Praise Befits Yahweh

The next few weeks, we would like to take a closer look at the Psalms, namely because the emphasis of our worship on a given Sunday is directed toward the contents of the Psalms. These Psalms have been a great encouragement as they have not only informed us on what we should worship God about but also how we should worship God. These are are precious words that are given to direct our hearts and minds and emotions to trust the living God no matter what our life circumstances present.

So if we are to worship God, singing songs from the Psalms, mediating on these Psalms through the week and then sharing in testimony to others of what the Psalms have instructed us in, Pastor and I believed it necessary that we also for a few weeks should make the Psalms the emphasis of our preaching. To provide you a model of how to dig deep into the Psalms and use it to live lives glorifying to God. So we will take the next 3 weeks to do that, before Pastor returns to the book of 1 Thessalonians.

Before we dive right into the Psalm of the day. Let’s first stop to consider the book as a whole. What are the Psalms? How should we study the Psalms? And what is the purpose of the book of Psalms?

Firstly note, that the Psalms are a collection of prayers, poems, and hymns that focus the worshipper’s thoughts on God in praise and adoration. Praise is a very big theme of the Psalms. In fact, the hebrew name for the entire collection of Psalms is entitled “Praises”. Later when the rabbis spoke of it in the New Testament era, they designated this collection as “The Book of Praises”. Speaking of books, there are actually five books within the Psalms. Each one ends with a doxology of sorts. Ps. 41:13

Psalm 41:13 ESV

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen.

See also 72:18-20, 89:52, 106:48, 150:6.

It’s interesting to note, that these prayers, poems, and hymns were all meant to be sung… How do we know that. The Greek verb from which the noun “psalms” comes basically denotes the “plucking or twanging of strings,” so that an association with musical accompaniment is implied. Therefore, it is often been called “Israel’s Hymnbook”, “the divine hymnbook” “the songbook of the early church”. But how did these selected songs come to be. There are at least 7 composers that we can identify. David wrote the most with around 75 of the 150 psalms, the sons of Korah contributed 12ish, Asaph 10, Moses, Solomon, Heman, Ethan, all contributed. With this list of authors, we do have a large number of Psalms that never specify any person as author its author. Considering these authors, it is noteworthy that many of these people served as priests and Levites who were responsible for providing music for the gathered people during David’s reign.

So how did they chose which songs should be included. Clearly these authors wrote far more songs than just what is kept in this collection. For that, I am unable to give a definitive answer. All I can say is that it is the same way God brought about the canon of scripture and preserved it to this day. Scripture is able to defend itself and it has spoken clearly that God has and will preserve His word.

Isaiah 40:8 ESV

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.

Matthew 24:35 ESV

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

And that’s not just for the big stuff, the major ideas and topics. It’s for every little piece. Jesus promises this further in Matthew 5:18

Matthew 5:18 CSB

For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or one stroke of a letter will pass away from the law until all things are accomplished.

I want you also to recognize that the 150 Psalms that we have today aren’t just inspired in that they are part of the selected songs of God, but that they are inspired in the way they were arranged. Think about it. Someone or someones I should say, under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, selected the collection of Songs for the book of Psalms. Separated them into 5 books and placed them within each book exactly where they should belong. To us it might seem like each of these Psalms are unrelated. But to the men that organized them into books, they were not. Take for example, Psalm 23, its is a hymn of Praise and comfort, then we have Psalm 24, a royal Psalm speaking of Christ’s kingship and authority. Following that, Psalm 25, a lament Psalm of utter despair and confession. Unrelated to us, but intentional by them. This arrangement of the Psalms has for a low period of time snatched men’s thoughts up. Men like Gregory of Nyssa in the 4th century devoted much time writing about “an approach to the systematic observation of the concepts concerning the Psalter in its totality”.

It is interesting that the early Church leaders spent time trying to unlock the understanding of the Psalms arrangement. But later generations focus so little on it. Scott Anoil a pastor and writer at G3 ministries elaborates on this in an article he wrote about to the topic unsung songs: Why don’t we sing Psalms anymore.” In the article, he writes

This pursuit of understanding the deliberate purpose and arrangement of the psalms among Christians was derailed in the twentieth century, largely as a result of Hermann Gunkel’s approach to the psalms that focused on their genre. This individualized—and, in many ways, sterilized—the psalms.

