SUMMER IN THE PSALMS: Psalm 148

Chris McCurley: Good morning again. Good to see you all once again. Can you hear me okay? No, not yet. How about that? Thank you. And thank you, Steve, for leading that song. I listened to that song just about every morning driving in for treatment at Nashville and song just means a lot to me. And so I asked, Hey Steve, would you float it by the new song leading class and see what they think? And so if you don't like it, it's my fault. But I love it. Before we jump into the lesson, I want to tell you the next week we're going to begin a series on sexuality. And that series will run until our workshop with Guy Hammond, who will be here September the twelfth and the thirteenth. He's going to speak to us about biblical sexual ethics, as well as how we can reach our LGBTQ friends and neighbors. Guy lived as a gay man for 14 years. Committed his life to Christ, surrendered his sexuality to Christ, and he's going to come and talk to us about his life, about how biblical sexual ethics plays into all that and how we can better serve and better help those around us who may be dealing with same-sex attraction. I want you to know that this series will be that I'll be preaching as long as. a along with what Guy will be talking to us about will be rooted in scripture, but it will be saturated with love. This is not an angry series. This is not a you tell preacher, that's not what this is. No angry amens. This is about how we can learn more about biblical sexual ethics, but also how we can help those around us. So there will be no brow beating, there will be no bludgeoning people with a Bible, just an honest look at scripture and a tone of grace. So I ask that you pray. You pray for me in this series, that you pray for Guy and and his visit with us, and that you pray that it will produce much fruit. And I want you to know that you can feel comfortable to invite your friends. Maybe even those that wouldn't totally agree, you can feel comfortable inviting them. God tells me that many times after his seminars, people will come up to him and say, I don't totally agree, but I love the way you presented that, or I love you. And I will also tell you that my part in the series that we'll begin next week will talk about sexuality. And so if if maybe that's something you want to shield from your Small children, I understand that. I don't think it will be anything too graphic or anything you have to worry about, but I will give you that forewarning that we will be talking about sex and sexuality. So you know, if if that is something that maybe you're not really comfortable introducing your kids to, I mean we can make other arrangements for you to still be here and hear the lesson. So all that is the disclaimer and the public service announcement for what we'll be starting next week. You know, like most of you. I have an ironing board at home. And like most of you, we use our ironing board along with an iron to help remove wrinkles from clothes. But our ironing board serves many other purposes. It can be used as a shelf. You can stack things on it. It can be used as an open closet. You can hang clothes from it. Or if you're very careful, you can push it up against the wall and get up on one knee and use it to reach things that maybe were previously out of reach. We have many uses for our ironing board. And I wonder if the inventor of the ironing board pitched it that way. You think he went in and said, hey, this is an ironing board, it has at least 15 different uses. I doubt it. No, I I think the manufacturer of the ironing board said, this is an ironing board. It has one purpose, and that purpose is to help get wrinkles out of your clothes when used along with an iron. And it just goes to reiterate that things are at their best when they function for the purpose in which they were designed. Things are at their best when they are fulfilling the purpose for which they were designed. Whether we're talking about ironing boards or people, the same holds true. In the beginning, on the sixth day of creation, God reached down and he made man from the dust of the earth. He breathed life into his nostrils. And the Greeks have a word for man. It's anthropos. It means the upward-looking one. And since the day of creation, man has been looking upward. We were designed for that purpose. As humans, we are multifunctional beings. We have many different roles and we wear many different hats. You know, we're We're employees, we're bosses, we're teachers, we're coaches, we're bankers, we're all kinds of things. But at our core, we were created for a purpose. When God created man, he had one purpose in mind, and it was to glorify him in all that we do. We may perform other functions, but most importantly, we must never forget why we were created. Because after all, we are at our best when we are fulfilling the purpose for which we were designed. And that is what Psalm 148 is all about. Let's read it together. 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. He established them for ever and ever, he gave a decree, and it shall not pass away. 