Psalms 148

Psalms 148

DESCRIPTIVE TITLE

Praise Invoked from All Creation.

ANALYSIS

Stanza I., Psalms 148:1-6, All Things in Heaven called upon to Praise Jehovahfor Reasons Given. Stanza II., Psalms 148:7-14, All Things on Earth, in Like Manner: with a Specification of the Special Mercies and Duties of Israel.

(P.R.I.) Praise ye Yah.

1

Praise ye Yah.[887]

[887] Possibly a repetition of P.R.I. by mistake. But prob. a choir's repetition as suggested in Exposition of previous Psalm.

Praise ye Jehovah from the heavens, praise him in the heights;

2

praise him all ye his messengers,

praise him all ye his hosts;[888]

[888] So read in cod. wh. write host (sing.). Some cod. both read and write hosts (pl.)Gn.

3

praise him sun and moon,

praise him all ye stars of light;

4

praise him ye heavens of heavens,

and ye waters above the heavens:

5

Let them praise the name of Jehovah,

for he commanded and they were created;

6

And he stationed them perpetually to the ages,

a statute he gave and they do not transgress.

7

Praise ye Jehovah from the earth:

sea-monsters[889] and all resounding deeps;

[889] DragonsBr.

8

fire and hail snow and vapour,[890]

[890] Or steam, smoke (Genesis 19:28, Psalms 119:83), alluding probably to phenomena accompanying a thunderstorm in mountain-regionsDr.

blast of tempest executing his word;

9

ye mountains and all hills,

fruit-trees and all cedars;

10

thou wild beast and all cattle,

crawling creature and bird of wing;

11

kings of earth and all peoples,

rulers and all judges of earth;

12

young men yea even maidens,[891]

[891] Or: virgins.

old men together with children:

13

Let them praise the name of Jehovah,

for exalted is his name alone,

his majesty is over earth and heavens;

14

And he hath uplifted a horn for his people,

a theme of praise for all his men of kindness,
for the sons of Israel a people near him.

(Nm.)[892]

[892] See Exposition of 147.

PARAPHRASE

Psalms 148

Praise the Lord, O heavens! Praise Him from the skies!
2 Praise Him, all angels, all the armies of heaven.
3 Praise Him sun and moon, and all you twinkling stars.
4 Praise Him, skies above. Praise Him, vapors high above the clouds.
5 Let everything He has made give praise to Him! For He issued His command, and they came into being;
6 He established them forever and forever. His orders will never be revoked.
7 And praise Him down here on earth, you creatures of the ocean depths.
8 Let fire and hail, snow, rain, wind and weather, all obey.
9 Let the mountains and hills, the fruit trees and cedars,
10 The wild animals and cattle, the snakes and birds,
11 The kings and all the people, with their rulers and their judges,
12 Young men and maidens, old men and children
13 All praise the Lord together. For He alone is worthy. His glory is far greater than all of earth and heaven.
14 He has made His people strong, honoring His godly onesthe people of Israel, the people closest to Him.

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Hallelujas! Yes, praise the Lord!