Don’t get me wrong—there is certainly much profit to reading and meditating upon one psalm for its own sake; most of the psalms were written as individual compositions, and each psalm can stand on its own. However, as Peter Gentry notes, “What is authoritative as inspired Scripture is the canonical text.” In other words, God’s intention was not simply for us to have the psalms—he intends for us to have the psalms in a particular arrangement.

I agree with James Hamilton when he says, “I would thus attribute inspiration not only to the individual authors of each psalm but also to the editor(s)/anthologist(s) who put the book of Psalms into its canonical form.” Again, reading individual psalms on their own has great profit, but failing to recognize the inspired, authoritative canonical shape of the psalter is one factor, I believe, that has allowed Christians to gravitate toward a relative few psalms instead of recognizing the value of all of them.

With this in mind, I want to be clear that it is not wrong to identify Psalms by their genres. Or to try and group them that way. We just need to be mindful that to be most impacted by the text, we need to approach them the way they were intended to be read. Not simply hovering over the ones we like or feel connected to. But letting the way they were arranged, lead us into truth.

Major themes of Psalms do arise. We might call them genres. Detroit theological seminary list them like this. Lament, Praise, Thanksgiving, Kingship & Covenant, Songs of Trust, and Wisdom Psalms. Others might use different words like Royal Psalms or Hymns instead of praises. Others break the genres down into smaller genres or mixed type of genres. Like calling out the imprecatory psalms or the penitential psalms instead of just including them with lament Psalms. Either way, there is no definitive list but it is helpful to note the writing styles and substance.

As we approach the topic of today, we note that today we are looking at a Psalm of Praise. In fact, this psalm of praise is part of a larger series of praise. The whole Psalm isn’t a mixed bag of nuts. There are clusters of psalms, such as 1) those drawn together by an association with an individual or group (e.g., “The sons of Korah,” are arranged together back to back staring in chapter Pss. 42–49; same with Asaph, Pss. 73–83), 2) there are also groups of psalms dedicated to a particular function (e.g., “Songs of ascents” which are songs written to be sung by Jewish worshippers on their way to Jerusalem, these start in 120–134), or those devoted explicitly to worship in Praise. Which is where we begin today.

Approaching our text in chapter 148, we see the phrase “praise the Lord.” This isn’t the first place you would see a chapter begin that way. chapter 146 begins the exact same way with the phrase, “Praise the Lord”. Then the following 4 chapters in like manner, begin with the exact same phrase. Praise the Lord. This indicates that this is a purposeful collection of praises. Inspired to be the final/climatic ending of the book of Psalms. Divinely arranged as the ultimate end of all human and all created purpose. It’s where every God-ward thought lead us to.

Application already...

If we are going to think about God in & through the way He has revealed himself, it always ends with praise.

But what is praise?

*Praise is the truthful acknowledgment of the righteous acts of another.

Since God has done many wonderful deeds, he is worthy of much praise.

You could say that it is closely intertwined with thanksgiving as we offer back to God appreciation/thankfulness for His mighty works on our behalf. But it doesn’t only have to be limited to how it affects us.

Praise is a part of worship. Worship is as we have stated before is the adoring response of all that I am to all that God is. Said another way, worship is the art of losing self in the adoration of another. It’s getting at the heart of who we are. Worship is an entire lifestyle, not just an occasional activity. Uniquely, praise is always described in the Bible as joyful, exuberant, boisterous, and uninhibited. Worship is different in that worship isn’t always loud, joyful, or exuberant. Psalm 95:6

Psalm 95:6 ESV

Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!

Humility, contrition, reverence, conviction are some of the ways we approach God in worship. So as we approach God, we must both approach with with loud praise (singing to God the loudest praise as our dear hymn states) as part of our act of spiritual worship.

So consider Psalms 148 and how Praise befits Our Lord, Yahweh.

Psalm 148:1–6 ESV

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights! Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his hosts! 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.