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. Beast and all livestock, creeping things and flying birds, kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all the rulers of the earth, young men and maidens together. I lost my place. There we are. Old men and children, 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. The story is told of a little boy who was sitting on a park bench and filled with joy, he kept shouting, Hallelujah, Hallelujah. And all up walks this newly minted college graduate who was very enlightened and was always looking for an opportunity to show off his enlightenment. And so he walks up to the little boy and asks him for the reason for his praise. And the little boy says, What is there that God can't do? He parted the Red Sea. So the Israelites could walk across on dry land and escape Pharaoh and his enemies. And the newly minted college grad that was enlightened said, Yeah, but that so-called miracle is pretty easy to downplay. Turns out the Red Sea in that area was only about 10 inches deep, so they could wade across pretty easily. And the college grad walked away with his chest sticking out. And as he's walking away, he hears the y little boy again shout, Hallelujah, hallelujah. And so he he turns around confused and he walks back over to him and he says, Why are you praising? And he said, 'Cause it's even better than I thought. Not only could God lead Israel through the Red Sea, he could drown Pharaoh and his enemies in just ten inches of water, right? I think we can always find a reason to praise God. We can always find a reason to sing Hallelujah. And that's really what Psalm 148 is all about. It's inviting creation to praise the creator. It is a summons to a people to shout hallelujah. And that's really what hallelujah means. Praise Yah. Yah being short for Yahweh. For us, hallelujah is the praise. You sing out hallelujah, you shout out hallelujah to praise God. But for the Hebrew, for the Israelite, Hallelujah was a call to praise. It was a summons for everyone to shout or to praise God. Hallelujah. It is a call to worship. Give God all the glory, all the praise, worship him. And by now you know that there are 150 Psalms. And the last five Psalms all begin and end, this we probably all know, to live without purpose, to live without meaning is no life at all. What is my purpose? It's a question that has been asked for centuries. Many philosophers have pondered this question. It's an existential question: who am I and why am I here? Well A very unassuming preacher from Dixon, Tennessee, is going to give you the answer. I'm going to give you the answer to one of life's most pressing questions. Are you ready? You might want to write this down. What is my purpose? To glorify God. That's it. That's your purpose. That's everybody's purpose. What happens all too often is we become pretty selfish with our purpose and we try to cram God into it. Well, God put me on this earth to play football. No, he didn't. Put you on this earth to glorify God. Well, God put me on this earth to make money. No, he didn't. Put you on this earth to glorify God. God put me on this earth to do art. No, he didn't. He put you on this earth to glorify God. Can you glorify God in whatever chosen profession you're in? Sure. If you can't, you need to get out that job. Because your life is about glorifying God. That is your number one priority. That is your only purpose. You are God's creation, created to glorify your creator, and that is what Psalm 148 is all about. It's about fulfilling your purpose. And it's not just about you, it's about creation glorifying the Creator. Let's look at it. Verse one. 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. Again, you see this call for praise. This summons in particular is to the skies. And I want you to notice the outside, inside, outside approach. The outline is heaven, the heights. Then contained within the heavens or the heights is all his angels and hosts and sun and moon and and stars. And these are sandwiched between the highest heavens and the sky above. Again, this is Genesis language. You go back to Genesis chapter one, verse six. And God said, Let there be an expanse. In the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters. And God made the expanse, and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning the second day. And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear. And it was so. In the expanse of the heavens, to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth. And it was so. And God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night, and the stars, and God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth. To rule over the day and over the night and to separate the light from the darkness, and God saw that it was good, and there was evening and there was morning the fourth day. By hearkening back to this creation story, the psalmist is calling on all the cosmos to proclaim hallelujah. But why? Why should all of those entities praise God? Well, it's interesting. That the design of this psalm is to answer that very question. Why should all the cosmos praise God? I mean, after each second section, you notice the psalmist pauses to offer the reason why all of creation should praise Yahweh. Notice verses five and six again. 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. So the sun and the moon and the stars, they do the same thing. Dance regularly every day and night, all by God's command. The angels and the hosts, these these beings, all got God to thank for their very existence. Without the creator, nothing created would exist. How's that for being painfully obvious, right? Now, you shift years from the skies to To everything below the skies, verses seven and eight is a list of seemingly scary things that God praise. Notice verse seven and eight. Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all deeps, fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind, fulfilling his word. Remember when we talked about the chaos monsters in in Psalm 74? We talked about how monsters are mentioned throughout Scripture. You have the behemoth, the Leviathan, the dragon, all these different creatures that are mentioned, and they all represent chaos and disorder. And here we see that they are contained. That while they may be scary and while they may disrupt, while they may bring chaos, God is going to ultimately end the threat. And here in Psalm 148, we find that these scary sea creatures. Of the deep, as well as the fire and the hail and the and the midst of the storms are all summoned to praise the Lord. Once again, it's echoes of Genesis. The pre-creation state was this dark, watery existence. And God comes along and he brings order to the chaos. And these sea creatures, these sea monsters, chaos monsters, are kept at bay by God's powerful. Word and so the chaos and the disorder are limited. So this is a a show of force. This is the psalmist saying, Yeah, there's some scary creatures out there, they can bring disorder and chaos, but none of them have any power. The only reason they even exist is because God lets them. They have no power over God. This is kind of the psalmist saying you better recognize. Again, you only exist because God lets you. Keep reading. Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, beasts and all livestock, creeping things and flying birds. How do trees praise God? The very nature of a tree is to grow upward, reaching towards the heavens. And they produce fruit and shade. That is their purpose. And when every piece of creation, including trees, fulfills its purpose, it's an act of. Praise. It's a hallelujah. Once again, the psalmist is going back to Genesis language. Genesis 1, 24 and 25. And God said, Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds, livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds. And it was so And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind, and God saw that it was good. There's a guy by the name of Robert Co excuse me, Rex Cocroft. He is a biologist at the University of Missouri. He says this: There are at least two hundred thousand species out there singing in ways that are silent to us. And that's way more songs than if you add up all of the birds and fish and the whales and the frogs out there. In other words, every animal has a song. Every animal has a song, and they sing for different reasons. But I would like to think, and please don't crush my spirit on this, I would like to think that one of the reasons they're singing is to praise God. To praise God. Every living creature owes its existence to God. So cattle, birds, all the animals, they give their praise to God. And how do they do that? If you're following along, by fulfilling their purpose. I want you to notice verses 11 and 12. Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth, young men and maidens together, old men and children, every kind of human, from the powerful to the peasant, from the poverty stricken to the Richly blessed from the from the young to the old, everyone who inhabits this earth is called on to praise God. And just as we were given a reason as to why the skies should praise Yahweh, now we're given a reason as to why the whole earth should praise Yahweh. And notice what it says. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted. His majesty is above earth in 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's the reason? The reason the inhabitants of the land are called to praise God is because he has raised up a horn for his people. And you say, well, okay, but you know that really doesn't answer the question. And in fact, it kind of brings up another question, right? What's the horn that he has raised up? What is this a reference to? And it's important to note that the raised horn is a common horn. Biblical representation of victory. It's a symbol of victory, especially when associated with being rescued from oppression. I've been to Mexico City several times, did mission work there, and one time the host family took us to a bull fight. I don't know if you've ever been to a bull fight. I wouldn't recommend it. It's rather gruesome. And in fact, I found myself rooting for the bull. And there are instances where the bull wins. Where the bull survives and the bull wins. And if that happens, the bull. is taken off into pasture and he lives a life of luxury for as as long as he does live. But when a bull is victorious, it assumes a posture. And I'm sure you've seen this. Firm, strong, raising its head, sticking its horns in the air. That is exactly the imagery that is being portrayed here in Psalm 148. Raising up a horn is exactly this. You're victorious. You have been raised up, especially from oppression. You've been rescued from something. Whose horn is being lifted up here? Well, it's the people of Israel, right? What victory is God bringing about for these people? And this is where Psalm 148 connects with the