The Lord’s Day
10 July 2011 The End of all Things—Unencumbered Praise Psalms 146-150
Introduction:
I have experienced many different kinds of worship settings. I was raised in rural Southern Baptist churches. The order of service was 1 song, prayer, 2 songs, prayer and offering, special music (usually the choir), sermon, invitation, and prayer. Nobody ever deviated from this order of service. In fact, almost all the other churches I attended followed the same sequence (Looking back, this form reminds me of Russian cities—all street names the same). This order of service we were all sure was NT. It was part of what made us Baptist and biblical.
Later, I attended worship services in various cultures. In the bush in Kenya, worshippers clapped out their tunes with seemingly everybody clapping on a different beat and at a different rate. In a large church in Moldova, the choir would sing in Latin, Russian, Ukrainian, and Moldovan languages. Often, the congregational hymns were in minor keys. To my untrained ear, the singing and the music did not seem to go together. Then 3 sermons followed.
When I was a child, about pew back high, our family visited a Holiness church. Some distant relative was the pastor. Beehive hair dos were in style at the time. Holiness women made use of the concept. One lady with a “Beehive” “got the Holy Ghost,” they called it. She ran screaming around the church wagging her head. Bobbiepins were letting loose and flying everywhere. After what seemed like 30 minutes, she stopped center isle in the front and was immediately “slain in the Spirit.” She fell headlong, backward onto the floor. That was before the gift of catching was implemented. My brother, not much older than I, pulled at our dad’s coattail and asked, “Daddy is she dead?”
Dad replied, “No, son. She just ran out of gas.”
I don’t remember where I was the first time I heard the term. Seemingly one day out the blue, people started talking about “praise songs.” I thought that we already had praise songs, such as, O worship the King all glorious above and gratefully/sing His wonderful love; Our shield and defender, the/Ancient of Days, Pavilioned in splendor, and girded with praise. Then people began to label church services as contemporary, traditional, or blended. At last the term worship wars was coined. Churches have split and staff members have been fired over worship styles. Finally, the consumer mentality prevailed, and people began to make their church choices on the basis of the beat. Precious few thought of the only thing that should raise our battle flags—the truth or lack thereof being sung and taught.
Exposure to the worship in so many settings helped me to see that worship is not about me and my preferences, but about God and His glory revealed in the truth. I had to learn to look for drink in the God’s glory. The essence of worship became precious.
The reason we have such worship anxiety in our day is because of the focus on only one aspect of worship—the form of corporate worship. Focus on the form has obscured the essence of worship. Jesus restored the essence of worship when He told the women at the well, Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father…. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. (Jn. 4:21-24).
It may be surprising to learn that the NT gives no prescription for worship in terms of style, format, time, and place. The Reformers noted that outward expressions of worship were not prescribed by the Master, because He desired that these outward expressions reflect the times and the cultures of each people. God made culture for the express purpose of carrying and communicating His glory. The gospel is alien to every culture. Therefore, culture is a fit vehicle for translating and transmitting the Gospel.
The Gospel was first received in the husk of Jewish culture. It was to the Jew first and, then also, to the Greek. Yet, it remained distinct from Jewish culture. The Gospel is other than culture. Because this is so, it can be carried by all cultures and transmitted purely from one culture to another. This is not the case with other religions. They are culture bound and cannot be separated infallibly from their native cultures. (To be Arab is to be Muslim.)
Therefore, styles of worship should change to grip the hearts of the people at any given time. Love should determine what will hurt or edify. (John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion quoted in Piper, Brothers …p237).
Luther said, the worship of God should be free at table, in private rooms, downstairs, upstairs, at home, abroad, in all places, by all people, at all times. Whoever tells you anything else is lying as badly as the pope and the devil himself. (Piper p. 238)
This does not mean that there are no regulations for worship. This is not to say that the modern free for all is acceptable. We are not free to gather in a cavalier manner and do what seems good to us.
