PSALM 148 | “LET ALL THINGS NOW LIVING…”

“LET ALL THINGS NOW LIVING…”

PSALM 148

NOVEMBER 26, 2017

“STUNNING 150-MILLION-YEAR-OLD DINOSAUR TRACKS FOUND…”

“NASA REVEALS 10 NEW PLANETS THAT COULD HAVE LIFE ON THEM…”

“LAST MALE NORTHERN WHITE RHINO CONFIRMED…”

“JUPITER’S COLORFUL CLOUDS SWIRL LIKE MARBLEIZED ART IN STUNNING NEW IMAGES…”

“5980 BC WAS A VERY GOOD YEAR FOR WINE…”

THOSE ARE JUST SOME OF THE LATEST HEADLINES ABOUT CREATION, AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR US TO BE PART OF GOD’S CREATED, EVOLVING ORDER.

(THE LAST OF THOSE, ABOUT THE WINE, IS ABOUT HOW AN ARCHAEOLOGIST RECENTLY DISCOVERED THAT HUMANS HAVE BEEN DRINKING WINE AT LEAST 500 YEARS EARLIER THAN PREVIOUSLY BELIEVED.)

THE PSALMIST, THE POET, THE AUTHOR OF THE 148^TH PSALM IS TRYING TO CAPTURE SOME OF WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT IN THIS MORNING’S SERMON WHEN HE SUGGESTS THAT EVERYTHING, EVERYWHERE, SHOULD PRAISE THE LORD.

IT IS THIS SAME SENTIMENT THAT IS ECHOED IN OUR THANKSGIVING HYMN FOR THIS MORNING, “LET ALL THINGS NOW LIVING.”

“LET ALL THINGS NOW LIVING, A SONG OF THANKSGIVING

TO GOD OUR CREATOR TRIUMPHANTLY RAISE…”

AND WE SING SOMETHING OF THE SAME THING EVERY SUNDAY AT OUR OFFERING TIME WHEN WE SING THE WORDS OF THE DOXOLOGY:

“PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW; PRAISE HIM ALL CREATURES HERE BELOW; PRAISE HIM ABOVE YE HEAVENLY HOSTS; PRAISE FATHER, SON, AND HOLY GHOST.  AMEN.”

DO YOU SUPPOSE GOD LIKES TO BE THANKED?  WANTS TO BE THANKED?  NEEDS TO BE THANKED?

I DON’T KNOW, MAYBE GOD’S BIGGER THAN ALL THAT, BUT GIVEN THAT ALL OF US LIKE TO BE THANKED, TO BE PRAISED, FOR THINGS WE DO, I CAN IMAGINE GOD, IF NOT NEEDING OR WANTING TO BE THANKED, LIKES IT JUST THE SAME.

WHAT THE PSALMIST HAS DONE IN OUR READING FOR THIS MORNING IS TO ENUMERATE THE VARIOUS PARTS OF THE UNIVERSE, DIVIDE THEM SPATIALLY, AND THEN ENCOURAGE THE LOT OF US TO PRAISE GOD.

THE PSALMIST BEGINS IN THE HEAVENS:

PRAISE THE LORD!  PRAISE THE LORD FROM THE HEAVENS; PRAISE HIM IN THE HEIGHTS! – THE UPPITY UP PLACES – THE REALM OF GOD!

PRAISE HIM, ALL HIS ANGELS; PRAISE HIM ALL HIS HOST! – STILL UP THERE!

THEN THE PSALMIST BRINGS US INTO THE HUBBLE TELESCOPE REALM OF THINGS – PRAISE HIM, SUN AND MOON; PRAISE HIM, ALL YOU SHINING STARS!

PRAISE HIM, YOU HIGHEST HEAVENS, AND YOU WATERS BELOW THE HEAVENS!

LET THEM PRAISE THE NAME OF THE LORD, FOR HE COMMANDED, AND THEY WERE CREATED.  HE ESTABLISHED THEM FOREVER AND EVER; HE FIXED THEIR BOUNDS, WHICH CANNOT BE PASSED.

