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A sheep rancher in the remote mountains of Idaho found that his violin was out of tune,
He tried and tried to make the violin sound like it should. But without a tuning pitch, he was unable to get it right. He was a frequent listener to a radio station in California, so, he wrote the station concerning his problem, and he asked them--at a certain hour and a certain minute on a certain day-- to strike the right note for him.
And they did!
They stopped everything else,
They silenced all other sounds for a moment, than they struck that note.
And, in his shepherd’s hut in the distant mountains, the shepherd heard that sound, and from that single note he put his instrument into tune again.
That’s why we are here this morning at Memorial Christian Church in Ephrata, Washington. This is a special time to get in touch with God.
We need to listen for the note that perfect pitch. And even if we can’t carry a tune worth a darn, God gives us a perfect pitch to be in tune with him so that we can keep our hearts in tune.
Our lives get out of tune sometimes, don’t they? And all of you know what I mean. The church organ gets out of tune when it is too hot or too cold in the church building. Just as when we are too hot because of anger or too cool because of indifference in our own lives.
This morning friends, we are going to listen to God’s voice because he is He is sounding the note and if you listen and adjust your life to His note Then your life will come back into tune with Him. Doesn’t�?that make sense?
Last week Pastor Yates spoke to you all on Psalm 23 so as we continue our study in Psalms, we turn our attention to Psalm 148.
Psalm 148 is a beautiful picture of praising and worshiping the Lord. This Psalm contains 2 stanzas of glorious praise for God with each stanza ending with the reason for that praise.
As the great theologian Charles Spurgeon says in the Treasury of David. “as a flash of lightning flames through space, and enwraps both heaven and earth in one vestment of glory, so doth the adoration of the Lord in this Psalm light up all the universe and cause it to glow with a radiance of praise�?
Verses 1-6 of the Psalm are the things that are Celestial Praising God.
Some of you participated in the study of the book the Purpose Driven Life. In that study we learned that our first purpose in life is to worship God.
Here in this first stanza, we see that this doesn’t just apply to us, as human beings but the purpose of all created things above the earth is to praise the Lord.
The Psalmist starts out by simply saying “Praise the Lord�?in those 3 words, David sums up the whole of the message of Psalm 148.
But, not content to leaven it at that, he goes in to more detail. “Praise the Lord from the heavens and from the heights above�?Vs 1.
This is an all inclusive, all encompassing, broad statement that everything above the earth shall praise the Lord.
But then, the Psalmist gets even more specific about the praise. He mentions that the angels and the heavenly hosts. They should lift up their voices in praise.
And we see throughout Scripture that they have indeed lifted up their voices in praise.
Luke 2:13 says, “Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God.�?BR>John describes the sounds of the heavenly hosts praising God in Revelation 19:6-7, when he writes, “Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: "Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory!�?BR>David then mentions the sun, moon, stars. And we wonder, how can the sun, moon and stars praise God?
David tells us in Psalm 19 that, even though we know that these celestial bodies have no voice. Yet, they DO have a voice that praises God.
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.�?Psalms 19:1-4 (NIV)
Wherever you go around the world, you can glance up into the sky and see the beauty of God’s creation. Isn’t that so true. Day or night as you look into the sky you can almost imagine them giving glory to their Creator.
And, in fact, based on Romans 1:2, God will actually speak to people who have no knowledge about God whatsoever. Think about this; Simply by looking up into the night sky, seeing the expanse of the stars, feeling the overwhelming sense of our own insignificance and feeling with certainty that there is a Creator much more powerful than I. And I most certainly should bow down and worship Him.
Let me read that to you again and see if you agree. Think about this; Simply by looking up into the night sky, seeing the expanse of the stars, feeling the overwhelming sense of our own insignificance and feeling with certainty that there is a Creator much more powerful than I. And I most certainly should bow down and worship Him.
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. Romans 1:20 (NIV)
The cannibal in deep dark Africa can look up into the sky and God will speak to his soul.
Because the sun, moon, and stars are giving praise to the glory of God. That my friends deserves an Amen.
David tells us that the highest heaven, and the rain up in the sky all of them give praise to the Lord.
Next time you see the rain and didn’t we all see it Wednesday pouring down in droves. Imagine that each rain drop is lifting its voice in praise to its Creator.
Then in verses 5 & 6, David gives the reason they are to praise. They certainly don’t need a reason.
They should praise the Lord anyway but they are given a reason nonetheless. David says, simply because God spoke the Word and they were created.
That is sufficient reason to give praise. Isn’t that a wow moment? Doesn’t that take your breath away.
The next things we have are things Terrestrial Praising God in verses 7-14.
Not only are things celestial praising God but next, David turns his attention to things terrestrial praising God.