While a form of worship is not prescribed in the NT, the elements of public worship are prescribed. We call this the regulative principle. The Regulative Principle of Worship requires that the elements of worship be instituted by God Himself, … limited by His own revealed will, and prescribed in Holy Scripture (Westminster Confession of Faith 21:5; 21:1; 1:6, quoted in The Baptism of Disciples Alone, by Fred Malone pp. xiv-xv).
A cursory reading of the NT shows that the elements of public worship consists of nothing less than prayer, praise, repentance and confession, giving, Scripture reading, preaching, and the right administration of the ordinances. Within these parameters, we are disciplined and guided by love for the edification of our brothers and sisters not by personal preference.
The early church did not call her gatherings worship services. We sing Brethren, We have met to Worship. Some will, and some won’t. When we leave, we say, We’ve been to worship. Some have, and some haven’t. The church building is not the locus of worship. An emphasis on form reestablishes what Jesus abolished in John 4.
When we call our gatherings worship services, we fail to make a needed distinction. We are emphasizing the form and not the essence. The locus of worship is not this gathering. The locus of worship is your hearts. Worship is not so much an event as it is life lived in the realized presence of God.
Worship is not a style or a fad. The form is never the thing itself. We should not confuse worship with the packaging and worship with the aids to worship. Worship is responding appropriately to the self-revelation of God. Thus Jesus said we must kiss the Father, bow our hearts to His self revelation in the truth. (Worship in John 4 means to kiss, to bow the knee).
What is an appropriate response to God’s self-revelation? A clue may be in the word worship itself. The English word worship has the idea of worth or value or honor. Worship is recognizing God as Supreme Value and Worth and giving awestruck honor due to Him in all of life.
While several synonyms for praise are used in Psalms 146-150 (146: 2147:1, 7, 12; 148:14; 149:1, 3), the verb primarily used is praise (halal). The verb means to be bright, to shine; to be splendid; to boast; to praise, to celebrate, to glorify; to be praised, to be famous; to cause to shine, to make bright, to give light; to deserve praise. When we worship, we are awestruck by the shining forth of the character of God, and we point out, celebrate, and boast in that revelation of God.
Psalms 146-150 aid us with the essence of worship. These five psalms are the last Hallel (praise) collection in the Psalter. Often they are called Hallelujah psalms because of the first and last lines of each psalm. All five psalms begin and end with Praise the Lord (halel jah). Hallelujah means praise the Lord or praise Yahweh. (The other two collections of Hallel psalms are also in Book 5 of the Psalter—the Egyptian Hallel psalms (113-118) and the Great Hallel psalms (120-136); see EBC vol. 5, p. 864.)
Songs of praise generally divide into three sections: 1.) an opening invitation to praise God, 2.) a description of the praise worthy character and actions of God, 3.) a concluding affirmation of faith or re-invitation to praise. Songs of descriptive praise focus on God’s works of creation, providence, and redemption. Psalms of praise are about Christ because He creates, upholds and, redeems. (See Futato Joy Comes in the Morning pp. 22-23 or Interpreting the Psalms pp. 146, 175-176)
Approaching the final Hallel Psalms, we must realize that they get us to the essence of worship. No form can contain the unhindered praise of these psalms. These psalms remind us that:
I.Life Lived in the realized presence of God, Coram Deo, will always lead to praise.
The psalms are real life lived—real life lived with a keen realization of God’s involvement in all of life. There are three praise collections in the Psalter. All three are in Book 5. The psalmist is communicating that the end of all things is praise, all things tend toward praise.
Life Moves from Plea to Praise in the Psalms—The Structure of the Psalter
Trials followed by trials notwithstanding, the direction of the believer’s life is toward praise. 3 structural elements of the Psalter press this point.
A.The Hebrew Title of the Psalter—Praise
The English title of the book of psalms is The Psalms. This comes to us from the Greek and Latin titles of the book. The Hebrew title of the book of psalms (te halal) is the noun form of the verb that opens and closes each of the final five psalms, praise (halal). So then the Hebrew title of The Psalms is Praise. The Psalms is a book of praise.