EVEN IF THE SCIENCE ISN’T EXACTLY CORRECT, THE INTENTION IS: THAT ALL OF GOD’S CREATION IS CREATED TO PRAISE THE LORD!

THEN THE PSALMIST BRINGS IT DOWN ANOTHER NOTCH, TO THE CONSTITUENTS OF EARTH, THE ANIMATE AND THE INANIMATE.

PRAISE THE LORD FROM THE EARTH, YOU SEA MONSTERS AND ALL DEEPS, FIRE AND HAIL, SNOW AND FROST, STORMY WIND FULFILLING HIS COMMAND!

MOUNTAINS AND HILLS, FRUIT TREES AND ALL CEDARS!

WILD ANIMALS AND ALL CATTLE, CREEPING THINGS AND FLYING BIRDS!

ALL OF THIS, BEFORE THE PSALMIST EVEN GETS AROUND TO US, AND MAYBE THERE’S A MESSAGE THERE; MAYBE THERE’S SOMETHING WE OUGHT TO PAY ATTENTION TO HERE.

PERHAPS THE PSALMIST, LIKE GOD ORDERING CREATION, WANTS US TO UNDERSTAND THAT THE ECOSYSTEM THAT IS THE WORLD – WEATHER, GROWING THINGS, LIVING THINGS, NON-LIVING THINGS, WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER!

KINGS OF THE EARTH AND ALL PEOPLES, PRINCES AND RULERS OF THE EARTH!

AGAIN, MAYBE, GIVEN THE FACT THAT THE PSALMIST SINGLES OUT THE LEADERS OF NATIONS, ALONG WITH THE PEOPLE, MAYBE THERE’S A MESSAGE HERE FOR US AS WELL!

YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN ALIKE, OLD AND YOUNG TOGETHER!

THE PSALMIST THEN FINISHES HIS SONG BY FINALLY GIVING US THE REASON THAT ALL CREATION, AND ESPECIALLY THE ISRAELITES, AND BY EXTENSION, WE, AS PEOPLE OF FAITH, SHOULD PARTICULARLY PRAISE THE LORD.

LET THEM PRAISE THE NAME OF THE LORD, FOR HIS NAME ALONE IS TO BE EXALTED; HIS GLORY IS ABOVE EARTH AND HEAVEN.

HE RAISED UP A HORN FOR HIS PEOPLE, PRAISE FOR HIS FAITHFUL, FOR THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL WHO ARE CLOSE TO HIM.  PRAISE THE LORD!

THIS PSALM IS WHAT’S KNOWN AS A POST-EXILIC PSALM MEANING THAT IT WAS WRITTEN AFTER THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL HAVE BEEN EXILED FROM THEIR HOMELAND, AND NOW, HAVING BEEN RESTORED TO IT…

WHAT BETTER TIME FOR THEM – TO PRAISE THE LORD!

NOW I WILL GRANT YOU THAT PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING MAY BE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS, BUT DON’T THEY GO TOGETHER NICELY?!

“LET ALL THINGS NOW LIVING (AND THE NOT-LIVING TOO) GIVE PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING, TO GOD OUR CREATOR TRIUMPHANTLY RAISE!

I THINK GOD LIKES TO BE THANKED, TO BE PRAISED AND WORSHIPPED, AND WHY NOT, GOD DESERVES IT FOR ALL THIS – AND MORE!

MANY OF US HAVE SPENT THE LAST FEW DAYS, OR AT LEAST, I HOPE, A FEW MINUTES BEFORE OUR THANKSGIVING MEALS, SAYING WHAT IT IS WE ARE THANKFUL FOR.

MY GUESS IS THAT OUR PRAISES AND THANKSGIVINGS INCLUDED GOD, AND PROBABLY A FAIR AMOUNT OF WHAT WE’VE ALREADY MENTIONED, AS WELL AS A LONG AND VARIED LIST OF OTHER THINGS SPECIFIC TO OUR LIFE AND FAMILY FOR WHICH WE ARE THANKFUL.

