praise.
What?
While Psalms 148, the longest of the final three, does have some “Who?” answers, its focus is on what should praise the Lord.
The answer is creation.
· The sun, the moon, the stars should praise the Lord.
· The earth, the beasts and the depths, the mountains and trees.
Everything God spoke into existence ought to praise the Lord.
One way for us to use this is to view these things and allow them to give us cause to praise.
Who?
Psalms 149 provides the “Who?”
The previous Psalm mentions young men, maidens, old men and children. This Psalm speaks of kings and saints.
No matter the position in life, the saint ought to praise the Lord.
How?
Psalm 150 gives the “How?”
· In the sanctuary, at church
· For His mighty acts
· With music and loudly”
When I began to study for this message I noticed that I did not see in any of these last three Psalms the question “Why?”.
And I noticed that there is a “Why?” tucked deeply in the heart of the Psalm.
Before I get there, would you look at the “What?” of the Psalm?
I use the word whatin distinction to whobecause I am referring to things other than people groups.
That’s right – even things that are not human are commanded to praise the Lord.[2]
· Angels and the hosts of heaven are to praise Him
· Vs 2
· Sun, moon and stars are to praise Him
Vs 3
· The heavens of heavens are to praise Him
Vs 4
· The dragons and the deeps are to praise Him
Vs 7
· Fire, Hail, Snow, Vapor and Wind is to praise Him
Vs 8
· Mountains, hills, fruitful trees and cedars[3]are to praise Him
Vs 9
· Beasts, Cattle, Creeping things and Fowl are to praise Him
Vs 10
In verses 11-12 the Psalm does command people to praise the Lord
· Kings People, Princes, judges, young men, maidens, old men and children are to praise the name of the Lord.
I would attempt to categorize them like this:
· The invisible things[4]
· The distant things[5]
· The unseen and unknowable things[6]
· The essential things[7]
· The inanimate things[8]and
· The living but not human things[9]
We could call it all
· Creation[10]
But then, buried in the heart of the Psalm are two verses telling Creation that they are to
Psalms 148:5-6 (KJV)
Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created.
He hath also stablished them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not pass.
I. HE COMMANDED AND IT WAS SO
Psalms 148:5 (KJV)
… for he commanded, and they were created.
Many years ago I preached a message from Genesis One called “And It Was So.”
I want to give you a portion of the introduction of that message now.
“Six times, in Genesis chapter one, the Bible says God spoke “and it was so.”
God spoke and what He spoke, came to be.
The four-word phrase comes from two Hebrew words:
The first, “and it was”
Strong’s dictionary says it is more than a mere conjunction between subject and predicate. This word is “always emphatic.”
Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words says it is, “more than simple existence or identity ….. Rather, the verb makes a strong statement about the being or presence of a person or thing”[11]
The second, “so”
Strong’s Concordance says this word means, “to set upright”
Again, Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words says,
"right; veritable; honest."…. The word implies "honest or righteous"…...[12]
That means:
When God made all that is
· He did it emphatically
· He did it powerfully and
· He did it right
· When God made the earth, He made it right
· When God made life, He made it right
· When God made man, He made him right and
· When God instructed man, He instructed Him right
Six times Genesis One says, “and it was so.”
And every time, it was right.
What God does, He does right.
That’s a reason to praise the Lord.
II. HE STABLISHED AND IT IS FOREVER
Psalms 148:6 (KJV)
He hath also stablished them for ever and ever…
The word “stablished” means “to stand, or to hold one’s ground.”
That which God has created, was created to survive, to endure.
· He did not create the world, decide it was wrong and wipe it out to begin again.[13]
· He did not create some living “goo” and let it evolve into everything that is.[14]
He created all that He created with functional maturity.
It was, from its beginning, exactly what it would always be.
Notice the words, “For ever and ever.”
Who would have ever guessed, the word
· Ever, is different than the word
· Ever
The first word, though meaning continual, has to do with a starting point.
To begin and go on continually
The second wordmeans concealed. It has to do with vanishing out of sight and mind.
All three of those words have to do with enduring.
What God has done is
· Created to endure
· Created to endure continually and
· Created to endure eternally[15]
III. HE DECREED AND IT WILL NOT PASS
Psalms 148:6 (KJV)
… he hath made a decree which shall not pass.
A decree is a law or ordinance.
It comes from a word that means engraved.
I am reminded of the law of the Medes and the Persians that, once decreed, could not be rescinded, even by the king who made it.
Which shall not pass
It means that the law that God has given is engraved. It is fixed and it shall not be:
· Carried away,
· Covered or
· Altered
I cannot but think of God’s Word.
· He said it, and it was so[16]
· He gave it and it will endure forever[17]
· He wrote it and not a jot or tittle will pass[18]
Conclusion
Let me end this message with,
Psalms 148:13-14 (KJV)
Let them praise the name of the LORD: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven.
He also exalteth the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints; even of the children of Israel, a people near unto him. Praise ye the LORD.
The word horn speaks of strength.
God exalts, elevates, makes much ofthat thing which gives his people strength – when all His saints praise the name of the Lord.
[1]Will this become the roadmap for the remainder of these messages?
[2]And I would suggest to you that they are more obedient in doing it than most people are.
[3]Those trees that do not bear fruit.
[4]Vs 2
[5]Vs 3,4
[6]Vs 7
[7]Vs 8
[8]Vs 9
[9]Vs 10
[10]Vs 5
[11] (from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words)
(Copyright (C) 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers)
[12](from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words)
(Copyright (C) 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers)
[13]As those who taught the Gap Theory proposed.
[14]As proposed by theistic evolution.
[15]Until we no longer imagine a time when it would not exist.
[16]2 Timothy 3:16 (KJV)
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
[17]Psalms 12:6-7 (KJV)
The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
[18]Matthew 5:18 (KJV)
For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
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