We have heard psalms of different genres expounded. The largest single genre in the Psalter is lament. Every human emotion, condition, situation, and circumstance is poured out in the Psalms. Yet, the compiler chose to sum up the essence of the book by calling it Praise. It seems that the complier’s purpose is to show that life lived in the presence of God always leads to praise.
B.The Final Five—Hallelujah Psalms
Not only in the title but also considering that the last five psalms are hymns of praise, the complier’s purpose in his arrangement of the Psalter is to show that all of life tends to the glory of God and results in praise. Though the outcome looks bleak at times, and we experience pain, shame, failure, sin, defeat, despair, depression, etc., God will turn things around. The trajectory of the believer’s life through a range of experience ultimately leads to eternal praise. This should lead you to hope in God.
Failure to see God’s self-revelation in creation, providence, and redemption and to give Him glory is to rob God of His most valued possession—His glory. To deny God the glory due His Name is high treason.
Our western worldview has led us as a people to seek the explanation of all things through reasoning. We say, There is a explanation for every thing. We have lost any spiritual awareness. We seek to explain everything in terms other than God. Life happens to us, and we fail to see God’s hand it. The psalmist could see nothing but the hand of God.
In Psalm 146, the psalmist sees God as the One who created, who is faithful, and is the help and hope of the oppressed, the hungry, the prisoner, the blind, the bowed down, the righteous, the sojourner, the widow, and the fatherless. He destroys the wicked.
In Psalm 147, God builds up Jerusalem, gathers the outcasts, heals the brokenhearted, binds up their wounds, determines the stars, lifts up the humble, casts the wicked to the ground, prepares rain, makes grass grow, gives food to the animals, takes pleasure in those who fear and hope in Him, blesses your children, makes peace, gives the seasons, and gives His Word to His people.
In Psalm 148, He created all things for His glory (v5) and He alone is exalted above all heaven and earth.
In Psalm 149, He takes pleasure in His people and will judge the nations by them.
In Psalm 150, He is to be praised for who He is and all He has done and in a way that reflects His greatness (v2).
C.The Bookends of the Psalter—Psalm 1-2, 149-150 One other point is to be made about the overall structure of the Psalter. Psalms 1 and 2 and Psalms 149 and 150 serve as the introduction and the conclusion of the Psalter, the bookends of the library of psalms. The end of Psalm 1 is Psalm 150, and the end of Psalm 2 is Psalm 149. (1,2—2,1)
Notice the relationship between Psalm 2 and Psalm 149. The nations rage and are vain in their imaginations. The Son of God owns them by inheritance, and they owe Him praise. They are exhorted to take refuge in Him and be blessed. In Psalm 149 the Lord delights in His people (v4), and He by His people executes judgment decreed on those who refused to “kiss the Son and be blessed.” Paul wrote, Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? ( 1Cor. 6:2). (Brueggeman, The Message of the Psalms, p 167)
Psalm 1 describes the blessedness of the man who delights in the law and meditates on it day and night. All of the psalms are to be understood as life lived in delight of the Word of God. Psalm 150 shows the outcome of such a life. Meditating on God’s word does not lead to legalism. Torah keeping does arrive at obedience, but that is not the goal of the law. The ultimate end of delighting in God’s law is not obedience but praise. Life under the Word becomes free to praise. We were given a preview of this in 147: 19-20. The expectation of the OT is not finally obedience but adoration. Life in the presence of God is to arrive at unencumbered praise. (Brueggeman, p 167)
Psalm 1 describes the blessedness of the man who delights in the law and meditates on it day and night. All of the psalms are to be understood as life lived in delight of the Word of God. Psalm 150 shows the outcome of such a life. Meditating on God’s word does not lead to legalism. Torah keeping does arrive at obedience, but that is not the goal of the law. The ultimate end of delighting in God’s law is not obedience but praise. Life under the Word becomes free to praise. We were given a preview of this in 147: 19-20. The expectation of the OT is not finally obedience but adoration. Life in the presence of God is to arrive at unencumbered praise. (Brueggeman, p 167)
vHymns of Praise begin and end with exhortations to worship. Psalms 146-150 begin and end with Praise the Lord. These exhortations to praise are all imperatives. Not the Psalmist but God is initiating worship.
