Ps 148

Praise Yhwh / in the heavens

                Praise him / in the heights

Praise him / all his angels

                Praise him / all his hosts

Praise him / sun and moon

                Praise him / all shining stars

Praise him / heaven of heavens

                And water / above the heavens

Let them praise / Yhwh’s name

                Because at his command / they were created

And he set them in position / for ever and ever

                Making a rule / that will never lapse.

We have seen in other psalms how the psalmist seeks to give Yhwh the unending praise that that mirrors his own Unending, and that he does so by imploring Yhwh’s people to continue the praise throughout every generation. The barrier of death is thereby overcome by and through the ongoing life of the People. The covenant power of Yhwh to continue their life is, in a way, their immortality. Here, the psalmist attempts to accomplish something similar—but not simply by horizontal and temporal ongoing life of the community but vertically, up and down the entire chain of being, stretching all the way up to heaven and to the deep of the earth.

The psalm begins “in the heavens” and “in the heights”. We are in the celestial sphere, where Yhwh’s temple and retinue are. This ‘where’ Yhwh is. When we move to the earth, the psalmist implores the earth to praise Yhwh “from” (not “in”) the earth.

From within heaven, the psalmist calls upon “all” of Yhwh’s “angels and hosts.” From there, he descends to the “sun and moon” and “all shining stars”. He then asks “heaven of heavens and the water above the heavens.”

For the psalmist there is a type of eternal order to the heavens. Although the heavenly powers are created, their ruling authority “will never lapse.” Their position as rulers is something guaranteed by Yhwh. He “set them in position for ever and ever”. And yet, as stunning and magnificent as their rule and authority is, as stunning as their perceived ‘forever’, Yhwh stands even above them. This is crucial to grasp—the psalmist is clearly overwhelmed by the stately authority and majesty of the heavens and the heavenly hosts. They are astonishing. And that astonishment remains. And yet, as if hidden in a light that is so profound it is dark, there is Yhwh, who created the entire panoply. He almost infinitely transcends even their glory. They are but an expression of his “command”. Everything about them—from their creation to their ruling authority and power—comes from Yhwh. As such, their glory is only an analogous glory to Yhwh’s. And that is why this entire spectrum of heaven turns to him in praise. Although they would seem to be the recipients of praise because of their glory and power and majesty, they are, themselves, to orient away from themselves and toward Yhwh in praise.

It is a deeply profound thing—that the praise of heaven is itself a theophany of Yhwh. In their praise of Yhwh’s glory, we see, in a way unavailable otherwise, Yhwh’s own glory. Their ‘turning toward’ Yhwh reveals Yhwh.

Praise Yhwh / from the earth

                Sea monsters / and all the deeps

Fire and hail / snow and mist

                Storm wind / that acts upon his word

Mountains / and all hills

                Fruit trees / and all cedars

Wild animals / and all of the domestic kind

                Reptiles / and winged birds

Kings of the earth / and all peoples

                Rulers and all judges / of the earth

Young men / and maidens too

                Old men / and youngsters alike

Let them praise Yhwh’s name

                Because his name alone / is supreme

                His majesty is over / earth and heavens

And he has raised a horn / for his people

                Even renown / for all the recipients of his loyal love

                For the Israelites / the people close to him.

The psalmist now turns to the earth. It stands in contrast to the  heavenly realm. The earth is vibrant, full of movement, dynamism and duality. The psalmist refers to the entire spectrum, alternating between a type of ‘left’ and ‘right’ or ‘top’ and ‘bottom’ approach—fire and hail; mountains and hills; fruit trees and (non-fruit trees) cedars; wild and domestic animals; reptiles (ground) and winged birds (air); rulers and judges; young men and maidens; young and old. The earth is marked by this duality, which lends to it vibrancy that is not felt as much in the heavenly realm.

This dynamism and duality is the earth’s form of beauty, in contrast to the heavenly realm. This is earth’s glory, what marks it as Yhwh’s creation and the result of his command.

The concluding lines are remarkable in what they imply. The psalmist declares that Yhwh is deserving of praise because it is his name alone that is “supreme”, his visible and apparent majesty is “over earth and heavens.” In many ways this sums up and concludes the psalm, especially with is statement of “earth and heavens.” Just as the earth is marked by a duality so too is the Cosmos—heaven and earth. That is the entire spectrum of the created order. And now, the psalmist as called that entire spectrum to orient itself toward its Creator.

But, the psalmist doesn’t stop there. Apparently, there is a glory that exceeds the glory contained within and reflected by the Cosmos in their creation and ordering, even exceeding the creation of mankind itself—the redemption of “his people”, the “Israelites”, “the people close to him.” It is here where the Cosmos is lifted outside of itself and enters into a glory that it does not contain on its own—a glory that is beyond heaven and earth. Because now, even though Yhwh “alone” is supreme and majestic, “renown” is given to all who receive Yhwh’s “loyal-love”, his covenant commitment and fidelity. In other words, they are not just brought into his glory but they partake of it. They become ‘glorious’ in his ‘glory’. It is here, so to speak, where the barrier between Yhwh and his creatures is crossed, where they are brought up into his sphere.

There are several things that can be remarked on here. First, in the gospel of Matthew, Jesus describes himself as being given all authority on earth during his earthly ministry.  However, after he ascends he describes himself as being given all authority on heaven and earth. His death and resurrection has meant that he now sits enthroned in heaven, and therefore has united heaven and earth again to each other, under his rule. In light of this psalm, he is the proper psalmists, the one who can speak to both heaven and earth and direct them toward the Father, because he stands in authority over them.

Further, for those who are baptized into Jesus, they are lifted above the cosmos as the Israelites here are by way of the covenant. But those who stand ‘in Christ’ are lifted higher. They now, as John makes clear in Revelation, stand above the angels. The angels prostrate themselves to those “in Christ”, not simply because they stand within his glory but because they partake of it, and therefor partake of the divine nature itself. In other words, they become gods. Obviously, not by a power of their own—they are part of the Cosmos and therefore cannot stand above it by themselves—but by Christ’s power, through the Spirit. It is astonishing—they stand in a glory more radiant than the heavenly denizens.