July 7, 2013
Luke 19:40 — And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.
We’re singing a great song in the choir at the moment: “If we fail to praise you Father then will the very rocks and stones cry out!” I love it. I love praising God. I think Jesus said, Ian, if you don’t praise God, you’d be a bigger blockhead than any of these rocks!” Sometimes people catch me at it … a snatch of a song bursting out, almost without me knowing it. It’s the same thing bubbling inside me, I suppose, that makes me especially pleased when Myra and I come to Psalms 145-150, twice a year, in our devotional reading cycle. Look at the subjects of these Psalms:
145 — David’s Psalm of praise to God, the person. David praises God for His glory, His goodness, His kingdom, His provision and His saving mercy
146 — Praise for God’s generosity and shows God to be the only one whose promises we can rely on.
147 — Declares the joy to be had in praising God (it’s true – if I am down, I praise God, and He lifts me up and makes me joyful), and declares the reasons for it – His goodness to Zion, His care for and pleasure in the humble, and the wonders of His creation.
148 — Provides an invitation for all of God’s creatures – from the archangels in heaven to the rocks and trees, animals, birds and insect to every man, woman and child to join an eternal chorus of praise. Here is an offer to all of the Lord’s people to bless Him who has so mightily blessed them!
149 — Now comes the call to “sing a new song”. Why? Because God loves His people – and will “beautify the meek with salvation”. Ahh. .. salvation, when Jesus says, “Behold, I make all things new”. Sing a new song, for a new heaven and a new earth!
150 — Now the mountain top is reached – “Praise God in His holy place and in His heaven. Praise Him for what He does, and who He is. Find every way of making music, and everything with a breath in its body and … PRAISE THE LORD!”
Robert Alter, a great scholar of Hebrew and Literature has produced a wonderful translation and commentary on the Psalms, and His version of Psalm 150 is like this:
Hallelujah. Praise the Eternal in His holy place, praise Him in the vault of His power.
Praise Him for his mighty acts, praise Him as befits his abounding greatness.
Praise Him with the ram’s-horn blast, praise Him with the lute and the lyre.
Praise Him with timbrel and dance, praise Him with strings and flute.
Praise Him with sounding cymbals, praise Him with crashing cymbals.
Let all that has breath praise Yah. Hallelujah!
That says it for me. If you’re breathing, praise the Lord! If you don’t, you’ve got rocks in your head, and they’ll rattle in praise instead! So be warned – praise the Lord!