1 Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heaven!
2 Praise him for his mighty works;
praise his unequaled greatness!
3 Praise him with a blast of the ram’s horn;
praise him with the lyre and harp!
4 Praise him with the tambourine and dancing;
praise him with strings and flutes!
5 Praise him with a clash of cymbals;
praise him with loud clanging cymbals.
6 Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord!
Praise the Lord!
3 And they were singing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb:
“Great and marvelous are your works,
O Lord God, the Almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
O King of the nations.[a]
4 Who will not fear you, Lord,
and glorify your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come and worship before you,
13 And then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea. They sang:
“Blessing and honor and glory and power
belong to the one sitting on the throne
and to the Lamb forever and ever.”
On his robe at his thigh was written this title: King of all kings and Lord of all lords.
Who is the Lord? Is there any question? Isn't it obvious that the Lord is Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the crucified and risen Lord?
So we end the Psalms as we can see the Bible ends, with praise and an invitation:
' “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this message for the churches. I am both the source of David and the heir to his throne. I am the bright morning star.” The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” Let anyone who hears this say, “Come.” Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life. '
The Lord is in His meeting place here on earth, the sanctuary, and He is ruling from heaven at the very same time. When we pray the “Our Father” prayer and we request that it is on earth as it is in heaven, we are recognising the same throne of Jesus depicted in Psalm 150. In the sanctuary close to man as it is in heaven. This is just as the book of Hebrews tells us, that the earthly representations are just copies of the reality in heaven where Jesus sits on the throne as the ultimate sacrificial Lamb.
And what Jesus has done is worthy of praise. His great work of creation, incarnation, and salvation are the greatest acts in all the universe.
So we are invited to pull out all the stops. Gather all the music making instruments. Use our very life giving breath and all our energy to sing, play, and dance in praise to the Lord of lords.
We didn’t have to look far to see our saviour. And when we see Him we know what to do. Jesus repeatedly shows up at festivals and parties. So much so, he has a reputation. And if being at these events wasn’t enough, Jesus often talks about festivals and parties in his teaching.
Heaven is described as a wedding feast. And there is no better way to get a party started than with music. Jesus is providing the food, so we bring the music and dancing, and all in honour of Him.
I’ve never pretended to be a Bible scholar in this pursuit. I’m just a dad and a grandpa who loves Jesus and loves the Bible because it tells me the truth about life and myself. So I’m not going to pretend that this is good Hebrew scholarship or archaeologically verified, historically accurate biblical understanding. I’m just telling you what I’m seeing. When I wrote out the 6 verses of Psalm 150 I wondered. Are there twelve invitations to praise? Although it could be argued by various commentators that there are 10 or 13. I like the way the New Living Translation has set the text in my copy of the Bible. And I see 12 invitations or commands to praise, perhaps one for each tribe or one for each disciple. I’m sure it is not of very much importance because all attention is to be on Jesus.
He is the Lord. Jesus is the “Him” of the praises. Jesus is the God of the praises.
I don’t know how much of this journey through the Psalms you have travelled with me. I set out on August 1, 2023 to hand copy a chapter each day for 150 days. I set out to look for Jesus each day and let the text point me to my Lord. I proposed that the entirety of the Psalms were messianic. And praise God, I have finished the task. I have copied each Psalm and written a Bible lesson, reflection, and sermon outline of how I saw Jesus in that Psalm. This was no easy task. But it was no burden. I have loved this path. And although a new season will now begin in this life of seeking my saviour, I have the confidence that He is the same God who gave manna every day to the disobedient, complaining, undeserving, wandering Israelites. Jesus is the same gracious, forgiving, loving, caring shepherd God who will guide me on my path to that celestial city where I will join the greatest party ever, celebrating the greatest hero ever, Jesus Christ the Lord.
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| Handwritten Psalm 150 |
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