Psalm 148

A Sheep’s Journey Through Psalms -148

/ taethne

Universal Praise

Dear friend, have you ever stepped outside on a clear night and felt the vastness of the stars overhead, or listened to the wind rustling through trees and sensed something deeper stirring? Psalm 148 invites us into that wonder. It’s a joyful, sweeping call to praise that pulls every corner of creation into a grand symphony directed toward our good and mighty God. This psalm, part of the final burst of hallelujahs at the end of the Psalter, overflows with uncontainable delight in the Creator.

Here is the heart of Psalm 148 (ESV): (vv. 1-6)

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights!
Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his hosts! Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars!
Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens! Let them praise the name of the Lord!
For he commanded and they were created. And he established them forever and ever; he gave a decree, and it shall not pass away.

Then the psalm turns earthward: (vv.7-12)

Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all deeps, fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind fulfilling his word! Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars! Beasts and all livestock, creeping things and flying birds! Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth! Young men and maidens together, old men and children!

The psalm closes with the why and the who: (vv. 13-14)

Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted;- his majesty is above earth and heaven.
He has raised up a horn for his people, praise for all his saints, for the people of Israel who are near to him. Praise the Lord!

What the Psalm Is Saying

Psalm 148 is a masterful call-and-response of praise. The poet doesn’t merely suggest praise—he commands it with urgent joy, addressing the entire cosmos in two balanced movements: heaven (vv. 1-6) and earth (vv. 7-12).

This structure echoes the creation account in Genesis 1, where God separates waters above from waters below and fills both realms with life. Everything that exists owes its being to God’s powerful word—“He commanded and they were created.” The sun, moon, stars, weather, animals, and people don’t praise God because they’re forced; they praise because they are. Their very existence declares His glory.

Notice the tender detail: even “stormy wind” fulfills God’s word. Nothing is outside His sovereign care. The psalmist gathers kings and children, mighty cedars and tiny creeping things, angels and sea monsters alike. No one and nothing is too great or too small to join the song.

The climax in verses 13-14 lifts our eyes higher. God’s name is exalted above all, yet He draws near to His people. The “horn” raised up for Israel speaks of strength, victory, and a coming deliverer.

For us as Christians, this beautifully points forward to Jesus Christ—the Horn of Salvation (Luke 1:69) who has brought us near to God through His death and resurrection. Creation praises its Maker, and we, redeemed by the Son, lead the chorus with hearts full of grace.

A Warm Word for Today

Beloved, this psalm gently reminds us that praise is not just a Sunday activity or a mood we manufacture. It is the natural response of everything God has made. When we feel small or discouraged, Psalm 148 lifts our eyes to a universe already singing. The same God who commands the stars commands our days—and He is near. In seasons of joy or struggle, we are invited to add our voice to the eternal “Hallelujah!”

Personal Reflection Questions

  1. Looking around your everyday world (the sky, your neighborhood, your own body), what specific parts of creation stir your heart to praise God right now? How might joining their “song” change the way you walk through this day?
  2. Is there an area of your life that feels chaotic or “stormy” right now? How does the truth that even stormy winds fulfill God’s word bring comfort and invite you to trust Him more deeply?

May the God who spoke the stars into place and drew near to us in Christ fill your heart with fresh wonder today. Let everything that has breath (and even what doesn’t!) praise the Lord.

Light In The Darkness

/ taethne

I first wrote this 3 years ago. With all that has happened in our world since then, I felt it appropriate to repost today.

Light In The Darkness

Isaiah 50:10-11
10 Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God.11 Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.

There are times in our lives when, as Christians, we are called to serve God in the midst of darkness. There are times when it is difficult to see very far ahead. Like driving on a dark highway on a moonless night in the middle of a rainstorm, our lives sometimes feel as if we are going nowhere fast and we are not sure if we will make it to our destination.

It is interesting to me that many Christians desire to be “overcomers”, but do not want much to overcome. We want to go to heaven, but we do not want to die to go there. We want our faith increased, without having to rely on anyone. We want all good times, all the time, and that is simply not how life works. Life is filled with melody and misery, high times and hard times. You may be experiencing a dark time right now, what many saints of the past termed “a dark night of the soul.” You may be at a point right now where you aren’t able to make sense of what is happening in your life. There are times, seasons in our lives, where we have studied the lessons, learned our formulas, memorized the promises of the Bible and think we have it all figured out — and suddenly we are plunged into a deep, deep darkness.

What do you do when the lights go out? When deep darkness comes into your life?
It has been said that in school one learns the lessons first and tests second. In life, we take the test first and learn the lessons second. Hopefully, today you will come to see that there are lessons to be learned when the lights go out.

Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God

In this verse, the Bible is talking about a faithful servant of God. This person loves and fears God. He or she is being obedient. This is not a backslider or someone who has wandered off from God. This is an active Christian who loves the Lord and is being obedient to God’s voice, yet they are in a dark place.

There is a distorted idea out there that once a person becomes a Christian it is all honey and no bees. Not true. It rains on both the just and the unjust. There are tens of thousands of Christians who love God and are obediently serving Him who are experiencing dark times. Over a hundred thousand are martyred across the globe annually.

Job said, “God has put darkness in my path” (Job 19:8) Habakkuk exclaimed, “How long shall I cry out and you not hear?” (Hab. 1:2) John the Baptist sent messengers to Jesus from the cell in which he was imprisoned asking Him if He really was the Messiah. Each of these godly men came to a point in their life that they did not fully comprehend. They experienced a time of darkness, when they did not understand what was happening to them nor why God was allowing it.

When you are in darkness it doesn’t necessarily mean you have sinned or that you are outside of God’s will for your life. It might be that God has put you in a dark time so that His light shines brighter and you can see Him more clearly.

Faith is like film. It is developed in the dark. We grow the most spiritually when we are forced to look to Jesus alone for help. You will never know how much you need Jesus until Jesus is all you have. As Christians, we are called to live by faith – not by explanations. Our verse tells us to trust or lean on the name of the Lord. Even when tough times come. If you do not have the conviction that God is good all the time then you will not stand when darkness falls. Job said – “even if He slays me I will trust in Him.” When walking in darkness we must trust, lean on, God and His promises – which never fail.

When you are in the dark you don’t need explanations. You need God. An explanation sometimes makes things worse. Sometimes God removes all the answers to give us Himself. A relationship with Him is more important than reasons. In his blindness, John Milton wrote Paradise Lost. In prison John Bunyon wrote Pilgrim’s Progress. In exile, John wrote Revelation. In the dark, God develops our faith. Never doubt in the dark what you learned in the light. The test of our character is what we do, how we react, in the dark. God is still God when the darkness comes. He is still reigning on His throne. He still works out things for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

Some things, some truths in life, are only learned in the dark. For example, have you ever said, “the stars are out tonight?” Did you know they are out in the daytime but you cannot see them because of the sun’s brightness? There are some treasures, some beautiful things that are only revealed in the dark.

Psalm 148:3 says the stars are there to praise the Lord. Do you have a star in your darkness with which to praise God?

Here are some treasures of the dark. In the light, we see things that are near. In the dark, we see far away – light years away into outer space. We may think our brightest thoughts in the day, but we think our deepest thoughts at night. In the light, we see more clearly. In the dark, we see further. There are some aspects of our future God reveals to us in the dark. If you are praying for God to reveal to you what is next up for your life, be prepared for dark times so that He can show you things that are far off. Just ask Daniel and John about that.

Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.

There is a danger in the dark that Scripture warns us about. One of our most dangerous temptations is that we will be tempted to light our own fire. That is the warning of verse 11. If God has placed darkness around you, then you need to wait on God to remove it. It is better to be in the dark with God than to stand alone in man-made light. Do not ever give into despair during dark times. Darkness cannot overcome light. Remember, you don’t open a door to let darkness in. You open a door to spill out light.

If light has been removed from the situations in your life, then God, in His wisdom, has allowed it so that your faith can be developed and so that He can show you a glimpse of the future. If God is the One who has placed darkness in your path than do not be so foolish as to light your own fire. A man made fire is deceptive. It is not a sure guide to follow. God says that if we light our own fire in the middle of a God ordained darkness we will suffer.

Abraham and Sarah could not wait. Abraham created his own fire with Hagar to produce Ishmael. Untold centuries of suffering have followed his decision. Has darkness come into your life? Are you waiting on God or trying to light your own fire?
Even in the darkest of nights the sun will still rise and chase it away. Eventually God’s light will shine again and the lessons you learn in the dark will last for all eternity. You will see things and know truths that you had never seen or known before. Weeping may endure for a night says Psalm 30:5, but joy will come in the morning.

Remember this, when you are walking on a sunny day, feeling the warmth of the sun’s rays, those rays are 8.3 minutes old when they reach your face. Even though you feel the sun’s warmth, you have never experienced its full intensity. The sun’s surface temperature is approximately 10,000° F. Its inner core is in excess of 27,000,000 °F.(https://www.space.com/17137-how-hot-is-the-sun.html) You have felt her warmth but not her intensity.

Likewise, we can feel the warmth of God’s presence but we haven’t experienced the full intensity of His glory yet. There is coming a day when we will, but now we only see a fraction of it. When the lights go out God is still there, shining. He wants to give you a star to praise Him more. Our trials become stars in order to praise the Lord. When the lights go out, develop your faith, lean on the Lord, trust in Him and you will see further than you ever have before.