Things on earth.
And following the example of the first stanza in this second stanza, he gets more specific.
He talks about the great sea creatures and everything from the depths of the sea.
According to research conducted by the National Geographic Society, the 40-ton humpback whale-has a fascinating singing ability. Recordings have been made of the humpback whale singing in various pitches in solos, duets, trios, and choruses of dozens of interweaving voices lasting from six to thirty minutes. Imagine what it must be like to hear those songs from the depths of the ocean depths-sung by 40-ton whales!
He talks about examples from nature: Lightning, hail, snow, clouds, and stormy winds.
When I lived in Florida, I would go out during a thunder and lightening storm and be amazed by the splendor and surprised by the warm rain in reflection to the violent beauty of the storm.
He goes on and talks about examples upon the land:
Mountains, hills, trees, animals, small & large creatures. You all have done it…been somewhere and seen the majesty of God’s creations and been in awe and speechless in that magnificence.
And then, David turns his attentions upon people telling us that ALL people; Great and small, Young and old �?let them praise the name of the Lord.
The Psalmist says, “From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise.�?Psalms 8:2 (NIV) Ordained; you have been designed, meant and intended to praise the Lord.
Men and women. Rich and poor, Powerful and weak, all are to praise the Lord. I don’t know has he left anyone out?
Several commentators (Stephen J. Lennox, et. al) pointed out that many of these things mentioned in Psalm 148 were frequently things that people worshipped.
People have (and still today) worship angels; People have and still today worship the sun, moon, and stars, Animals, mountains, trees, and even stormy weather.
But David, in describing all these things that people might turn to and worship them instead of the One True God.
And showing that all these things exist only to give praise and glory to God. It certainly helps us put our praise and worship into the right place.
It reminds me of a song that we sing “Heart of Worship�?where it says “It’s all about you�?
David concludes this stanza like he did the first one; giving us reason to praise God. Not that we need a reason and we should praise God anyway.
But David tells us, He has raised up for his people a horn Psalms 148:14 (NIV)
Many times, when you see a horn used metaphorically in Scripture it is referring to strength.
Like a rams horn would be strong. And if you ever seen the videos or tv clips of two rams going head to head and hearing that clashing noise as they hit, you will know how strong their horns and heads can be.
So, essentially, David is telling us to praise the Lord for Him giving us strength.
But other commentators indicate that this is a reference to Jesus Christ, As in Luke 1:69, which is a clear reference to Jesus Christ, “He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David�?Luke 1:69 (NIV)
So, then, David is telling us to praise the Lord for Jesus Christ Who brings us salvation.
So all this implores the question, how are we doing? The angels, the sun...moon, stars and the singing of the whales. The mountains, the wind, the rain all giving praise and glory to God.
Let;s follow the example that we see in the heavens and on the earth.
Let’s join in the great chorus of all things celestial and all things terrestrial and praise the Lord!!
Praise the Lord with every fiber of your being…praise the Lord with the fabric of your soul.
One last story;
Orel Herschiser pitched an unbelievable 1988 season for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Following a complete game shutout in August, he pitched multiple shutout innings and hurled five more complete games through the end of the regular season. He did not allow his opponents to score an earned run in 59 consecutive innings.
When the Dodgers faced the New York Mets in the National League playoffs, Orel continued to dominate hitters, leading the Dodgers to victory by pitching more than 24 innings, crowned by a complete game shutout in the final game! In the World Series his complete game victory over the Oakland A’s in game five clinched the series for the Dodgers. No wonder Orel was awarded the Cy Young award and two MVP awards, one for the National League playoffs and the other for the World Series.
During the playoffs the TV cameras zoomed in on this legend in the making. They caught Orel in the dugout between innings singing softly to himself. Unable to make out the tune, the announcers merely commented that Orel’s record certainly gave him something to sing about.
Johnny Carson replayed that tape on the Tonight Show a few days later when Orel appeared. Johnny asked him what song he had been singing during the game and if Orel would sing it again right then and there. The audience roared its approval over Orel’s embarrassed reluctance.
So on national TV, Orel softly sang the tune TV crews had barely caught on tape:
“Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Praise Him all creatures here below;
Praise Him above ye heavenly host,
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.�?BR>Orel Herschiser was simply doing what Christians do—praising God for everything that he had achieved. Paul urges the Colossians, “Whatever you do...do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him�?(3:17). Not only at church, but in the in-between moments, thank God for your gifts and talents—he gave them to you. In all things we do Praise the Lord�?praise Him…lift him up. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord…find that note and tune yourself to it so you in all things you do, all things you say, all ways you act you are praising the Lord. Amen and Amen and Amen.
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