"From the Heavens…From the Earth"

Scripture Passage

Psalm 136; Psalm 146; Psalm 147; Psalm 148; Psalm 149; Psalm 150

Scripture Focus

Praise the LORD from the heavens!
     (Psalm 148:1 NLT)

Praise the LORD from the earth!
     (Psalm 148:7 NLT)

Observation

I’m tempted to focus in on Psalm 150. I love music…and I love instrumental music particularly. So a psalm encouraging the praise of God through trumpets, lyre, and harp…strings and flutes and cymbals…has my attention!

But I like even more today the way Psalm 148 captures a world alive with the praise of God Almighty. The activity of heaven—sun, moon, twinkling stars, “vapors high above the clouds”—and the activity of earth—

     …creatures of the ocean depths,
fire and hail, snow and clouds,
     wind and weather that obey him,
mountains and all hills,
     fruit trees and all cedars,
wild animals and all livestock,
     small scurrying animals and birds…
                      (Psalm 148:7-11 NLT)

—is in its entirety called upon to “Praise the Lord!”

(I know I’m on a bit of a kick these days in this regard, but…)

With our Western, rationalistic, scientifically-dominated mindset, we’ve reduced our world to less than it is—to whatever we can study under the microscope or replicate in the laboratory. The Scriptures picture a bigger world than that—a world where the glory of God is revealed in, and the praise of God resonates from, every element of existence—a world where there is spiritual activity all around.

And in the thick of a world buzzing with active praise to God, the call extends to even the highest human ranks (and the lowest)—

kings of the earth and all people,
     rulers and judges of the earth,
young men and young women,
     old men and children.
               (Psalm 148:11-12 NLT)

I want two things today—First, I want a heart more aware of the breadth and depth of spiritual activity in the world around me and, second, a heart that joins with all creation—from the heavens…from the earth—in praise of God Almighty!

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