Psalm 148 explained: Everything Everywhere Called to Praise

The sky and beyond (vv. 1-4)

The poet starts at the top: angels, the heavenly armies, sun, moon, stars and the highest heavens. The waters above the sky reflect the ancient picture of water held up above the sky, as in Genesis 1, though some read it simply as the clouds.

Why the heavens praise (vv. 5-6)

They exist because God gave the command, and he set them in their places by a decree that does not fail. In a world where many people worshiped the sun and stars as gods, this treats them as created things that join in worship instead.

The earth and its creatures (vv. 7-10)

Now the call moves down to sea monsters and ocean depths, wild weather, mountains, trees and every kind of animal. Even storms, which seem out of control, are described as carrying out God's word.

Every kind of person (vv. 11-12)

Kings and rulers stand alongside young men and women, the old and children. No one is too powerful or too small to be included.

The reason and the horn (vv. 13-14)

God's greatness is above earth and sky put together, and he has given his people new strength, pictured as a raised horn, a common symbol of power taken from a strong animal. Scholars are unsure what specific event, if any, the poet had in mind.

Key verse: Psalm 148:13

Something to think about

When you look at the night sky, a storm or a crowd of very different people, does it ever feel like it points to something beyond itself, or does it feel complete just as it is?