Psa 148:1-5 “Praise ye the Lord” – Part 1

[Study Aired April 2, 2020]

Psa 148:1  Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the LORD from the heavens: praise him in the heights. 
Psa 148:2  Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts. 
Psa 148:3  Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light. 
Psa 148:4  Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens. 
Psa 148:5  Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created. 

Praising God is another way of saying we give glory to God, and glory is an ongoing is-was-and-will-be event in the lives of those with whom God is working as we go from “glory to glory” or obedience to obedience, glorifying God or praising Him more perfectly every day (Php 2:12-15, 2Pe 1:19, Mat 5:16) with all that we say and do. It is through Christ that we’re given to bring every thought into subjection (2Co 10:5-6), glorifying God through the process. Through Christ we are being set free (Joh 8:36) so that we can endure until the end through Him (Psa 148:1, 2Co 3:18, 1Co 10:31, Mat 24:13, Php 4:13).

2Pe 1:19  We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: [Col 1:27]

Mat 5:16  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Psa 148:1  Praise^H1984 ye the LORD. Praise ye the LORD from the heavens: praise him in the heights.

H1984 BDB Definition:
1) to shine
1a) (Qal) to shine (figuratively of God’s favour)
1b) (Hiphil) to flash forth light
2) to praise, boast, be boastful
2a) (Qal)
2a1) to be boastful
2a2) boastful ones, boasters (participle)
2b) (Piel)
2b1) to praise
2b2) to boast, make a boast
2c) (Pual)
2c1) to be praised, be made praiseworthy, be commended, be worthy of praise
2d) (Hithpael) to boast, glory, make one’s boast
2e) (Poel) to make a fool of, make into a fool
2f) (Hithpoel) to act madly, act like a madman

2Co 3:18  But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

1Co 10:31  Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

God’s elect are those who are “counted worthy to suffer shame for his name” in this age (Mat 10:22) and are “having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled”. There is a spirit of rejoicing and giving praise to God for that knowledge of knowing we are being counted worthy to suffer for Christ, as these following verses demonstrate revealing the patience and faith of the saints which is glorifying God as we bear those stripes of rejection for the world’s sake: (1Pe 4:12-14, Act 5:41, 1Pe 4:13, 1Pe 5:10, Act 16:22-25, Rom 8:18, 1Pe 2:20)

It is the “Fire, and hail; snow, and vapour; stormy wind fulfilling his word” (vs 8) that are governed by God and used to typify His power which judges God’s elect today (1Pe 4:17). He is working everything on the earth and in our heavens to that end, and so we are told “his glory is above the earth [the church] and heaven” (vs 13), meaning he is working it all — the “Fire, and hail [Isa 28:17]; snow, and vapour; stormy wind fulfilling his word” according to the counsel of His will (Eph 1:11) — and it is by God that all things consist, whether that part of His creation is being perfected in this life through judgment or not (Col 1:17, Rom 8:21-28).

Rom 8:21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God [each man in his order 1Co 15:23].
Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. [Eph 1:12]
Rom 8:24  For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Rom 8:25  But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. [Luk 21:19]
Rom 8:26  Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
Rom 8:27  And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. [Rom 5:5]

God’s elect are not separate from His creation being in the world but not of it (Joh 17:15-16, Joh 15:19), and are spoken of in the last verse of this Psalm 148 as those who also give glory to God because he “exalteth the horn of his people“, giving us power to overcome and filling us with praise and thanks for the obedience He is working in our lives, blessing us (1Pe 3:9) to be “a people near unto him“, with the joy of that relationship expressed so well in this earlier Psalm (Psa 126:1-6):

Psa 126:1  A Song of degrees. When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream.
Psa 126:2  Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them.
Psa 126:3  The LORD hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad.
Psa 126:4  Turn again our captivity, O LORD, as the streams in the south.
Psa 126:5  They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. [Col 1:24]
Psa 126:6  He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. [The sheaves explained in Leviticus as being Christ and His Christ mentioned in our last study (Lev 23:10-18)]

It is because of that close proximity, “a people near unto him” (vs 14), we have been blessed to have with God and His Son that we can worship them in spirit and in truth and go “from glory to glory”. It is also our communion in Christ found at the altar which is the cross where we are bound (Psa 118:27) where we will receive that power from on high, expressed as “He also exalteth the horn of his people“(Joh 17:3, Joh 4:23, Heb 10:22-25, Heb 4:16, Heb 10:20, Mat 27:51).

Heb 10:22  Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
Heb 10:23  Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
Heb 10:24  And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
Heb 10:25  Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Heb 4:16  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Heb 10:20  By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; [The new and living way is with the body of Christ his flesh Eph 5:30, Col 1:24].

God’s power changes and establishes us for “ever and ever” (vs 6). God spares nothing for His children (Rom 5:10), and so we see even those who don’t believe and who have been blinded by the god of this world are experiencing that for our sakes as well (2Co 4:4, 2Co 4:15-16). They are holy “the lump also” (Rom 11:16) meaning they are set apart for their specific role that is working together in our heavens for good because of God’s goodness being shown to us in this age (Rom 2:4, Rom 8:28).