We don’t initiate worship. God does. The Call to Worship is not first ours; it is God’s and, then, ours only secondarily. We call on each other to worship because God calls all of us to worship.
God calls us to set our hearts and affections on Him. In the core of who we are and what we love, God demands supremacy (146: 1 O my soul). God has given us existence, and we must give Him glory while we are live (146:2). The very nature and activity of God make praising Him good, pleasant, and fitting (Psalm 147:1). The psalmist piles up words to aid us to see the virtue, beauty, and delight in praise. To not worship cuts us off from what is good, beautiful, and true and exposes us to what is evil, ugly, and false. God calls us to find our deepest satisfaction and delight in Him. III.The Scope of Praise Presented in Psalms 146-150
We know that the OT was concerned with the form of worship. The Psalter is the hymnbook of the OT form. Yet, we hear throughout the OT , including the Psalms, the complaint that people were concerned for the form and not their hearts. God was concerned with the heart as well as the outward form. The form was to be an expression of the inner reality of a heart set on God. Whatever form our worship takes, it is an expression of the inner, spiritual reality of our hearts.
The Hallelujah Psalms were used in temple worship and are radically focused on the inner reality of the heart. The scope of praise presented in these psalms cannot be contained by the temple and Jewish nation. The scope of praise presented and called for is personal, corporate, and universal.
A.Worship is Personal and Corporate
Psalm 146:1-2 shows the personal and corporate nature of worship. The psalmist calls on the people of God to worship. Then in vv1b-2, he exhorts himself to worship. When the psalmist exhorts himself and others to worship, he is not calling on them to participate in outward forms in a lively manner. He is calling on himself and others to set their affections on God based on the revealed character and activity of God in creation, providence, and redemption, which touches all of life.
Worship is personal and corporate. What I mean by that is the locus of worship is always each believer’s heart. Whether you are alone or gathered here, the location of worship is your heart. It is personal, an inner spiritual reality, a heart set on God. Worship is never private and individual. You are not an island. God is not your private deity.
When I was a kid, I used to watch the free, local TV, religious shows on Sunday mornings. The theme song of one was, Me and Jesus got our own thing go’in/Me and Jesus got it all worked out/Me and Jesus got our own thing go’in/We don’t need anybody to tell is what it’s all about.
Worship is always personal, and it always has public implications. You cannot have your own little private worship time while you are here. The corporate gathering is not about you or your preferences. We have gathered to encounter God corporately on the bases of His activity among us and His character revealed in the truth we sing, preach, and pray. Like the psalmist, we are here to exhort each other and ourselves to glory in the revelation of God among us and for us. Worship is personal and corporate.
B.Worship is to be personal and universal
The call to worship is personal and universal. Notice the movement in these praise psalms from God’s people being called to praise Him in Psalms 146 and 147 to the heavens and the earth in Psalm 148 (vv1, 7) to everything that has breath in Psalm 150 (v6). Psalm 149 is the exception, but it is unique as an expression of the eschatological judgment of God on all who refuse set their affections on Him, on those who deny the worth of His glory. Something must be done with them. Praise will never be unhindered as long as evil is about.
The scope of praise here required cannot be contained in temple. This is evident not only in the heavens, the earth, and nations being called on to worship God (Psalm 148), but in the instruments employed in Psalm 150. Some belonged in the temple liturgy, and some did not (BCOT vol 3 Psalms p.748; EBC vol 5, p879-80).