EXPOSITION

This psalm is remarkable for its universal sweep, its unrivalled grandeur, and its national application. With clearly marked consecutiveness, it appeals first to the heavens (Psalms 148:1) and then to the earth (Psalms 148:7). In the fewest possible words it touches upon all things and beings above and below: poetically investing things with the intelligence of persons, provoking the interesting inquiry how this feature of the psalm is meant to be understood. And yet it finally gravitates to Israel, as the appointed (earthly) leader in the praises of the universe. The filling in of this outline gives occasion for many felicities of order and grouping: the order observed, beginning with the heavens and then descending to the earth, by a reverse movement, ascends again from the earth to the heavens (Psalms 148:13). The grouping shows such subtle methods assetting a species first, i.e., messengers (Psalms 148:2 a), a species of heavenly intelligences, and then hosts (Psalms 148:2 b), including both messengers and attendants (Psalms 103:20-21); and such delightful juxtapositions as young men and maidens, (Psalms 148:12 a) and such charming contrasts as old men and children (Psalms 148:12 b): in the doing of which, resorting to the refinements of a passing compliment to maidenly modesty, by the delicate touch of a yea even; as much as to suggest that, though maidens may characteristically oft remain silent, yet, when Jehovah's praises call on them to join, they need not hesitate to respond; and by the equally delicate together with of the next line, which has the effect of summoning groups of little ones to their grandsires-' knees. Both order and grouping are honoured by the way in which the breathless enumerations of objects in heaven and on earth are severally followed by deliberately drawn-out and restful reasons why those invoked should respond in praise. In the closing of the first stanza, the permanence of law is made prominent: he commandedhe stationeda statute he gave, leading up to the significant fact, so beneficent in its resultsthey do not transgress. Alas for all concerned, if they did! So used as we are to the beneficent regularities of nature that our minds instinctively shrink from the unimaginable crudities and endless mishaps of chance worlds. They do not transgress! And so the sun knows the place (and the time) of his going into the inch and to the moment; or, if he does not know, we know, for him and of him, that he will not transgress. But when we make the rapid run of the second stanza from monsters to men, we begin to catch glimpses of a still softer light. We are, doubtless, still under the reign of law; but the law is becoming elevated from the law that controls matter to the law that governs mind. And mind perceives the name and fame of Jehovah. The atmosphere in which mind lives is appreciative knowledge. No knowledge in the creature: no name for the Creator. No eye to see: no glory seen, no praise forthcoming: no reciprocal love.

But how of created things that are not endowed with mind? Can they too praise? Yea, in their own way. Unconsciously; or, at best, half-consciously: dependent on Man to interpret their sighings and their songs. As the song of the bird is to the songster's uncomprehended ecstasy, so is the intelligent and sympathetic adoration of man to the instinctive impulse of the bird: its expression and interpretation.

This intimate relation between man who knows Jehovah's name and the creatures beneath him whoso far as we can tellknow it not, is deep-seated in the divinely appointed nature of things. As we voice their joys, they share our sorrows. They not only grow and sing, but they also shudder and groan. The sparrow falls dead, leaving its unprotected brood to perish; but not without our Father. And he has appointed that all creationwhich at present is sighing together and travailing-in-birth throes together until the presentshall, at the manifestation of the sons of God, be freed from the bondage of the decay into (not quite the glory, but) the freedom of the glory of the sons of God (Romans 8:19-21). But everything in its own order: the Sons of God first, and creation afterwards. Everything in its own order: Israel first, and the nations afterwards. Hence, not by lapse or collapse, this magnificent psalm finds its climax in ISRAEL: prophetically declaring that Israel's God hath uplifted a horn for his people, (which constitutes) a theme of praise for all hishasidhimhis men of kindness; the Levites, first; then, as represented by them, all Jehovah's ideal Israelfor the real will yet be transfigured into the ideala people near him, and through whom he can act on the nations (Cp. Intro., Chap. III., Kindness).

Meanwhile, where is the Church? Is that forgotten? Nay: but, throwing our minds back into the time and atmosphere of these songs of Israel before we give our answer, we reply: The Church is at present hidden in God; hidden away from the ages and the generations (Ephesians 3); and, therefore, hidden away from the writers of these psalms. And woe betide us if we exegetically call the Church out of its divine concealment before its time. The presumption of so doing will be avenged at our handsno later on than in the very next psalm (Cp. Intro., Chap. III., Kingdom).

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1.

All creation is called upon to express thanks and wonder at the goodness and greatness of our God. Is it happening? Discuss.

2.

God has commanded, stationed, the physical creation. How did it (has it) responded? What lesson for us?

3.

We could not imagine a world of chance and yet this is very much what the evolutionary concept of creation would ask us to believe. Discuss.

4.

The law of the mind is involved in the second stanza of this psalm. Discuss.

5.

There will come a time when all creation will be delivered from the limitations now upon it. Discuss cf. Romans 8:10-21.