Everybody and Everything, Praise the Lord! Psalm 150 (Thanksgiving Day 2008) By Rev. Keith Davis Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, in a speech delivered at a conference on worship, pastor and Professor Dr. Robert Godfrey stated that music is one of the most effective ways in which our souls are moved and in which our minds are informed. And anyone who s ever listened to music can testify to that. Music can stir our soul within us; it can evoke a wide range of emotions. Music has the power to color our mood; some music can lift our spirit and produce an overwhelming sensation of happiness and joy. Other music can tug at our heart strings and cause tears of sorrow to well up in our eyes. There are many among us who can t sing all the stanzas of Abide with Me or When Peace Like a River without getting choked up; there s nothing wrong with that; nothing to be embarrassed about. Sometimes we get a little choked up because that was the song that was sung at a loved one s funeral; but we also get choked up because that song simply captures the essence, the heart and soul of our Christian hope, our Christian faith. O Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight, the clouds be rolled back as a scroll, the trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend; Even so it is well with my soul. And while there s nothing wrong with us appreciating a wide variety of music, as members of Christ s church we are all called to sing and to love one particular kind of music. We are called to sing and to love the music of the Psalter the music of the Psalms. The Psalms are God s book of praise. Each Psalm is written for us by God, so that we might praise Him rightly. And it makes no difference what tune we sing them to; it makes no difference whether we are accompanied by a beautiful pipe organ or a single beat of a drum, the important thing is that we sing them and that we praise with all our heart! 1
Above all else, this is the music that should stir our hearts, move our souls and inform our minds. At the same conference where Dr. Godfrey spoke he told the story of grandmother who had sung the Psalms from the days of her youth and she knew every stanza of every Psalm. Just for fun, she would occasionally challenge her young granddaughters to test her and try to stump her; so the granddaughters quizzed grandma by quoting from various verses of the Psalms; sometimes they d even throw grandma a curve and mix up the verses, but to no avail. This saintly woman had her heart and her mind filled with the music of God s word -- and that music informed her mind and it lifted up her heart and soul. And it was at her funeral that the granddaughters testified of how their grandmother loved and lived to sing the praises of God! I want each of us to ponder that today as we consider the Psalm that s before us. I want each of us to ponder this because that is what this Psalm requires us to do. It requires us to praise the Lord literally sing Hallelujah to our God not just on the national Day of Thanksgiving; but everyday of our lives, at every moment. This Psalm serves as a universal call to praise; but even more than that, this Psalm provides a comprehensive look at praise; in particular it contains four elements of praise and, Lord willing, by exploring these four elements of praise we will be better equipped to be a praising people. So let s consider Psalm 150 where the Psalmist enjoins all that breathes to praise the Lord. Notice with me, the where, the why, the how, and the who of praise. 1) The Where of Praise If you look a moment at the structure of Psalm 150 you ll notice that it, like the previous four Psalms (146-149), begins and ends with the same injunction: we re called to sing Hallelujah (Praise the Lord!). There s obviously something to this. These closing praise Psalms are considered to be the great crescendo, the final doxology, the culmination of praise from the congregation. This makes sense because the book of Psalms is 2
broken up into five separate books, (1-41, 42-72, 73-89, 90-106, 107-150) and at the end of each of these books there is a verse or two of doxology to God; and so what better way to conclude this section of the Psalms, and the entire book of Psalms than by ending with five doxologies in a row. Psalm 150, of course, serves as the greatest and final Hallelujah of them all. In this Psalm the Hebrew word Hallelu occurs 13 times. We re told to Hallelu Yah (the Lord) three times; we re told to Hallelu El (God) once, and we re told to Hallelu Him nine times. And what is perhaps most striking of all is that throughout this entire Psalm only four words at the most separate one Hallelu from another; in most cases as few as two words stand between them. So it s fair to say that the theme of praise dominates this section of the Psalter, and it is especially prevalent in this last Psalm. Now here in verse 1, the Psalmist calls (all that breathes) to praise the Lord in two particular regions or places: in his sanctuary and in his mighty heavens. His sanctuary refers to the earthly sanctuary, to the tabernacle or temple, the place where God s people assemble for corporate worship. And the reference to his mighty heavens is a reference to all of our existence beyond that. I like the way we Psalter Hymnal interprets this phrase: we re to praise him in the vast/wide extent. So the places in which we are called to praise God is here in the sanctuary, and then everywhere else beyond that. Think of it like this. As our primary act of worship, we re called to fill this place, to fill this sanctuary with praises to God, to lift our praises to the sanctuary ceiling. And as we depart from here and go about our daily life, we go from the sanctuary of the church to the sanctuary of creation; and there our call to praise the Lord is not tapered or lessened one bit. To be sure, the character and nature of corporate worship is different then the worship we offer in our daily lives, but our calling to bring praises to God remains the same. Out there in the world God calls His church lift our praises to the heavens (to earth s rafters). And so this Psalm is teaching us a very simple, very basic truth and it is this: praise the Lord 3
