1 Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the Lord from the heavens: praise him in the heights.
2 Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts.
3 Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light.
4 Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens.
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord: for he commanded, and they were created.
6 He hath also stablished them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not pass.
7 Praise the Lord from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps:
8 Fire, and hail; snow, and vapours; 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 people; 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 excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven.
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.
We call on everything around us to praise the Lord, for He is glorious above all and He makes the praise of our lips glorious.
The entire book of Psalms seems to be working towards a crescendo as we approach the end. The sentiment is exaltation at the highest level that is capable of being expressed by humans. We are in awe of God’s works. With each successive verse, the volume increases, the tone becomes more insistent, and the thrill to the soul more intense. As we come to see more clearly that our God is worthy to be praised, we throw our hearts, our voices, our minds, and our souls into His praise with all the energy that is within us.
Verses 1-6
As we approach the psalm, we must picture ourselves standing in the middle of the world where we can see all of God’s creation surrounding us. We stand and preach, as it were, to the whole universe about us. We admonish and exhort, encourage and coach, all of the voices to resonate the same message of praise. We fill the position of the choir director for the entire world. In this role, we are insistent, commanding, fervent, intense, and unrelenting.
The first section of the choir is not the bass or the tenor; it is the heavens and all that is above the earth. We begin with the angels, the very highest of God’s created order. The angels are created for this purpose, so of course they will be more than wiling to cooperate in this great chorus of praise. This is the function of the seraphim in Isaiah’s vision (Isa. 6:1-6). The angels fall on their faces and worship God, as we read in Revelation 7:11. Day and night without ceasing, the living creatures cry out “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.” No creature, regardless of its state or power, is exempted from this holy duty.
After the angels, we command the sun and moon and stars to praise God. The waters in the clouds are commanded likewise to praise our covenant God! When we praise the name of the Lord, we praise Him for His reputation. His works establish His reputation. This is the case with all of us; as a great architect is known by his works, our God is known by His magnificent creation. When we praise human creators, we are especially impressed that their genius came about through many hours of work. It was the assiduous persistence of the Wright brothers who applied themselves for thousands of hours to the research and development of flight that warrant the recognition of men. With our God, however, His creation came into existence by His mere command. This is far more impressive to us than the works of men. “He commanded, and they were created.”
The works of men rust away in the junkyards after forty or fifty years. But God’s works continue for millennia. His stars could warm the planets for billions of years before burning out. Our sun does not shine and our earth does not rotate by random chance. The regularity of life is ordained by God, and His decree is absolutely certain until the end of the world.
Verses 7-10
After we direct the choirs of the universe, our attention is drawn to the surface of the earth. We call all of creation, from the depths of the Mariana Trench to the heights of Mount Everest, to this praise. Well up into the time of Abraham, dragons and great dinosaurs were likely living for centuries and growing to very large sizes. Tales of these great sea creatures and land creatures were told in many cultures in the earth. Still to this day, the great whales and sharks that roam the seas manifest the glory of God their Creator. More recently, scientists have discovered other mysterious creatures, very ugly and bizarre-looking sea animals roaming the depths of the Mariana Trench. All of these manifest the glory of their Creator.
Next, we call the elements of fire, hail, snow, and storms to the task of praise. These are powerful forces that can upset entire cities and states for weeks, months, and sometimes years. Man’s technology cannot stand against these storms; it can only mop up the disaster areas after the fact. Only a fool would refuse to respond in fear and reverence for God when he encounters these violent storms.
Then, we move on to call the mountains, the hills, the fruit-bearing trees, and the mighty pines, cedars, and oak trees to praise Him. Again, the largest earth-moving equipment produced by man is minuscule in comparison with the mightiest mountain the world. It would take 22 billion loads to remove Everest using the world’s largest bulldozer, the Komatsu 575A, capable of removing 2430 cubic feet of material at a time. The earth’s fruit trees and the wood-bearing trees produce food, shelter, and energy for six billion people around the globe. These mighty, beautiful trees that grow up out of a tiny seed or acorn strike us as magical, supernatural creation. One seed that yields a beautiful tree providing bushels and bushels of fruit over thirty years, is just as impressive as the feeding of the five thousand in three hours on the hillside east of Galilee.
We call the land animals, the bugs, and the birds to lend their voices to this chorus of praise (vs. 10). Everything that bears the mystery of life—the chains of proteins informed by the genius of DNA, producing movement and capable of reproduction—is a testimony to the Source of all life and the genius of life. Praise ye the Lord!
Verses 11-14
Finally, we arrive at us. We think about the most powerful men who rule and judge in the earth. We call them to praise the Lord. To refuse to give God the glory is a cosmic treachery of the highest sort. When the Supreme Court of the United States rejected prayer and worship in the public schools, they sealed the fate of the nation. Their pride was further manifested in their advocacy of mass destruction of human life (in 1973) and the destruction of God’s ordinance of marriage (in 2015). The glorification of man at the very highest levels usurps God’s glory. At any point, however, these powerful men and women may repent and join into the praise of the universe to the God who is worthy of all praise.
Finally, we look around the church building where human beings are gathered, and we call every voice to join in unison in praise and worship. We fully expect old men, young men, maidens, and children to participate in the worship. God calls the church together, young and old, to signify a cross-generational worship.
Psalm 145:4 becomes a reality in our services! “One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.”
We will not contaminate this praise with accolades for anybody else. There will be no standing ovation for the preacher or the musician. When it comes to God’s glory, He is in a category by Himself. His name alone is excellent in all the earth.
Yet, He chooses to raise up His people and to honor His church (vs. 14). Though our praise may be flawed, He turns it into something glorious. Though He is transcendent in His glory, we are reminded in the very last words of this psalm that He is also very near to us. He is our Father and Friend. Our praise is not mere exaltation. It is the praise of admiration, love, and devotion.
Praise ye the Lord!
This psalm requires us to treat God’s name, His works, and His reputation carefully. This is the essence of the third commandment: “Ye shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.” If we are to be prepared to praise God on Sundays, then we cannot be speaking of Him lightly and taking His name in vain the rest of the week. We must speak of our God with the utmost reverence and love throughout the day, every day.
Worship includes an exhortation to praise God. This entire psalm is a robust encouragement to everything and all people to praise God, for He is worthy to be worshiped. Throughout the service, we are given many reasons to worship God. Somewhere in the service, we must respond in praise. Some churches use a hymn of response after the sermon. This may be that point at which we lift our voices to praise God for His revelation of Himself. This is the obvious, logical conclusion to every message about God. Let us encourage one another to praise and worship!
1. How does this psalm constitute a crescendo of praise? What sort of method is used to bring us all to praise?
2. How are the three sections ordered in this psalm? Who are we addressing in each section?
3. What is the highest creation of God?
4. How does this psalm present age-integrated, cross-generational worship?
5. What does God do for His people in the last verse?
1. How do we express exaltation? What are the truths that encourage a spirit of exaltation in our praise?
2. What other created things would you call to the worship of God? Can you think of some amazing elements of the creation of God that you have learned about recently?