WOULDN’T IT BE NICE TO TAKE A MOMENT AND THINK, BELIEVE, THAT ALL OF GOD’S CREATION, AS THE PSALMIST SUGGEST, DOES THE SAME THING.

MAYBE, JUST MAYBE, IF WE BELIEVE THAT ALL OF CREATION GIVES GOD PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING, MAYBE WE COULD EVEN BEGIN TO SEE HOW IT IS THAT THAT MAKES US RELATED TO EVERYTHING ELSE IN ALL OF GOD’S GOOD CREATION.

THAT THOSE DINOSAURS, THAT ONE LAST WHITE MALE RHINO, THE STARS AND THE PLANETS, THE PLANTS AND THE TREES, THE WILD ANIMALS AND THE CATTLE, THE CREEPING THINGS AND THE FLYING BIRDS…

NOT TO MENTION HUMANS – OF ALL RACES – ARE PART AND PARCEL WITH US, AND WITH ONE ANOTHER.

OR AS WE HEARD IT SAID IN OUR RECENT ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS ON FAITH AND CREATION, FROM A NATIVE AMERICAN POET:

“WHAT YOU CALL RESOURCES, WE CALL KIN.”

PERHAPS, IT’S EVEN WORTH RAISING A GLASS OR TWO OF 6000-YEAR-OLD WINE TO!  CHEERS, TO GOD’S GOOD CREATION!

THE FULFILLMENT OF ALL CREATION – THE REDEMPTION AND RENEWAL OF CREATION, ALL OF IT, ALL OF US, IS PART OF GOD’S PLAN.

LOOK AT THE 8^TH CHAPTER OF THE APOSTLE PAUL’S LETTER TO THE ROMANS, AND IN PARTICULAR VERSE 18-24; BUT LISTEN TO THIS ONE VERSE:

“THAT THE CREATION ITSELF WILL BE SET FREE FROM ITS BONDAGE TO DECAY, AND WILL OBTAIN THE FREEDOM OF THE GLORY OF THE CHILDREN OF GOD.”

WE, AND ALL OF CREATION, ARE IN THIS THING TOGETHER!

AS I MENTIONED A MOMENT AGO, THE PERSON WHO WROTE THIS PSALM DID SO AFTER THE ISRAELITES HAD BEEN DRIVEN FROM THEIR HOMELAND, HELD IN CAPTIVITY, AND WERE FINALLY ALLOWED TO RETURN HOME.

MORE THAN LIKELY, THE PSALMIST WAS AMONG THEM, SO IT’S NO WONDER HE, AND THEY, HAD SOMETHING TO CELEBRATE; SOMETHING FOR WHICH THEY WERE THANKFUL; A REASON TO PRAISE GOD.

THAT’S HOW WE HUMANS ARE – WE GET TO A PLACE WHERE WE TAKE THINGS FOR GRANTED – UNTIL THEY’RE GONE – AND THEN WE GET SERIOUS ABOUT APPRECIATING THEM, UNTIL AFTER A WHILE, WE RETURN TO TAKING THEM FOR GRANTED AGAIN.

BUT IT SEEMS TO ME, IF EVER THERE WAS A TIME THAT WE COULD USE SOME APPRECIATION OF GOD, SOME PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING, IF NOT FOR GOD’S SAKE, THEN FOR OUR OWN, IT’S RIGHT NOW!

EVERYONE IS SO TIRED OF THE MESS; OF THE FUSSING AND FIGHTING; OF THE ACCUSATIONS AND HALF-HEARTED APOLOGIES; OF BOORISH AND CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR; OF THE TAKING AND RAPING OF PEOPLE’S INNOCENCE; AND THE KILLING OF INNOCENT PEOPLE IN CHURCHES, SCHOOLS, AND PARKS.

WHO IN THE WORLD FEELS LIKE PRAISING AND GIVING THANKS AMID ALL THAT?!

AND THAT’S THE REAL DANGER HERE – NOT JUST THE KILLING OF OUR INNOCENCE; OF THE INNOCENT; BUT ALSO, THE KILLING OF OUR HEARTS, AND MINDS, AND BODIES…

AND THE REAL DANGER IS THE KILLING OFF OF OUR SOULS!