bigger narrative of Scripture. Remember when I stated that the Psalms tell the whole story of Scripture? It begins in Genesis with God bestowing mankind with royal responsibility, and they botch it. And so therefore they're exiled from the Garden of Eden, but God kick starts his plan of redemption. He chooses a people which is Israel and He promises to rescue all of humanity through this nation. The rest of Torah shows Israel surrounded by enemies on the outside, but they corrupt themselves on the inside, and so the people are desperate, and although their trials and tribulations are all of their own making, God promises victory. He is going to lift up or raise up a horn, and that's what the Psalms are all about. They tell the story of how God will raise up a king and will bring victory to Israel and rescue the world. He will fulfill where Israel failed, and he will rescue the world from oppression. He will end the exile. And so, who is this mystery horn? Any guesses? Yeah, it's Jesus, the Messiah. Jesus is the exile ender. He is the hope deliverer. He is the serpent. Crusher, he is the promise keeper, he is the curse reverser, he is the silver lining, he is the horn that brings victory. No one, no thing in the heavens above or the skies, bel the land below, everything is summoned to praise Yahweh because he is the horn of victory. In 1 Samuel chapter 2, we see Hannah rejoicing. She sings a song of praise because she had prayed and prayed for a child, and God answers her prayer. Samuel is born to her. Remember, she kind of struck a deal with God. If you give me a son, I'll give him back to you. And so she she sings praises for God, bringing down the proud and bringing up the humble. And then notice how she concludes her song. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth. He will give strength to his king and exalt the horn. His anointed. Many years later, Mary comes out with her hit single. It's her song of praise in response to the baby that is in her womb. And like Hannah, she marvels at God's might and mercy. She praises the Lord just as Hannah did for humbling the proud and exalting the humble, and she concludes her song by remembering the covenant that God made with Abraham and the promise. Of the Messiah. And Mary isn't the only one singing. Zechariah sings as well. After holding his son, John, in his arms and filled with the Holy Spirit, he sings, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people, and he has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David. Zechariah's song for his son will pave the way for the long-awaited horn of salvation. So when you see this horn, Think that bull standing strong and raising up its head, horns pointed in the sky. It's a symbol of victory. And followers of Jesus can sing the same song today. The psalms become our psalms. We sing praises to God because He has lifted up the horn of our salvation. This psalm becomes our psalm because their story is now our story, and we have been rescued. We are being rescued, and one day we will be fully rescued. rescued by this king and his exiles living in a foreign land under the oppression of sin and death and the curse, we need a silver lining. We need hope. We need deliverance. And thanks be to God that He has raised up a horn of salvation for His people and so we all can say Hallelujah. I I'm sure you heard the story about the guy that goes to buy a donkey from a preacher. Have you this story? Just enlighten me if you have, entertain me. So this man goes to buy a donkey from a preacher, and the preacher tells him, This this donkey is uniquely trained. It will only go if you say the word hallelujah, and it will only stop if you say the word amen. So the man is intrigued, he buys the donkey, he gets on it, and begins riding. And he rides a long way. But he's starting to get to the edge of a cliff. And if he goes off that cliff, he's not gonna live. But he can't, for the life of him, remember what the word was to get the donkey to stop. So he just runs through the list. Bible, Christian, disciple, you know, he just starts running through the list. Nothing's working. Finally, right before he gets to the cliff, he begins to pray, God, please deliver me. Please help me to to to not go off this cliff and spare my life. In Jesus' name, amen. And the donkey comes to stop. And the man is so relieved. He cries out, Hallelujah! Sorry, that was a poor attempt at a joke. I want to leave you with one final question this morning. Are you fulfilling your purpose? Are you living for the purpose for which you were created? Are you fulfilling your purpose? Because you were made for a purpose. And what is that purpose? To glorify God. And so we all sing, hallelujah. Praise God for creating us, sustaining us, and for raising up. A horn of salvation. Steve's going to come and lead us in a song. If we can pray with you this morning. If we can help you in some way. If you want to study the Bible with someone, then certainly we want to do that as well. Maybe you've been studying, maybe you're ready to to take on this horn of salvation and live in this victory and and become a child of God and be immersed in the waters of baptism. Certainly we can take care of that this morning. Don't leave here this morning without being right with God. Come as we stand and as we sing.

1 Samuel 2 · chapter mention