Psalm 150
The
book of Psalms begins by giving us a metaphor for living life right, living
life in the goodness of God, and shows us that lives deeply rooted in God, in Holy
Scriptures, in the Psalms themselves are like trees planted near a stream.
Their roots run deep, and they grow strong. The Psalms begin by encouraging us
to be like these trees and tells us that the stream we are planted near is the
Psalms themselves the nourishment we get from them will help us grow tall and
strong.
We
began with that first Psalm and now eight weeks later we end with the final
Psalm. Now that we have wandered through a handful of the 150 Psalms found in
this book, we have rejoiced with the Psalmist, wept with the Psalmist or
perhaps he wept with us. He called for us trust and for us to give thanks, and
now in the final Psalm he calls for us to give Praise to God.
The
Psalmist in this passage proves to be a good first year journalism student. He
answers almost all of the important questions: “Who?”, “What?”, “When?”, “Why?”,
and “How?” Although he does not answer them in the traditional order. He begins
with, “What?” And the answer to “what?” is in the very first sentence, “Praise
the Lord.” That is all he is asking, for us to give praise to God.
He
then moves on to answer the question, “Where?” Where are to praise the Lord.
The literal answer to that question is, “in his sanctuary,” and “in his
firmament.” That seems pretty straight forward, but the Psalms are poetic in
nature and do always use straight forward language to portray what it is they
are trying to say. The first place we are called to praise God is in his
sanctuary, the traditional place of worship here in earth, the second place
listed is in the “firmament.” We like to simplistically think of the ancients
believing in a three story universe, with the earth in the center, the heavens,
the place where God resided above and the place where the dead reside; below.
But the people of the ancient near east actually believed in a world that was
much more complicated than that. The universe was a sphere with waters that
surrounded it all; often referred to as the waters above and the waters, below.
The earth was in the center and was the place where humans resided. The place
of the dead, the Pit or Sheol was beneath the crust of the earth. Below the
waters above, inside the sphere of the universe are the lights of the sky, the
Sun, the Moon and the stars. Below that is a dome like thing with holes in it
that allows the lights of the sky to shine through. It covers the earth like an
upturned bowl, this is called the Firmament, which is sometimes this Hebrew
word is translated “the heavens” in English, and was often believed to be the
place where the gods resided. The people of God often spoke of God living in
the heavens, in the sky dome.
So
the Psalmist is calling God to be praised in the firmament, in the place where
God resides, and in his sanctuary, here on earth. In other words the Psalmist
is calling for God to be praised in heaven and on earth; everywhere. This is
another of saying that there is no place where the praise of God should not
occur.
But
why is God to be praised? What warrants this action? God is to be praised
because of “his mighty deeds” and because of “his surpassing greatness.” Praise
God for what God has done and because God's greatness is above all others. God has done amazing things. We know of the
things God has done throughout history. We know how God acted on behalf of
people of God. God brought the Israelites up out of Egypt; God allowed them to
pass through the Red sea, led them through the desert and made a home for them
in the promise land. But God has also worked on your behalf, on my behalf. God
has done amazing things in the lives of people we know and people we don't
know, in events of which we have heard and of which we may never hear. God is
at work doing amazing things in this world and for this God is to be praised.
But
not only should God be praised for what
God has done, but God should be praised for who God is. God is great. God's
greatness is all surpassing, it is above and beyond all other greatness that
has ever been known, or will ever be known. God is great because God is good,
God is holy, all that good is full of righteousness, and rightness, is here on
earth because of God. God deserves to be praised because all that is good, all
that is right, all that is beautiful, that is holy in this world is a reflection
of who God is. God's good and holy finger prints are all over this world,
because it is God's creation. We see it all around us. We see it in our
everyday lives. We see it in the lives of our loved ones; in the joy of a small
child at play and in the keen smile of an aged saint. We see it in the look a
loving mother as she nurses her new born babe and in a devoted father as he
guides that child through and important milestone. We see it in the kindness of a stranger
holding a door for the person behind them. The fingerprints of God's love, of
God's holiness, righteousness, goodness and greatness hems us in on all sides.
The greatness of God is the one thing on this earth from which we are unable to
run. God is great and because of that
greatness, God deserves to be praised.
Then
the Psalmist begins to tell us about how it is we are to praise God. The
instruction to praise is succinct. When he tells us where and why, he is
poetic, yet short and sweet in his explanation. But when he gets to the “how”,
he gets down right loquacious. How are we to praise God? With a trumpet, with a
lute and a harp, with tambourine and dance, with strings and pipe, with both
clanging symbols and clashing symbols.
We are to praise God with every instrument we of which we can think and
in every way we know how, and if we cannot figure out an elegant or melodic way
to do it, clash some symbols, clang some symbols, and simply make a loud noise
of praise. Praise God in any and every way possible. There is no wrong way to
praise, as long as you praise God.
The
last question the Psalmist answers is, “Who?” Who is to worship God because of
who God is, everywhere, in every way possible? Everything that breathes. That
is everyone. Everyone who is alive breathes and if you are breathing, praise
God. The call to give God praise does not exclude anyone, anywhere. The
invitation extends to all people everywhere.
Wrapped
up in the answer of, “Who is to praise God?” is the answer to the final
question, “When?” When are we to praise God? The Psalmist says if you are
breathing praise God. So when are we to praise God? As long as we have breath,
as long as we are breathing, as long as we are alive, praise God. There is no
time throughout our whole life we are to not praise God. Praise the Lord,
everywhere, at all times, in every way possible because God is great, because
God has done mighty things in our lives, in the lives of those we love, in the
lives of people all over the earth throughout history. Praise the Lord. Praise
the Lord.
The
Psalmist ends the book with a call for Praise. He gives us a treatise on
praise, telling us who, what, when, why, and how to praise God. Through the
Psalms the Psalmist gives words to all aspects of our lives. He gives us words
for our times of joy, our times of sorrow, our times of questioning God and our
times of trusting God. The Psalms give words to all of life's major events,
gives words to all the things we might possible say to God and then he ends the
book reminding us that we are too praise God through it all. Praise god through
the joy, through the sorrow, through the times of questioning and through the
times of trust. No matter what is going on, at all times, in all circumstances,
praise the Lord.
The
Psalms are a book of praise; they show us how to give praise to God throughout
life. It gives examples of what that looks like at all times, in all of life's
events. The Psalmist gives us the words, speaks aloud the words that so often
lay deep in our hearts, in all the
moments of life. They say the things we want to say and often times the things
we do not dare to sa
y, but even when they call out in pain, even when they
blame God for our grief and our sorrow,
they show us how to praise God at all times. So after showing us, and
giving us the words for it all through it all, the book ends by reminding us to
give praise, by calling us to praise God at all times, everywhere, in every way
possible.
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