anywhere and everywhere you go. Praise him here in the sanctuary (which is corporate worship) but praise him out there in his mighty heavens (personal worship) everyday. Praise God when you re driving your truck, when you re at school, when you re in the office. Praise God when you re out fishing, or playing games with your friends, or doing our housework; remember what Paul wrote in Colossians 3: Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving 2) The Why of Praise Secondly we consider the why of worship. Why do we praise the Lord? Verse 2 talks about that. We praise him for his acts of power and we praise him for his surpassing greatness. As you already know, the book of Psalms is filled with numerous references to the great and awesome wonders God has done and for the praises that are due to Him for these powerful acts. As God s people, we are called to lift our voices to heaven in response to God who is our creator; our judge; our sustainer; our protector and guardian, and of course our Redeemer. In fact, the Psalmist would often recount to Israel the miraculous way in which God delivered them from their captivity in Egypt, from the oppression of Pharaoh. Today, God s people are called to give Him praise for some of these very same reasons. We praise God for the wonderful things He has done for us, and for the great things that He continues to do, and for all the future things that God has promised to do for us. I think it s fair to say that no praise to God can ever cross our lips without us first acknowledging what God has done as our Savior. We must first acknowledge the wonderful marvelous salvation that is ours in Jesus Christ. For the church, all praise to the Lord begins at Calvary; it begins with praising God for the precious blood that flowed for us; that flowed down upon us, covering all our sins and transgressions. Without that sacrifice, all other praises would be empty and meaningless. 4
But secondly, we re called to praise God for Who He is. We re told to praise the Lord for His surpassing greatness. Now, I think about this in connection to our human relationships. I know that we parents for example, are appreciated by our children for what we do for them. We hear their praises and we feel their love and gratitude when we provide what they need; when we buy them new clothes, new shoes or maybe an Ipod or something. But then we also realize this; parents are to be loved and appreciated for just being who we are. In fact, for a parent, few moments are more precious, few moments are more rewarding then when our little child comes up to us and gives us a giant hug and says I love you mommy. That s being loved for who you are. This quality should also characterize our love, our worship and our praise to God. Yes, on Thanksgiving Day we are all encouraged to take the time to praise God for the awesome things He has done. We take time to praise God for all the blessings He has poured out upon us. And maybe you ve made that part of your annual Thanksgiving celebration; maybe each person who sits around your dinner table today will be asked to name something specific for which you give thanks to God. Well, if you are called upon to do that today, may I suggest that you praise God not only for all the blessings that He has given you -- but that you praise God for who He is? In fact, I m going to give you boys and girls a few hints which will be easy to remember if you can spell the name: LORD. First, you can praise the Lord for his Love (that s the L ); then praise Him for his Omnipotence (I know that s a hard word but it means all-powerful); thanks Him for his Righteousness, and finally for the D thank him for His dependability (that He is so faithful). L.O.R.D. So it is that God deserves our Hallelujahs not simply based upon what He has done, but by nature of Who He is as almighty, eternal God. 5
3) The "How" of Praise So that is the Why of Praise. Thirdly we come to the How of praise; and this is the point that occupies about half the Psalm. Here, we consider those verses in which we re told to praise God in a great variety of ways and with a variety of musical instruments. Vv. 3-5: Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. I find it very interesting that when some Christians read this Psalm they want to march right up to their worship committee chairman and say God s Word tells us to praise him with a wide variety of instruments and even with dancing so why aren t we doing it, and when can we start? And I know for a fact that many churches have done just that. They interpret Psalm 150 as a passage in which God gives His people the liberty and license to worship him with bands, with horns, with percussion, with stringed instruments, liturgical dancing, you name it. But the problem with that interpretation is that this Psalm is not in any way attempting to prescribe or describe the kind of worship that went on within the temple in David s day; nor is it attempting to suggest the kind of worship that goes on in our church today. To be sure it describes the nature of our worship, what should characterize our worship, but this Psalm does not address he contents of our worship. For you see, while some of the instruments mentioned here in this Psalm were used in corporate worship and during certain religious ceremonies and festivals, all of these instruments were used during Israel s national and civil celebrations. (In much the same way we think of a trumpet being used to accompany our singing here in church, but also to play taps at a military funeral). You see, for an Israelite, the mention of these instruments would call to mind their rich history with God the occasion in which these instruments were used. For example, the trumpet (the 6