I. Praise of Yahweh befits the Heavens

A. Those Who Praise the Lord in the Heavens

1. His Angels & His Hosts

The command is given that angels should praise the Lord. Is that something angels are known to do. Revelation 4:8

Revelation 4:8 ESV

And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”

The description of the heavenly throne describes these magnificient beings who cry out Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty. What we might perhaps miss in this section of scriptures is the allotment of time given to their crying out. How long do they speaking these words. Day and Night, never ceasing to say. Why is it that they don’t stop. These angels who are full of eyes all around, have the best seat at beholding all the glory of God. And because of the great spendor of all that God is, it they are captivated, mesmerized, fixated on all that God is. Do you suppose for one second, anything else could grab there gaze away from something more splendid. We humans have a problem with this. You might of even be thinking about a meme that has gone around for sometime now. Our gazed is settled on something we find beautiful only until something more beautiful walks by and turns our heads. Is there anything more beautiful than God that would cause these angels to turn their heads. There is NOT!

So I have a question for you, if the angels who have the greatest view of God, never cease to praise Him, what should that inform us about ourselves?

We don’t praise Him enough because we don’t view Him highly enough because we don’t think about Him enough or deeply enough. I’ll show you another example of scripture of this very topic.

Isaiah 6:1

God needed to get His people’s attention and draw them back into a right relationship with Himself. For that task, He chose the prophet Isaiah to speak on His behalf. But before Isaiah could be used to prophesy to a sinful nation, God first needed to reveal to Isaiah the depth of his own uncleanness. Here’s Isaiah’s account of the experience:

Isaiah 6:1–3 ESV

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”

What are the Seraphim?

From my understanding

“Seraphim are super-natural beings who were created by God to serve and worship. These six-winged angelic creatures continually attend God at His throne. Each set of the seraphim’s wings serves a different purpose; one set covers the face, denoting reverence and awe and acts as protection from the radiance of God’s glory—another set of wings is used for flying, to aid in their swift servitude—and the third set is used to cover the seraphim’s feet so that they can humbly conceal their unworthiness, while in God’s holy presence”

The seraphim’s revelation of God’s holiness elicited a physical reaction from everything around them. Look at verse 4-5. Isaiah 6:4-5

Isaiah 6:4–5 ESV

And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

Not even the earth could remain still at such a proclamation. At the sound of the seraphim’s collective voice, the doorposts and thresholds shook, the entire temple filled with smoke—and Isaiah was undone.

The seraphim helped Isaiah see the holiness of God in such a way that it exposed the deepest, darkest places of his own heart and woke him up to the stark reality of his own inadequacy. But these mighty servants of God didn’t leave Isaiah in his state of desperation. Upon hearing Isaiah’s confession, one of the seraphim removed a live coal from the altar of God, touched Isaiah’s mouth with it, and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” The seraphim were a powerful tool in God’s hand, to reveal His transformative glory.

This revelation of God empowered and motivated Isaiah then to faithful service. “Here Am I, send me.”

Let’s go back again to the angels described in this passage and in Revelation 4.

These angels, or seraphim, have six wings, two each for flying, covering their faces, and covering their feet. That they must cover their faces fits well with the Bible's description of God's glory as a blinding light (Matt. 17:1–3; Acts 9:1–9; Rev. 1:16)—even the angels cannot look directly on our Creator. Thus we see that while the Lord and His angels are both supernatural beings, God remains in a class entirely distinct from the angels. The seraphim who worship Him in heaven have never sinned; nevertheless, they cannot look on God directly. They must protect their eyes from a direct apprehension of the Lord's transcendent purity or they will be blinded by the light of His majestic glory.

This isn’t just a few angels that praise and adore Him. All his hosts praise and adore Him. And his angels are countless. Hebrews 12:2

Hebrews 12:22 ESV

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering,

When we think of the kings and emporers of the past. What was their strength measured by? The strength and number of their army. Alexander the Great, Attila the Hun, William the Conqueror… all of these men known for their great power due to their large armies. Yet, their large armies pale in comparison to the innumerable host of heavens. And all these hosts adoring praise and worship the greatest of all rulers, the Lord God Almighty.

To know truly God, is to praise and adore Him.

Who else does scripture say praise God?

