"Praise ye the LORD.
Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.
Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.
Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.
Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.
Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.
Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.” —Psalm 150
This Psalm is the climax of the Psalter, and it consists entirely of a call to worship. It anticipates the day when the whole creation, now “subject to vanity,” will be “delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God [Rom. 8:19-23].”
In that day the entire universe will be incorporated into a grand symphony orchestra and a glorious chorus, animated by the spirit of God to sound in unbroken harmony the praises of our Creator and Redeemer. Every verse in this short Psalm is punctuated with calls to praise the Lord. It is the Divine “Hallelujah chorus.”
Observe where He will be praised—in His sanctuary. That is, I believe, the earth, purified and brought back into alignment with His perfect will, a splendid meeting place for fellowship between the Creator and the redeemed creature. And, in the firmament of His power. That is, in heaven itself. All creation will reverberate with tribute to His majesty.
Observe why He will be praised: “For His mighty acts.” That is, for His great twofold enterprise of creation and redemption. But more than that, He will be praised for “His excellent greatness.” On the one hand, for what He has done; on the other, for Who He is. “Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me… [Isa. 46:9].” In turn the Holy Spirit, through the apostle Paul, anticipates a day when the Redeemer has finished His reign and “the last enemy,”death, will be forever destroyed. Then, “When all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all (See I Cor. 15.24-28!)” This is the day anticipated here. There has been no spectacle on earth that can compare to it.
And how will it be rendered? With instruments of music, “the timbrel and dance,” [v. 3-5] and a choir composed of “everything that has breath.” As we noted a few weeks ago, there are voices in creation that our ears have never heard which will be joined with those with which we are more or less familiar to sing the praises of Him Who alone is worthy. It will incorporate things the eye has never seen and the ear has never heard in a celebration such as the world has never known.
Will you be there?
“And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire [Rev. 20:11-15].”
To be found “written in the book of life” requires a personal faith in the Son of God Who loved us and gave Himself for us. You know about Him, but do you know Him. You may have a religion that focuses on Him, but do you have a relationship with Him that motivates and conditions your behavior?
“Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have a right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city [Rev. 22:14].”
You cannot buy a ticket to this Glorious Event. But, you can obtain a free pass if you will repent and believe the Gospel, receiving Jesus Christ into your heart by faith. For “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God”
“Praise the Savior, ye who know Him,"
"Pastor" Frasier
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