The Psalms: Book 5 - Hallelujah - Praise God
Opening Prayer:
God of all creation,
We praise You with the heavens,
The sun and moon,
The mountains, trees, and animals.
Everything You made points to Your glory.
Help us join in that praise —
with our words, our actions, and our lives.
Your name is greater than all.
We thank You and worship You.
Amen.
Key Scriptures:
Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
praise him in the heights above.
Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his heavenly hosts.
Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, all you shining stars.
Praise him, you highest heavens
and you waters above the skies.
Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for at his command they were created,
and he established them for ever and ever—
he issued a decree that will never pass away.
Praise the Lord from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,
lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
stormy winds that do his bidding,
you mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,
wild animals and all cattle,
small creatures and flying birds,
kings of the earth and all nations,
you princes and all rulers on earth,
young men and women,
old men and children.
Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for his name alone is exalted;
his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.
And he has raised up for his people a horn,
the praise of all his faithful servants,
of Israel, the people close to his heart.
Praise the Lord.
Psalm 148
Summary:
The Psalms are deliberately shaped. Over this series we have deliberately chosen Psalms from each book within the Psalms, hoping that we would get a taste for the diversity of prayer that it holds. But if we were to read the whole Psalms in order, I think we’d notice a couple things - here is a quote from the Bible Project highlighting what we might notice:
“There’s one thing about the book of Psalms that’s easy to miss if you don’t read it in order. While there are many different types of poems in the book, they can all be sorted into two larger categories of either lament or praise. Poems of lament express the poets’ pain, confusion, and anger surrounding the horrible things happening around them or to them. They draw attention to what’s wrong in the world and ask God to do something about it. There are a lot of these lament poems in the book, which shows that this is an appropriate response to the evil and tragedy we see in the world. Lamentation plays an important role in our journey of prayer.
While these lament poems make up much of Books One through Three, you can see that praise poems are occasionally woven in as well. These are poems of joy and celebration that draw attention to what’s good in the world. They retell stories of what God has done in the lives of his people, and they thank him for it. In Books Four and Five, praise poems outnumber the laments, culminating in the five-part hallelujah conclusion.
This shift from lament to praise is profound, and it tells us something about the nature of prayer according to this new Torah. Hoping for the messianic kingdom creates tension as we see the tragic state of our world. The Psalms teach us to neither ignore our pain nor let it determine the meaning of our lives. Biblical faith and prayer is always forward-looking, anticipating the day when God will fulfil his promises and praising him for this ahead of time.” - The Bible Project
This week our gatherings looked a bit different as we reflected on these ancient songs of praise with songs of our own written by a number of our music team. Feel free to check them out here. In this Guide we’ll reflect solely on Psalm 148. Below is an overview on Psalm 148, produced by the Bible Project.
Questions to Consider:
What stood out to you in this Psalm? Why?
On Sunday Jo said “I long for the day when all of Creation is put right. When all comes back into the order it was created. What would the world be like if we could hear this beautiful chorus of everything praising God?” What would it look like for all creation to praise God?
As well as our individual and corporate praise, what does it mean for us to join in with all of creation’s praise? What does this require of us?
What does this mean, “to raise up the horn of His people”?
A Practice to Consider:
Take time this week to go outside (on your own, with friends, or as a group), and intentionally notice the natural world—the sky, trees, birds, sea, animals, even the weather. As you walk, praise God for each part of creation you see. You could say it aloud, pray silently, or write down your praises in a journal or on your phone. Take the time to pray that more of creation, would come to recognise and praise their creator.
Additional Resources:
Find the full sermon recording here
For a printable version of this guide click here