Psalm 148:1-14 NKJV
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 hosts!
3 Praise Him, sun and moon;
Praise Him, all you stars of light!
4 Praise Him, you heavens of 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 also established them forever and ever;
He made a decree which shall not pass away.
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
You great sea creatures and all the depths;
8 Fire and hail, snow and clouds;
Stormy wind, fulfilling His word;
9 Mountains and all hills;
Fruitful trees and all cedars;
10 Beasts and all cattle;
Creeping things and flying fowl;
11 Kings of the earth and all peoples;
Princes and all judges of the earth;
12 Both young men and maidens;
Old men and children.
13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
For His name alone is exalted;
His glory is above the earth and heaven.
14 And He has exalted the horn of His people,
The praise of all His saints—
Of the children of Israel,
A people near to Him.
Praise the Lord!
Twelve times in this Psalm the Psalmist calls upon God’s people to praise Him. Twelve—one for each of the tribes of Israel, one for each of the apostles whom the Lord would call. Twelve is the number associated with the whole Church of God. The whole Church is encouraged to praise.
Actually, the praise is to come from even beyond the bounds of the Church. The Psalmist focuses first on the heavens, both the spiritual realm where the saints and angels dwell and the physical realm where the heavenly bodies hang. Saints and angels are called upon to praise their God. Even the voiceless heavenly bodies are to praise the Lord who hung them in space, who gave them their being and their purpose. Indeed, the fulfillment of their purpose is their praise as they declare the glory of God by their very existence.
The “waters above the heavens” are a reference to Genesis 1:7, when God stretched out the heavens to divide the waters left behind on the earth from the waters that He placed “above the heavens,” forming what sounds like a watery boundary at the edges of the universe. The fact that such waters have not yet been discovered by man is merely another reason for us to praise the Lord, whose understanding of the universe far surpasses man’s understanding, and who is to be praised all the way out to the edges of the creation.
The Psalmist then calls upon the earth and everything in it to praise the Lord, from the various kinds of living creatures, to the various wonders of nature, to the various classes of men. All, all, all owe the Lord their wonder, awe, thanks and praise, most of all because of how He raised up the people of Israel, and through them Christ the Redeemer, and through Christ the whole Church in heaven and on earth, so that we may outlast even the heavens and the earth and dwell with Him forever in glory everlasting.
Let us pray: We join all creation and the whole Church in praising Your name, O Lord, our God, for You alone—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—are worthy to be praised. Amen.