Rom 11:16  For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.

2Co 4:15  For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.
2Co 4:16  For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

Rom 2:4  Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

God declares the end from the beginning in this Psalm and uses the heavenly hosts as a type of the elect who praise God, or give glory to God. Just as the physical sun, moon and stars are coursing about in a predestined direction, so the life of God’s children are also being directed and guided by the One through whom all things consists “whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven” (Col 1:17-20, Isa 45:7).

Col 1:18  And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Col 1:19  For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
Col 1:20  And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

Isa 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
Isa 45:8  Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.

As we look at these verses with the inward intent in which they were primarily to be understood, we can see God’s mighty hand throughout the entire process of our lives, and that is why we give praise and thanks to Him, because “great is thy faithfulness” to carry out all the decrees that have been written in the hearts and minds of His people. The figurative language of this Psalm helps us remember His greatness and love toward the body of Christ where all things are working for the good for those who love God and were called according to His purpose (Rom 8:28).

There is a “hope of glory” being explained throughout God’s word, and we come together often to remind each other of that glory, of that praise which is ongoing and unfolding in the lives of His people. It is in “the hope of the gospel…which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven” that we can “continue in the faith grounded and settled“, and as this section in Colossians goes on to declare, it will be through the suffering and affliction we endure together as a body of Christ which will enable us to “continue in the faith grounded and settled” (Col 1:24, 1Pe 5:10-11, Col 1:23-24, Col 1:27-28).

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

1Pe 5:10  But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.
1Pe 5:11  To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Col 1:23  If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister; [2Pe 1:19]
Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Col 1:28  Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
Col 1:29  Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.

Keeping under our own bodies results in our taking the lower seat and remaining entreatable, actions that in turn keep us under our own body, the body of Christ which we are (1Co 9:27). We need every joint that supplies in love (Eph 4:16) and the safety that is found in a multitude of counsellors, and by examining ourself as the starting point as to whether we’re in the faith or not (2Co 13:5) we have the right foundation that makes it possible for us to be subject unto the rest of the body as unto Christ (Rom 12:4-5, Eph 5:21, 1Jn 4:1, 2Co 10:5).

Psa 148:1  Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the LORD from the heavens: praise him in the heights. 
Psa 148:2  Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts. 
Psa 148:3  Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light. 

It is “the heavens” and “all his hosts” and “the sun and moon” and “the stars of light” that are praising God and working together for a good purpose that God has purposed within the body of Christ created to be the first fruits who first trusted Him and “praise him” in a spirit of truth and love.

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things [“the heavens” and “all his hosts” and “the sun and moon” and “the stars of light“] work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

1Pe 2:9  But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

The reason we live is to worship God, our loving Father who has given us all things through Christ, the one through whom we are accepted and able to bring all those typical elements of the heavens into subjection unto him [“the heavens” and “all his hosts” and “the sun and moon” and “the stars of light“] being far above them all through Christ.

1Jn 4:8  He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

Rom 8:15  For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

Col 1:16  For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: [Psa 148:5]

Eph 1:21  Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
Eph 1:22  And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
Eph 1:23  Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

1Co 3:21  Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours; [Psa 148:5]
1Co 3:22  Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;
1Co 3:23  And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.

Psa 148:4  Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens. 
Psa 148:5  Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created.

These next verses speak to the order of God’s spiritual creation that is typified through the physical creation [What are the Three Heavens?]

It is the “heavens of heavens” and “ye waters that be above the heavens” that typify the elect of God who “praise him” for the witness of Christ in our lives, the spirit that bears witness that we are the children of God (Rom 8:16).

The “heavens of heavens” is a place reserved today for those who have God’s spirit in this earnest relation where we worship Him in spirit in truth being raised in heavenly places in the third heavens typified with these words “ye waters that be above the heavens“.

Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

Of that group of  true believers to whom God is giving the power to continue in the truth, we are told “Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created“, reminding us that we are here today by the grace and faith of Christ and were created for this purpose to show forth praise unto God who are the first fruit workmanship of his hand that “were created” and  called to have this confidence that what God has started in us He will finish.

Rom 8:31  What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Rom 8:32  He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
Rom 8:33  Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.
Rom 8:34  Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Rom 8:35  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom 8:38  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Php 1:6  Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

Next week, Lord willing, we will look at the last nine verses of our study which point to that hope filled message of what God is doing within His little remnant who are blessed today to continue to “Praise ye the Lord” for His wonderful works to the children of men.

Psa 148:6  He hath also stablished them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not pass.
Psa 148:7  Praise the LORD from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps:
Psa 148:8  Fire, and hail; snow, and vapour; stormy wind fulfilling his word:
Psa 148:9  Mountains, and all hills; fruitful trees, and all cedars:
Psa 148:10  Beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying fowl:
Psa 148:11  Kings of the earth, and all people; princes, and all judges of the earth:
Psa 148:12  Both young men, and maidens; old men, and children:
Psa 148:13  Let them praise the name of the LORD: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven.
Psa 148:14  He also exalteth the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints; even of the children of Israel, a people near unto him. Praise ye the LORD.