2. The Celestial Creations

Sun, Moon, and stars all praise the Lord? How can these inanimate objects praise God?

By the glory they reveal about their creator. These things that are incredibly powerful in their own right, vast and incredible. The sun which 93 million miles away from the earth is so hot that we feel the heat and see the light even from that distance. The stars, countless, the universe, never ending. Just in our galaxy alone, the milky way, there is estimated to be between 100 to 400 billion stars. That alone is breathtaking, but then to realize that there are 2 trillion observable galaxies out there, and many more never discovered. Yet they all speak to a higher authority that put them in perfect place. So they would function according to a grand design. Even ever a slight miscalculation or slight change would have drastic ramifications. Think of if the earth were just a little closer or a little further away from the sun. We would be either fried or frozen. All of this though is the product of our perfect creator.

So when we consider these incredible thoughts, what should we think?

The heavens declare the glory of God...

As we ponder that truth, it should then drive us to sing as David did in...

Psalm 8:3–9 ESV

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

When David beheld the creation of the world, it brought him to worship! He found himself contemplating the power of God yet also seeing love of God, the gifts of God, the goodness and kindness of God toward man. Even though they are insignificant beings. Lower than all His heavenly beings, yet crowning them with glory even though we have done absolutely nothing to deserve it. He set His affections on us. Though there is nothing desirable about us.

That’s what these were created for. But how often do we stop and look at creation this way. Perhaps part of the reason we fail to worship, is that we fail to slow down and observe.

3. The Sky & Its Wonders

Psalm 19:1 ESV

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

Consider this… Two things have throughout history been the objects of mens worship and adoration. Angels and the stars. Looking to these things for guidance and history. We have a fascination with these. It doesn’t just come in the form of physics and mysticism.

It even appears in kids stuff… Movie Wish had alot to do with that. “So I look up to the stars to guide me.” It’s even more appaulling in the song “I’m a star.” But both of those trace their idea from the very early disney days, “when you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are, when you wish upon a star, your dreams come true.” Even then, where is it asking people to look for help from. The stars.

It’s the same with angels. Yet this psalm with one stroke of divine wording sweeps away such foolish thinking to call all being in worship of God. Who are angels. Should they be praised… no.

In fact, look how the angels respond when men try to worship them.

Revelation 22:8–9 ESV

I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”

Becareful in your fascination of these things. If they do not increase your love and adoration of God, then these things have become corrupted in your minds as idols and are being hijacked in your mind from what they were designed to do. Sing the Praises of God.

Isn’t that what we see in the next verses...

B. The Reason They Praise

God commanded and they were created. He decreed and it was so. This decree is like wishful thinking, or optional follow through. It isn’t even like business decisions or vacation planning. It’s even greater than decrees of kings and authorities because as opposed to theirs, God’s decrees are absolute. Nothing and no one can stop them. This is what God’s word says about God’s decrees.

Isaiah 55:11 ESV

so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Creation, covenants, prophetic declarations, judgement, and salvation are all matters in which God has made decrees and they will come to pass. Daniel 4:35

Daniel 4:35 ESV

all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”

Im most thankful for this in His salvation of men. In salvation, God didn’t just make it possible that some people will be saved. God actively participated in the salvation of souls. He didn’t just do His part and then turn it over to us to maybe get it right overwise I am certain I would I messed it up. He ensured that He would save a people for His name. That He would bring many sons to glory. John 6:37 is just one of the many proofs of this.

John 6:37 ESV

All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

All this is meant to be to give us reason to praise the Lord.

II. Praise of Yahweh befits the Earth

A. Those Who Praise the Lord on Earth

1. Massive Sea Creatures & Those in Mysterious Depths

2. Torrential Storm & Beautiful Snow

Psalm 148:8 ESV

fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind fulfilling his word!

v.8- fulfilling His Word....

Some view God as just a passive spectator of the events of this world. From what I see, God is not that but an active participant. Look at how the Psalmists describe God’s control over the weather.

Psalm 107:25 ESV

For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea.

3. Landscapes & Greenery

Luke 19:37–40 ESV

As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

4. All Creatures Large and Minuscule

Not just the heavens declare God’s glory, that is they speak praise of Him.… but the earth also.

