GOD
DESERVES OUR PRAISE!
Psalm
148:1-2
Praise
the LORD!
Praise
the LORD from the heavens;
praise
him in the heights!
Praise
him, all his angels;
praise
him, all his hosts!
There
are times when we seem to have lost sight of our reasons to praise the Lord,
when the situations of life seem to overwhelm us. As believers, we know we
should be praising our Lord, but our praises are distracted, not whole-hearted
and sincere.
But
the writer in this psalm is bubbling with praise. The call to praise is
directed to every created being. The heavenly host offer continuous praise to
the God of heaven and earth. It is not an effort, but the reaction to the
majesty and splendor of the LORD.
The
praise does not stop in heaven; in fact, all nature is praising the LORD.
Psalm
148:3-6
Praise
him, sun and moon,
praise
him, all you shining stars!
Praise
him, you highest heavens,
and
you waters above the heavens!
Let
them praise the name of the LORD!
For
he commanded and they were created.
And
he established them forever and ever;
he
gave a decree, and it shall not pass away.
The
laws of nature are continuously promoting the majesty of the creator of the
universe. Everything was created perfectly by God, and its existence, perfection,
and order is a continuous praise to God. Nothing came to be by its own
volition, but everything came through the spoken word of its Creator and Lord.
Everything functions because of God’s perfect sustaining power. We also are able
to function in this world because we can rely on God’s decrees continuing
forever and ever.
Psalm
148:9-12
Mountains
and all hills,
fruit
trees and all cedars!
Beasts
and all livestock,
creeping
things and flying birds!
Kings
of the earth and all peoples,
princes
and all rulers of the earth!
Young
men and maidens together,
old
men and children!
Animated
and unanimated things, animals and people, young and old, famous and ordinary, rich
and poor: all have been created by the careful work of God.
Psalm
148:13-14
Let
them praise the name of the LORD,
for
his name alone is exalted;
his
majesty is above earth and heaven.
He
has raised up a horn for his people,
praise
for all his saints,
for
the people of Israel who are near to him.
Praise
the LORD!
Israel
and all God’s saints are called to praise the LORD. Man is commanded to exalt
only Him, for He alone is worthy to be praised. He is above all things; His
decrees and will are not tied to circumstances or people. They are the result
of His careful planning.
There
will come a day when every creature will be forced to bow down and recognize
the majesty of God. In the world today, we witness the reality that many people
are bent on raising themselves to the place of God. They praise the creatures
instead of the Creator. But those who are His, who have been set apart and are
near Him have no excuse, they must praise Him. Often, I think I have the
right to decide what is best for me, to require that my life have the comforts
I prefer, that situations meet my expectations, that people elevate me to my
desired significance. And then my expectations of God are self-centered, and I
tell myself that my lack of praise for
God is only my reaction to external events, when it’s actually the result of
inward sin.
My
reflection on this psalm has taught me that not only my actions need to change,
but my heart also needs to be corrected. I am saddened by the way my lack of
praise exposes my lack of love for God and my overwhelming love for self.
Worship
and praise in not something we only do on Sunday, but are rather the expressions
of our daily love for God. I am grateful that God uses the Holy Spirit and His
Word and His people to produce praise in us. May God help us to look to God not
for a change of our circumstances, but for a change of our hearts, when we are
not praising the LORD the way we ought to do.
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