Psalm 148
Preaching
A Journey Through the Psalms: Reflections for Worried Hearts and Troubled Times
Preaching the Psalms Cycles A, B, C
Object:
Most people spend their lives hungering after praise. Children thirst for it from parents, family, teachers, and friends. Young adults warm to its glow as they take on professional responsibilities and enter into adult relationships. As the midlife years approach, men and women are nourished by praise that comes as a result of committed and long-term relationships. Even in old age, praise continues to matter a great deal. Many people, of course, learn to live without praise, but it's a bleak existence.
People need affirmation and uplifting care. Counselors and mental health professionals will attest to this. Without praise, the spirit withers and the heart contracts. Without the wind of appreciation flowing under life's wings, it's hard to fly; difficult to soar. People who live their lives without praise tend to be cold, distant, and lifeless. The reason is that praise, simply put, is life-giving. It is the water that soaks into the roots of our souls causing us to blossom and grow.
Thinking about how praise operates within human community makes for interesting fodder when it is time to give praise to God. Today's psalm reverberates with the joy of this praise. It resonates with wonder and bursts the restraints of normal expression with shouts that are both urgent and loving. "Praise the Lord!" comes, in this instance, almost as a command. Everyone and everything should echo God's praise, and they should do it now!
Yes, of course God should be praised. Few seriously challenge this notion. But the question comes as to whether we praise God because of God's need ... or because of our own need. Can it be that the creator of the universe needs affirmation and praise in the same way that human beings have need of it? Or does the sound of our singing and prayer emerge from our own need to surrender to that which is greater than ourselves?
The temptation to create God in our image is virtually irresistible. Scriptures are full of such mirrored images, and it is an understandable misstep. As humans, we inevitably translate the world through our own experience. But it's important to recall that the reality is exactly the opposite of our own feeble efforts. God created human beings in God's image; not the other way around.
It is likely that God has little need of our praise. Human beings, on the other hand, have a deep need to give themselves in worship and service to their creator. So it is that we lift up our voices with this powerful psalm: "Praise the Lord!"
People need affirmation and uplifting care. Counselors and mental health professionals will attest to this. Without praise, the spirit withers and the heart contracts. Without the wind of appreciation flowing under life's wings, it's hard to fly; difficult to soar. People who live their lives without praise tend to be cold, distant, and lifeless. The reason is that praise, simply put, is life-giving. It is the water that soaks into the roots of our souls causing us to blossom and grow.
Thinking about how praise operates within human community makes for interesting fodder when it is time to give praise to God. Today's psalm reverberates with the joy of this praise. It resonates with wonder and bursts the restraints of normal expression with shouts that are both urgent and loving. "Praise the Lord!" comes, in this instance, almost as a command. Everyone and everything should echo God's praise, and they should do it now!
Yes, of course God should be praised. Few seriously challenge this notion. But the question comes as to whether we praise God because of God's need ... or because of our own need. Can it be that the creator of the universe needs affirmation and praise in the same way that human beings have need of it? Or does the sound of our singing and prayer emerge from our own need to surrender to that which is greater than ourselves?
The temptation to create God in our image is virtually irresistible. Scriptures are full of such mirrored images, and it is an understandable misstep. As humans, we inevitably translate the world through our own experience. But it's important to recall that the reality is exactly the opposite of our own feeble efforts. God created human beings in God's image; not the other way around.
It is likely that God has little need of our praise. Human beings, on the other hand, have a deep need to give themselves in worship and service to their creator. So it is that we lift up our voices with this powerful psalm: "Praise the Lord!"
