Psalm 148 Hallelujah!
1 Praise Yahweh! Praise Yahweh from the heavens; praise Him in the heights! 2 Praise Him, all His angels; praise Him, all His hosts! 3 Praise Him, sun and moon; praise Him, all you stars of light! 4 Praise Him, you heavens of heavens, and you waters above the heavens! 5 Let them praise the name of Yahweh, for He commanded and they were created. 6 He also established them forever and ever; He made a decree which shall not pass (away). 7 Praise Yahweh from the earth, you great sea creatures and all the depths; 8 fire and hail, snow and clouds; stormy wind, fulfilling His word; 9 mountains and all hills; fruitful trees and all cedars; 10 beasts and all cattle; creeping things and flying fowl; 11 Kings of the earth and all peoples; princes and all judges of the earth; 12 both young men and maidens; old men and children. 13 Let them praise the name of Yahweh, for His name alone is exalted; His glory is above the earth and heaven. 14 And He has exalted the horn of His people, the praise of all His saints— of the children of Israel, a people near to Him.
“The order of creation in this psalm generally follows the order of Genesis 1 , though the writer took some poetic liberty.” (Dr. Thomas B. Constable) “This Psalm is neither more nor less than a glorious prophecy of that coming day, when not only shall the knowledge of the Lord be spread over the whole earth, as the waters cover the sea, but from every created object in heaven and in earth, animate and inanimate, from the highest archangel through every grade and phase of being, down to the tiniest atom—young men and maidens, old men and children, and all kings and princes, and judges of the earth shall unite in this millennial, anthem to the Redeemer's praise.” (Barton Bouchier)
“Praise Yahweh from the heavens... Praise Him, all His angels; praise Him, all His hosts!’ (1-2) The angels of God were his first creatures; it has even been thought that they existed prior to the inanimate universe. They were already praising their Maker before the light of day, and they have never ceased their holy song. Angels praise God best in their holy service. They praised Christ as God when they sang their Gloria in Excelsis at the Incarnation…” (John Lorinus) And in they will praise His name, leading the worship in observance of weekly Sabbaths, which will endure endure throughout eternity. (Isaiah 66:23; Revelation 11:19)
“‘Praise Him, sun and moon; praise Him, all you stars of light!' (3) “Let the sun, the fount of light, and warmth, and gladness, the greater light which rules the day, the visible emblem of the uncreated wisdom, the Light which lighteth every man, the Centre round whom all our hopes and fears, our wants and prayers, our faith and love, are ever moving,—let the moon, the lesser light which rules the night, the type of the Church, which giveth to the world the light she gains from the Sun of Righteousness,—let the stars, so vast in their number, so lovely in their arrangement and their brightness, which God hath appointed in the heavens, even as He hath appointed His elect to shine for ever and ever,—let all the heavens with all their wonders and their worlds, the depths of space above, and the waters which are above the firmament, the images of God's Holy Scripture and of the glories and the mysteries contained therein,—let these ever praise Him who made and blessed them in the beginning of the creation.” (J. W. Burgon)—“’for He commanded and they were created.’ (5b) “When Jesus came, He went everywhere showing his Divinity by this evidence, that His Word was omnipotent.” (John Lorinus)
"He also established them forever and ever.' (6a) Each created thing is not only formed to endure, in the type or the development, if not in the individual, but has its place in the universe fixed by God's decree, that it may fulfil its appointed share of working out his will. They raise a question as to the words ‘forever and ever’, how they can be reconciled with the prophecy, Isaiah 65:17: ‘Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind’; a prophecy confirmed by the Lord himself, saying, ‘Heaven and earth shall pass away’, and seen fulfilled in vision by the beloved disciple. Matthew 5:18, Revelation 21:1. And they answer that just as man dies and rises again to incorruption, having the same personality in a glorified body, so will it be with heaven and earth. Their qualities will be changed, not their identity, in that new birth of all things.” (Neale and Littledale)
But there will be one change to the new order; there will be no sun for the Lamb shall be the light of it. (Revelation 21:23) Thus: "these created things continue to exist as they do because God made a decree that they should endure as long as He wills.” (Dr. Thomas B. Constable)— “'He has given a law or statute which they cannot pass.' (6b)The word rendered decree here seems to be used in the sense of limit or bound; and the idea is, that He has bound them by a fixed law; He has established laws which they are compelled to observe. The fact is, in regard to them, that He has established great laws - as the law of gravitation - by which they are held from flying off; He has marked out orbits in which they move; He has so bound them that they perform their revolutions with unerring accuracy in the very path which He has prescribed.” (Albert Barnes)
“‘Praise Yahweh from the earth... fire and hail, snow and clouds; stormy wind, fulfilling His word;’ (8) Surely the children of God should awake from their lethargy! Can we be redeemed and dumb? Saved and silent? Delivered and made near and no word of gratitude? Let us, as we read this psalm, remember also that there is a praise note for the fire of tribulation and the hail of abusive scorn. The saints have long ago praised God in the fires. The stormy wind or adversity, no less than the zephyrs of prosperity, fulfills His purpose and deserves our trust.” (F.B. Meyer)—
“Praise Yahweh;... beasts and all cattle; creeping things and flying fowl;’ (10) The ox knows its master, the donkey its owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.’” (Isaiah 1:3) "When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: 'Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! (Psalm 118:26) Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!' Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, 'Teacher, rebuke your disciples!' 'I tell you,' he replied, 'if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.'" (Luke 19:37-40) Even the winds and the sea obey Him. (Matthew 8:27) "It should seem that as there is a religion above man, the religion of angels, so there may be a religion beneath man, the religion of dumb creatures. For wheresoever there is a service of God, in effect it is a religion.” (G.G., in a sermon entitled "The Creatures Praysing God," 1662)
“‘Praise Yahweh... Kings of the earth and all peoples; princes and all judges of the earth; both young men and maidens; old men and children.’ (11-12) The Psalms are church songs, and all who belong to the church are to sing them. Both young men, and maidens; old men, and children; let them praise the name of the LORD. The ripe believer who can triumph in the steadfast hope of God's glory, is to lend his voice to swell the song of the church when she cries to God out of the depths; and the penitent, who is still sitting in darkness, is not to refrain his voice when the church pours out in song her sense of God's love.” (William Binnie)
“‘Let them praise the name of Yahweh, for His name alone is exalted;’ (13a)— a name of such dread and reverence amongst the Jews, that they tremble to name it, and therefore they use the name Adonai (Lord) in all their devotions. And thus ought everyone to stand in awe, and sin not by taking the name of God in vain; but to sing praises, to honour, to remember, to declare, to exalt, and bless it; for holy and reverend, only worthy and excellent is his name.” (Rayment) “His glory is above the earth and heaven. (13b) Literally ‘He will exalt’— the horn (Strength) of His people, the praise of all His saints— of the children of Israel,’ (14a) He hath raised up a ‘Horn of Salvation for us, in the house of his servant David; as he spake by the mouth of His holy prophets, which have been since the world began.’ (Luke 1:67-75.) ‘He hath set over us a powerful Prince for the defense and safety of His people; Psalm 89:19;) whose ‘fame He hath hereby raised to the highest pitch of honour.’ (Bp. Patrick) David... was only a shadow of Him, who is ‘a Light to lighten the Gentiles, and the Glory of his people Israel.” (Thomas Scott)— “'A people near unto Him.’ (14b) Jesus took our nature, and became one with us; thus He is ‘near’ unto us; He gives us His Holy Spirit, brings us into union with Himself, and thus we are near to Him.” (James Smith)