Jan 20 2019 Psalm 148

Praise the LORD from the heavens; praise him in the heights.

What a majestic psalm this is! It goes through the world as the writer knew about the world and claims that all things should give thanks to the Lord. Among those things called out to give praise are:
- The sun, moon and shining stars.
- Sea monsters, wild beasts, creeping things, and winged birds.
- Fire, hail, snow, fog, and tempestuous winds
- Kings, princes, all rulers, and all peoples young and old
Pretty much everything the psalmist could see.

When I hear this narrative or many other from Scripture, I envision what it might have been like, or at least what Sunday School illustrations have taught me. While I’m sure there are some cultural inaccuracies in those images in my head, the point is that I see these from a context of thousands of years ago.

But what if I could stay in the present day? Hear this and other stories from my view and my world today? The natural world might remain largely unchanged. Sea monsters might be more accurately titled, but wild beasts, creeping things and winged birds remain. Sun, moon and stars might be accompanied by galaxies and planets, and other things we know about now.

Weather phenomena would be accompanied by lahars, tsunamis, and hurricanes.

We would add all of the man-made things in our world, like planes, skyscrapers, tractors. Everything manmade that we see.

And in addition to princes and kings, the people descriptors would be expanded to reflect today’s ruling and oppressed, insiders and outsiders. Government leaders. Blue collar. Homeless. 1%.

This psalm is not supposed to make us think fondly about bygone quaint days and how it all should give thanks. Instead, we should hear the intent – all things everywhere should give thanks to God, because God created all. Ok, maybe the factory worker made the plane, but God not without God-given gifts and life.

I hear this psalm as another example that God’s hand is everywhere, and cannot be escaped or avoided. God created all. Everything is God’s. Everything is precious. And everything should give thanks. Today, I want to walk through my modern-day world with that omnipresent awareness.