Psalm 104:24–25 ESV

O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. Here is the sea, great and wide, which teems with creatures innumerable, living things both small and great.

5. Peoples from the Greatest to the Least

Daniel 2:21 ESV

He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding;

This passage is even more remarkable when you see the context in which it was written. Nebuchadnezzar had a dream of a statue with various stages of iron, brass, silver, and gold. Each of these sections resembled the various world powers as Daniel revealed.

Daniel 2:37–39 ESV

You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory, and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the children of man, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all—you are the head of gold. Another kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you, and yet a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth.

But yet these kingdoms will be all vanquished to be made ready for a kingdom that will last forever.

Daniel 2:34–35 ESV

As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

Daniel 2:44 ESV

And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever,

God has made that His decree. All peoples will praise Him. Though many do not do this today. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

That is power! That is our God!

B. The Reason They Praise

They praise Him for His name alone. We could go in and see the significance of the name yahweh and why that is worthy in itself of praise. But I want to spend the rest of our time focusing on the last verse… 14.… and this phrase “He has raised up a horn for his people.”

What is this horn that we are talking about?

The horn is majorly significant to the life of a Jewish person for it was apart of their regular worship and gave them shelter or asylum.

1 Kings 1:50–53 ESV

And Adonijah feared Solomon. So he arose and went and took hold of the horns of the altar. Then it was told Solomon, “Behold, Adonijah fears King Solomon, for behold, he has laid hold of the horns of the altar, saying, ‘Let King Solomon swear to me first that he will not put his servant to death with the sword.’ ” And Solomon said, “If he will show himself a worthy man, not one of his hairs shall fall to the earth, but if wickedness is found in him, he shall die.” So King Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and paid homage to King Solomon, and Solomon said to him, “Go to your house.”

The horns of the altar… when God instructed the Israelities to build the build and the altar. He was very specific in how all of these were made. On the four corners of the altar, God told the Israelites to put horns, one for each corner. What was their purpose?

Psalm 118:27 ESV

The Lord is God, and he has made his light to shine upon us. Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the altar!

After the priest slaughtered the sacrificial animal on the altar, he smeared its blood on all four horns. Then they tied the animal down using a rope or cord to hold it in place to sacrifice it. Everything YHVH had them do had some significance. And the significance of that is messianic to our great sacrifice that would be tied to a tree.

But the significance of horn may not end there. Qeren is the Hebrew word for horn and like most Hebrew words, it has more than one meaning. It can mean an instrument, rays of light, and most obvious, an animal horn, which signified strength.

Most of us have seen a buck with antlers. The antlers are equivalent to its horns. When an eight or more-point antler rack circles the head of a deer, it appears as its crown. The more points a buck has not only represents its age but adds to its majesty and strength. So qeren also signifies strength.

Our English word for crown comes from the word qeren. The horns on the altar represented the design of a crown. Jeff A. Benner says, “In ancient times, a crown was made of “horns” and the pointed tips of the crowns we are familiar with today represent those horns.”

The Roman guards pressed the thorny crown onto Jesus’ head to both torture Him and mimic His rightful kingly title. But we see in the book of Revelation that Jesus wears many crowns because He is the king.

“Then I saw heaven opened and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself” (Revelation 19:11-12 ESV, emphasis added).

Horns mentioned in Scripture have to do with power, similar to the king who wears a crown. Daniel 7, 8, and Revelation 17:12 refer to horns as the antichrist and those like him who rose in power and authority against YHVH and His people.

However, in Psalm 18:2 and Luke 1:68-69, we read that YHVH and Jesus are the horns of salvation. They are the strength and power of our salvation. There is no other way to be saved except by the person of Jesus Christ—His sacrifice provided everything we needed. They horns represent the strength of His salvation. Without it, hope would be lost.

Amos 3:14 ESV

“that on the day I punish Israel for his transgressions, I will punish the altars of Bethel, and the horns of the altar shall be cut off and fall to the ground.

But praise be to God that He raised up a horn for His people. Not just the Israelites of that day but of all people who call on the Lord for salvation. He is there strength and the horn of their salvation.

Earn an accredited degree from Redemption Seminary with Logos.