Notice, however, that the psalmist is not calling for universal noise making. He is calling for a fitting response to God’s revelation of Himself (150:2b). God has made himself known in a general way in creation and providence. He has made Himself known in a special way in His Word and in the Person of His Son. The creation declares His glory, and His Word declares the Gospel, which is for more glorious, remarkable, and stunning than the creation. Everybody, everywhere, at all times is responsible to give Him glory.
IV.What God Has Done and Who God Is Are the Bases for all Worship Hymns of descriptive praise open with an invitation to praise God. If they behave, they, then, move to the basis of praise, which will be either the character or activity of God. God’s character is revealed in His activity because He cannot do anything that is contrary to His nature. These psalms, however, deliberately move from a greater to a lesser emphasis on God’s activity as the basis of praise to God’s character as the basis of praise. The theological purpose of this change in emphases is to show that God is taking us to unencumbered praise. In Zion, petitions will never be necessary (Rev. 21:22-27).
It is well and good to praise God for what He does as long as it leads you to glory in who God is. We praise God not the gift. The psalmist is showing us that what God does should lead us to satisfaction in Him. This is a subtle point, but one that must be made. The danger is that we rejoice in, glory in, and find satisfaction in the gift rather than God ( as all pagans do). Then we take God for granted. When He doesn’t do what we want Him to do or behave how we want Him to behave, we become disappointed in Him.
The faithful of Israel had to worship God from captivity. Job confessed that the Lord gives and takes away, but His Name is Blessed. The flip side of this coin is just as deadly. If we disregard the God’s gifts and say we find no satisfaction in them but only in Him, there is no place in the universe for us to live. We are denying our need of what God says we need and desires to give us. I thank God for hot water. I can live without it and rejoice. I have. I will again if God so orders my life. In the meantime, I praise God for the gift.
If what God has done and who God is are the bases of all worship, then worshiping God is an end in itself and not a mean to some other end. Our purpose in this gathering is never missions, evangelism, to fix your marriage, to break your addictions, to raise your kids, to be a good family, etc. Our purpose is to encounter God both personally and corporately. Worship is an end in itself that has no other end. It, also, answers our chief end—to glorify God and enjoy him forever.
A.Psalm 146 God is to be praised because He is the help and the hope of His people (v 5).
In this psalm, the psalmist contrasts earthly rulers with God. This is all the more powerful if this is a psalm of David. The language of Zion is in this Psalm (vv5, 10), which always points to the reign of God among His people. Why would you trust a man who is a mere mortal, when you can trust God?
Unlike men, God nor His plans perish. If He created all things and is faithful, executes justice, gives food, sets prisoners free, opens blind eyes, lifts up the lowly, loves the righteous, watches over the stranger, upholds the widow and orphan, and destroys the wicked, who else could be our help and hope?
B.Psalm 147 gives us three sections of bases for praise. I will summarize them for us.
General Revelation
1.vv2-6 The Lord of infinite wisdom and understanding who created and named the stars (vv4-5) restores and vindicates His people (vv2-3, 6).
2.The Lord, who providentially cares for His creation, takes pleasure in those who fear Him and hope in His love. (vv7-11)
Jesus alluded to this Psalm when He spoke of the Father’s care of the ravens.
The psalmist has given us a description of God that evokes both fear and hope. The view is like going to the Grand Canyon and walking up to the safety rail that separates you from a 5000 foot fall. As you approach the overlook, your legs begin to weaken, your balance off, you feel sure you would fall off the edge if a rail were not in place, and you reach to touch the rail. From that place of safety, you have the greatest thrill of your life looking in all directions at an awe-inspiring view. The view is spectacularly overwhelming, dizzying, and delightful at the same time. You can enjoy the view only because of where you stand.
God has given us a glimpse of Himself that should strike fear in our hearts. Yet, He has positioned us in a place where we can hope in, love, and enjoy the same One who overwhelms us. This God who names the stars is the same One who takes pleasure in those whom He loves.