AND EVERY TIME WE ALLOW THEM TO WIN, AND CEASE TO GIVE GOD PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING, AND FORGET THAT WE ARE PART OF GOD’S CREATED ORDER ALONG WITH EVERYTHING ELSE – EVERYONE ELSE – THEY WIN!

AND OUR SOULS DIE A LITTLE BIT MORE.

IT’S TIME TO REMEMBER GOD, AND NOT IN SOME SORT OF HOKEY, CORNY, MADE-UP WAY THAT PEOPLE ARE ALWAYS TRYING TO FORCE UPON US…

OR WITH TRITE TRUISMS… OR CHRISTMAS SENTIMENTALITY…

OR AS JUST ANOTHER WAY OF PICKING A FIGHT WITH THOSE WHO DON’T BELIEVE AS WE DO; OR PRAY LIKE WE DO; OR WORSHIP LIKE WE DO;

OR ANY OF A HUNDRED OTHER INANE IDEAS…

IF WE REALLY WANT TO OFFER PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING TO GOD FOR GOD, FOR ALL THAT IS; WELL, IT’S UP TO EACH OF US TO FIND THE WAY THAT’S RIGHT FOR US – AND DO IT!

INSTEAD OF WORRYING SO MUCH ABOUT HOW OTHERS ARE DOING IT, OR NOT DOING IT AT ALL… THAT’S UP TO THEM; WE NEED TO TAKE IT UPON OURSELVES TO WORSHIP, PRAISE, AND THANK GOD.

I DON’T KNOW ABOUT YOU, BUT I HAVE ENOUGH TROUBLE GETTING IT RIGHT FOR MYSELF; GETTING MY OWN LIFE IN ORDER; SEEING TO THE THINGS I NEED TO SEE TO, AND DOING THE THINGS I NEED TO DO;

PRAYING ENOUGH, WORSHIPPING ENOUGH, SERVING ENOUGH, ETC. THAN TO WORRY ABOUT HOW OTHERS ARE DOING IT, OR NOT DOING IT!

“LET ALL THINGS NOW LIVING, A SONG OF THANKSGIVING…” AND THAT GOES FOR ME TOO!

THERE’S NO BETTER TIME THAN RIGHT NOW – THANKSGIVING INTO CHRISTMAS INTO A NEW YEAR TO PRAISE AND THANK GOD!

TO LIVE IN THE PRESENT!  TO PRAY IN THE PRESENT!  TO WORSHIP, LEARN, GIVE, AND SERVE IN THE PRESENT!

TO PRAISE AND GIVE THANKS – IN THE PRESENT!

THE PAST IS DEAD AND GONE – THE FUTURE’S NOT YET HERE, IF WE EVEN GET A FUTURE;

SO WHY NOT SPEND OUR TIME NOW! PRAISING THE LORD!

LET’S JOIN THE HEAVENLY CHORUS, THE ANGELS AND THE HOSTS…

THE SUN AND THE MOON AND THE STARS…

THE SEA MONSTERS AND THE DEPTHS IN WHICH THEY SWIM…

THE CLIMATE – FIRE AND HAIL, SNOW AND FROST, THE WIND ITSELF…

WILD ANIMALS, CATTLE, CREEPING THINGS AND FLYING BIRDS…

AND THE WHOLE HUMAN RACE – LEADERS AND PEOPLE, YOUNG AND OLD, WOMEN, MEN, AND CHILDREN –  ALL RACES AND RELIGIONS – TO GETHER – PRAISING THE LORD!

AND WHY?  BECAUSE GOD DESERVES IT, AND I SUSPECT, ENJOYS IT!

AND BECAUSE WE NEED TO DO IT AS MUCH FOR OURSELVES, FOR OUR SOULS, EVEN MORE THAN GOD NEEDS TO HEAR IT FROM US.

IT BEGINS WITH US;

ACTUALLY: IT BEGINS WITH ME;

GIVING THANKS, AND PRAISING THE LORD!