Meditations on Psalm 148: Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord!

Have you ever stopped to think about what this phrase means?  It falls so easily off the tongue, that one could speak it without ever thinking about what it actually means—like so many other things we say without thinking about them.  Like, “Good morning,” or “How are you?” or “Bless you,” or any of dozens of others.  If you ever want to test this phenomenon (and be forever branded a social weirdo,) try answering any of these phrases with something other than a standard response.  You’ll find out that people don’t really think about what kind of “good” they are wishing you for the morning, that they really don’t care to hear “how” you are doing anything, and they have no idea what kind of “blessing” you require after a hearty sneeze.

Praise the Lord!  So, what does this phrase mean?  It’s sprinkled all over the Scriptures, and begins nearly every line of the 148^th Psalm.  Beyond Holy Scripture, Christians bandy this phrase around all the time, sometimes using it in ways that if you really thought about how it was used, you’d be really confused.  So… just how do you “praise” the Lord?  What is “praise?”  Who should “praise” the Lord?  When should we “praise” the Lord?  Does saying the words, “Praise the Lord!” actually “praise” the Lord?  Yep, I know… I just branded myself as that social weirdo for even asking the questions.  I can hear someone saying even now, “Geeze—it’s just a Christian phrase!  Stop analyzing it.”  But of course, you know I can’t.

Praise the Lord!  As this phrase is found in Psalm 148, it is a command… which means that from a Lutheran perspective, this is Divine Law.  We are commanded to praise the Lord, because it is good, right, and salutary for all created beings to praise their Maker.  Furthermore, it is right for all creatures to praise the Creator for all His good and glorious works that ring throughout the universe.  For everything that God does, and for everything that He permits to occur in His universe, we are commanded to praise Him.  Getting nervous yet?  It means that for everything that has ever happened in your life, for every painful and depressing and self-deflating thing you have ever encountered, you are commanded to praise the Lord.  If your track record is as good as mine, I bet you fail pretty miserably to praise God, when disasters both small and great befall you.  Failing to praise the Lord when we don’t feel like it, is a symptom of our cursed, twisted, and fallen nature—it is sin, and it is damnable.  This is just one aspect of the Divine Law we fail to keep, failing to at all times in all places, give thanks and praise, worship and laud and honor to the Almighty and Ever-living God.  Poor, miserable sinners we are, that our pain and selfishness stops our minds, and hearts, and mouths from giving God the praise He is due at all times, in all places, and in every situation.

Praise the Lord!  The Law is painful, isn’t it?  Harsher than we often think, when we throw it around so casually—and when we throw it at our neighbor, often without thinking.  What hope is there in this phrase, this command?  None at all.  It does its work well, and points us to our twisted depravity.  But from our bended knees, as we confess our sinfulness and failure to give God the praise He is due, another voice rings out to us, this time, from the Cross.  Jesus Christ, who always praises His Father, even as He hung dying on the tree for the sins of the world, speaks a word to His people:  I have fulfilled the Law—I have gloried the Name of God in Myself, and it shall be glorified and praised forevermore!  I have paid the price for your twisted and selfish pride, for your lack of just praise.  And with My Blood, I absolve you of your sins, that you may live forever with Me—forgiven and free.

Praise the Lord!  Ah, now the Gospel rings out in all its glory!  Now the people of God hear these words as Gospel, for Christ is our praise where our own has failed—Christ is our Victor and our Savior, where we have fallen.  What the Law could not accomplish by command because of our own sinful and fallen nature, the Gospel brings forth by faith working in love.  The Christian knows that he has not and cannot praise God rightly of his own resources, but enlivened and empowered by the Holy Spirit, that same Christian sings out glory, laud, and honor to our Redeemer King—a fulfilling of the Law by the love of God in Christ Jesus, poured out into and through His people who live by grace through faith in Him.  The Christian sings out praises of God in Christ Jesus our Savior, as faith in Him and His saving Gospel, causes the divine love of God to erupt from His justified and sanctified people.  Here now, in the light of the Gospel, the whole Christian life is turned into one eternal song of praise and thanksgiving to God, who has done all things well.  We are grafted into Christ, so that His death is our death, and His life is our life—and together with our Savior we sing forth the praise He is due.  Alive in Christ, by His power and His victory over sin, death, and the devil, our sins forgiven and our whole person reconciled to God now and for eternity, Christ Jesus accomplishes in us what we could never do of ourselves:

Praise the Lord!  Amen.