Nuggets from the Word of God: Psalm 148

"Let them praise the name of the LORD: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven." —Psalm 148:13

If the book of Psalms is thought of as a symphony, Psalms 145-150 are the crescendo with which it concludes. The grand note upon which the divine Composer concludes is "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty!" It is the symphony of the redeemed in his journey from here to eternity. His walk begins in Psalm 1 as one who finds his delight in "the law of the Lord," and is destined for eternal prosperity. As he wends his way, he is carried sometimes to heights of ecstasy, sometimes to the depths of despair. There are seasons of victory and times of abysmal failure, but in the end the Lord delivers him out of them all to conclude his glorious adventure in the grand choir of the ages, making the heaven of heavens ring with praise to the glory of God. (See Rev. 4:11-14!)

The focal point of this praise is "the Name of the Lord," and one cannot read this verse without being reminded immediately of the pledge in the epistle to the Philippians, following the synopsis of the condescension of the Son of God in becoming "sin for us"; "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father [Phil. 2:9-11].

All creation has a voice. Job tells us that at creation "the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy [Job 38:7]." Now, in anticipation of the New Creation, the Spirit of God calls upon all to join in audible praise to the Savior. Angels, starry hosts, planets and their satellites, the earth itself and its wild creatures, the forces of nature, the landscape and its drapery, and all the categories of mankind are called upon to render praise to the Creator and our Redeemer!! What a day that will be! Mozart and Beethoven, Wagner and Sibellius, even Handel have imagined nothing to compare with it.

One figure only will be celebrated in that great day: Jesus Christ the Lord, for He alone is worthy; He will have no competition in earth or heaven. The cacophony of this restless world will sink into silence and every eye will focus on the Lamb that was slain to rescue the ruin of the first creation from the grip of the adversary and all who follow him. He is worthy because He is the Creator: "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou has created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created [Rev. 4:11]," reads one stanza. He is worthy because He is the Redeemer: "And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation… [Rev. 5:9]," reads another.

"Despised and rejected of men" throughout earth's little day, He will be regaled as the Center of everything in that day. Having for the moment "no form nor comeliness" and "no beauty that we should desire Him," He will be extolled as King of kings and Lord of lords, clothed in unveiled splendor that now defies description, for "His glory is above the earth and heaven."

Given this call to worship—for it is that—the state of the visible church and its petty preoccupation with earthly things should move us to shame and humiliation. God neither needs nor wants our buildings, our programs, our "illustrious" technology and all the trivia that goes with these, too often at the expense of the Truth rather than the advancement of it. He desires and merits our praise and the untarnished praise of His beloved Son. He is not honored in committees, but in commitment to His glory and the praise of His name. He is not glorified by the sermons we preach or the sermons we hear, but by the sermon we are when, focused on His grace and glory, we demonstrate His word and magnify His Name. It is then and only then that we are "living epistles" 'singing' the right melody in harmony with the Son of God to this lost and perishing world.

Oh for the day when the whole church will sing in concert with the angels, the spheres and this vast creation!

"Even so come. Lord Jesus!"

For the praise of the glory of His grace,

the purpose for which we were created,

"Pastor" Frasier