![]() Humans naturally want to know why we should praise the Lord. In fact, the calls to praise seem disproportionate to the reasons for that praise. Yet the poet spends most of his time commanding to praise rather than explaining why that praise is so appropriate. Psalm 148 intersperses reasons for praising the Lord with its relentless calls to such praise. God even includes “the earth” itself in that loving covenant. God also draws “every living creature” under the protective umbrella of God’s gracious care. There, after all, God doesn’t just covenant with flawed Noah and his troubled descendants. Clinton Mc Cann notes that this invitation to the whole cosmos to join in praise to the Lord recalls God’s covenant in Genesis 9:8-17. In fact, the psalmist extends Psalm 96 and 98’s calls to the whole earth to praise the Lord to the whole creation. After all, this psalm essentially invites not just every living creature but also every created thing to praise the Lord. Yet having “breath” is somehow not a requirement for praising our God and King. Psalm 148 anticipates, in some ways, the very closing phrase of the whole psalter: “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord” (150:6). ![]() Note, after all, the rhythmic use of the word “all” throughout the psalm. The poet also calls for all members of its various species and groups to offer that praise. Yet she isn’t even just commanding that whole creation to praise the Lord. The psalmist is, in fact, commanding the whole cosmos to join in praising our God and King. So she isn’t just inviting the whole creation to praise the Lord. The poet fills this psalm with verbs in the imperative form. How, then, might this relentless call to praise the Lord fit into such reflection? Might, for example, the Spirit use it to prompt reflection on the many reasons for praise during the past year? Services near the end of the year often look back on the past year. So those who preach and teach it might ask worshipers to dig into Psalm 148 by asking themselves why this psalm might be fitting even during our final worship services of the year. However, that Sunday also happens to be the last Sunday of the year. Of course, the Revised Common Lectionary appoints this psalm for the first Sunday after Christmas. This is a stirring call to praise that’s strikingly reminiscent of Francis of Assisi’s beautiful hymn, “All Creatures of our God and King.” It’s an invitation to “all creatures of our God and King” to lift up their “voices and with us sing, alleluia, alleluia.” In fact, Psalm 148 doesn’t just, with so many other psalms, open and close with calls to “praise the Lord.” The poet is also absolutely relentless throughout the psalm in his call for representatives of God’s whole creation to praise the Lord. Comments, Observations, and Questions to Consider
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