Special Revelation
3.The Lord has given us His Word that we might know Him and give Him glory (vv12-20).
The snow, frost, and ice (vv15-18) would have been unusual occurrences that would have captured the attention of the Israelites. These events in nature occur by the word of God. Even more striking, unusual, and worthy of notice is that God gave them His special revelation in His Word. He did that with no other nation. He entered into a covenant with them and revealed Himself and did many mighty acts on their behalf. How remarkable that the God who strikes such fear in our heart has given us His Word that we may know and hope in Him.
God’s special revelation has come to us. Out of billions of people on the earth, we, too, are the recipients of God’s special grace in the Gospel of His Son. How that should evoke praise.
C.Psalm 148 has 2 sections each with a basis for praise, calling on heaven and earth to praise Him.
1.The Lord calls on the heavens to praise Him because He decreed their existence and they were created (vv2-5).
Whatever is in the heavens, God made for His glory and demands its praise.
2.The Lord calls on the earth to praise Him because He alone is exalted, and He has called out a people for Himself (vv7-14, esp. vv13-14).
After calling on the created order to praise Him (7-10), God calls all the peoples of the earth to praise him. He gives two reasons to praise Him. First, He alone is exalted. To not worship Him is treason.
Second, He raised His people up in strength. God calls the nations to worship Him because of His gracious work for His people. They should reason, if He is kind to them, perhaps He will be so with us. God’s goodness leads us to repentance. The entire created order waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God (Rom. 8:20). The creation hopes for the liberty God has given His people.
D.Psalm 149 calls on Zion to praise the Lord because He takes pleasure in His people and saves the humble (v4)
The children of Zion are to sing a new song to the Lord because of the newness of the Lord’s work among them. This is a song that anticipates God’s final, eschatological victory over their enemies and their final, full, and complete salvation. Zion is an indication of God’s presence among His people. He is among them to delight in them and save them in the fullest sense of the word. God’s delight in and salvation of His people mean the overthrow of their enemies and complete victory over evil. (Zechariah’s prophecy in LK. 1:68-71 picked up on this theme form Ps 148:14 and 149:8.) Story: “One of the Master’s Men Died Today” shows necessity of judgment.
E.Psalm 150 God is to be praised because of who He is. Psalms 146 (vv6-10) and 147 (vv2-6, 8-11, 13-20) elaborate extensively on the historical basis praise. Psalm 148 narrows its historical basis of praise a bit (vv5-6 and 13-14). Psalm 149 narrows the basis of praise further yet (v4). These psalms take God’s activity as the basis of praise.
If Psalm 150 has a historical basis of praise rooted in what God does, it is in v2a. Yet, nothing specific is spelled out. Redemptive history is full of the mighty acts of the Lord. This says more about who God is than what God does. As we have seen in the Hallel psalms, all of God’s works are for His own glory and the good of His people, i.e. for their salvation.
If Psalm 149 shows us God’s final victory over evil and the eternal salvation of His people, Psalm 150 describes for us the norm of the eternal age when every thing that has breath praises the Lord. God is taking us as His people to a place of unencumbered praise, a place where no lament will ever be need. No historical situation will arise that compels God to intervene to defend His glory and His people.
Conclusion:
In a moment, we are going to come to the Lord’s Table. The view from where we are is stunning. The God who created the stars, put them in their place, and named them is the same Lord who delights in His people. As His people, we know our sin, the dark rooms of sin that dwell in us. To gaze on the majesty of God would be our undoing, if God had not made a cleft in the rock to hide our souls from the tempest of His wrath and His consuming glory.
Today in both fear and hope, we come to the Lord’s table, knowing that our lives are hidden with Christ in God. From here and only from here, we can look out at the majesty of God will thrilled hearts and anticipate the reality of Psalm 150.
If you turn from Christ, even the small breezes of God’s wrath will sweep you into an infinite furnace of consuming wrath.