shophor) was used not in connection with the burnt offerings made in the temple, and with the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement; but that trumpet was also used in times of warfare. And so to call Israel to praise God with the sounding of the trumpet was to call the people to remember their reconciliation, but also their military conquest, their triumph over the nations. The harp and lyre were instruments played at the dedication of the temple, and again at the dedication of the new walls of Jerusalem; at times they were also played to celebrate victory in battle. Verse 4 says, Praise him with the tambourine and dance. Here not only an instrument is named but also a physical expression of joy. Again we are reminded that this is not what went on in temple worship. There s not a single account in Scripture where dancing is associated with corporate worship (except Ex. 32 when in their wickedness the people of God danced before the golden calf). Others are quick to point out that David danced when the Ark was taken back to Jerusalem. 2 Samuel 6:14 records that David danced before the Lord with all his might. There David dances in praise to the Lord. But that could hardly be characterized as a worship service; besides David danced while wearing nothing more than a linen ephod, and I m sure that no one would want to see church dancing done exactly the way David did it. The dance and the tambourine were used during those times of great happiness and celebration; in times of spiritual triumph (Psalm 30:11), and Israel also used the tambourine and dance to celebrate military victory (Ex. 15: Miriam and the women of Israel dance and play the tambourine as they celebrate the drowning of Pharaoh in the Red Sea) So dancing was part of Israel s expression of joy and praise to God; when David danced, when Miriam danced, when the daughters of Shiloh danced at the harvest, their dancing was an act of worship and praise to God. 7
Now I m sure that many of you are wondering what we are to make of this verse for ourselves. What about dancing today? I think it goes without saying that we 21 st century Christians don t view and we don t practice dancing the same way that the Israelites did in the days of David. I know that many of us like to turn to this passage and say that our dancing is fine because we re celebrating good times as well. God s people danced in the Old Testament, and so we can dance today. Maybe some of you like to dance at weddings or maybe with your friends when you go out and have a good time. But I want you to think hard about this and reflect upon it in connection to your own practice of dancing. Israel sang and danced to the music of the Psalms and to the music which they often made up themselves, and all their dancing and music was directed to God for what He had done. Now quite honestly, I can t say what a Christian dance would look like today. I doubt that David twirled or bounded or hopped with any less grace, might, energy and agility than the very best Philistine dancer. But having said that, David directed all his dancing energy, all his might, in praise to the Lord. And so that is the standard that is set here. Does your dancing measure up to this standard? What music o you dance to, and do you dance in direct praise to the Lord? (Gets at motives.) So to summarize: How are we to praise the Lord? The answer: with all our might. That is the main thrust of this part of the Psalm. It s not that we need these instruments listed here -- or any instruments for that matter we could praise God with voices alone! It s just that these instruments call to mind all the great things God has done for His people; and it reminds us that our praise to God in church and everywhere else is to be characterized by joyful exuberance and a spirit of celebration. 8
And so our praise to God is never to be casual or incidental, or half-hearted or absent minded. It should never happen in church that we sing a song, sit down and forget what we just sang. The praises of God s people ought to remain on our tongue, and resound in our mind. And just like we read in the book of Revelation, the praise of God s people ought to be a loud noise! In the book of Psalms we re called to shout to the Lord! And it matters not if you sing on pitch, whether you can carry a tune, God wants your praise, God demands your praise. No, we don t all have to sing in the choir; we don t all have to play a musical instrument, but we do have to raise a joyful noise to the Lord. And so when it comes time for congregational singing (when we re invited to sing which probably doesn t happen to may of us) we are called to sing forth the praises of God with all our might, not yawning as we go, but singing God s praises energetically, joyfully, and in a spirit of great celebration. That is how we praise God. 4) The "Who" of Praise Finally we consider the Who of praise. The psalm concludes: Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. By this the Psalmist means everyone. It includes all who have been created; all who have the very breath of God breathed into them; all who have been made in God's image and created for fellowship with him. Let them praise the Lord! This Psalm is directed to all men, for all men owe their devotion to Christ, but it goes out especially to those who have been redeemed by the blood of the lamb, who have been recreated in His image, born again by God s Spirit, and have experienced the saving work of Jesus Christ. Brothers and sisters, boys and girls, we need to be about the business of praising God. We need to fill our lives with His praises, praising him at all times, and in all places, in the vast extent of this world; and we need to praise our God with all of our might as we gather together here in worship. Congregation, I hope that this Psalm (and all the Psalms) would fill and inform our minds of who God is, and lift up our hearts and souls and spirits to God; I pray that the words of the Psalms 9
would always be on our lips and inscribed upon the tablets of our hearts so that even on the day of our death we would have God s own music, his own songs, his own praises on our lips. Amen. 10