Worship (Part 3)

About 20 years ago, Shirley MacLaine, who is best known for being an award-winning activist, wrote a book entitled Going Within: A Guide for Inner Transformation where she talks of her journey into transcendental mediation and other forms of New Age mysticism. In that book she concluded this: “I am God. A great awakening is taking place. Individuals across the world are tapping in to their internal power to understand who they are and using that knowledge to elevate their lives and their circumstances to a higher octave of happiness and productivity.”

Those troubling words could be used of anyone who is not worshipping God as they ought. Any non-worshippers of God think their life is fine without Him. They think their lives have purpose and direction and fulfillment and God would only get in the way of all that. Therefore, they are their own God and they are happy without Him.

We are created to glorify. The psalmist has said, “Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it! Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy” (Ps 96:11-12). We all value something to the extent that we offer it worship and build our lives around it. Our purpose – as God’s creation – is to build our life around God and worship Him.

Some have suggested that Psalm 148 would be a great hymnodic response to Genesis 1 where God creates this world. And there is some sense to that hypothesis, because it would be fitting to be explained or told right after you were made why you were made – to be told your purpose. It would be welcome news to God’s creation to hear they were created for God’s glory.

In Psalm 148, you almost get the feeling that 2 choirs are singing back and forth to one another: one in heaven and one on earth. They are 2 antiphonal (answering responsively) groups in the heavens above and the earth beneath. It starts in the heavens and then goes to the deeps of the oceans and then ascends again.

A Choir from the Heavens (vs. 1-6) “Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from 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 you shining stars! Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens! Let them praise the name of the LORD! For he commanded and they were created. And he established them forever and ever; he gave a decree, and it shall not pass away.”

Worship has an element of elevation to it. It is not something that is not to be hidden or muffled or any way. It is to be boisterous, out in the open and public. It is to rise to the “heavens” and “heights.” One commentator from The Expositor’s Bible Commentary wrote, “The anthem of praise is to ring out from heaven above, and to be answered from the earth below.” The songs we sing tend to originate in heaven and then descend to the earth.

“Stars” don’t just shine; they sing! Ever think of that? We have spent countless millions of tax dollars looking for intelligent life and listening for intelligent life. And to this day, we have never heard any intelligent life speaking back to us. And yet, we have sounds that have been recorded in the universe.

One such example is the Vela Pulsar, which is some 1,000 light years away. It is a magnetized neutron star. That means it exploded into a supernova and then collapsed back onto itself. It began oscillating on it’s own axis 11x per second. It is now shooting a radio frequency out of itself because of that oscillation. And we have it on a recording! You want to hear a star worship God? Listen to this audio.

I cannot even keep up with how many stars there are and how big they think the universe it, but I know this: the more they discover, the more that is commanded or has been commanded to “praise God.”

All God did was speak and it happened. Everything categorized here – the heavens, the outmost excesses of the universe, all the angels, the comets, the asteroids, the planets, the rings around the planets, the stars, the supernovas, the black holes, the moons, the water – is for God’s glory. All was established by God and will not die off without Him commanding it to. He created it; He sustains it and He demands and deserves it’s worship. He owns all things absolutely.

I want to show you another amazing photograph from space. This is a galaxy called the Sombrero Galaxy, brought to us by the Hubble Telescope. It is 29 million light years away! Light moves at 186,000 miles per second. It has some 200-300 billion stars. You say, “What is it doing out there if I never heard about it?” You know what it is doing? Doing the same thing as you should be doing. It is doing what it was made to do: worship.

No one can figure out – especially astronomers – how or even why the universe is so big. It can’t be just for humanity can it? It’s for more worshippers like us, unlike us, etc. If it’s for the glory of God. Thus, it’s just the right size: it’s immeasurable just like God’s glory.

A Choir from Earth (vs. 7-12) “Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and all deeps, fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind fulfilling his word! Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars! Beasts and all livestock, creeping things and flying birds! Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth! Young men and maidens together, old men and children!”

These are just general categories listing the types of flora and fauna and meteorology that are part of the choir. They are categories that include all kinds of elements on the earth. You could just as easily add donkeys, piranhas, snakes, pigs, hamsters, worms, jelly-fish, blizzards, locusts, gustnados, apple trees, orange trees, honeysuckles, bullfrogs, gnats, etc. We are surrounded by animals and flowers and plants and weather patterns that are worshipping God.

Take that thought with you next time you step outside to check the mail or go for a walk. Everything around you – from the squirrels to the walnut trees to the gusts of winds are actively praising God. Why? Because God created them for such. It was Charles Spurgeon who observed, “It is a grand orchestra which contains such wind instruments as these! He is a great leader who can keep all these musicians in concert, and direct both time and tune.”

Sometimes our problem isn’t worshipping nature but ourselves, which may be why the psalmist reminds us here that we too are a part of this choir. We are not to be sung to; we are the singers for our Lord.

What a choir we have in Psalm 148! It doesn’t leave anyone out! Everything and every one has a part. H.C. Leupold has written in Exposition of Psalms, “Though this is a somewhat long enumeration, its ingenuity and the effective manner in which various classes are grouped together enhance the interest. In fact, a sense of awe at the magnitude of the grand chorus that is being invoked creeps over man as he reads attentively. We have heard impressive choruses but none could compare with this one.”

There is one more choir. And it’s a special one.

A Choir from the Children of God (vs. 13-14) “Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his majesty is above earth and heaven. He has raised up a horn for his people, praise for all his saints, for the people of Israel who are near to him. Praise the LORD!”

The point of vs. 13-14: God’s people also are a part of His praise. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they are somehow highlighted by God in his choirs of creation. Why? Because they have not only found their purpose and are given His gift of redemption, but they are living it. When you find your purpose for existence and live there, God takes notice and He will most certainly bless your life.

God has an entire universe singing to him. You know what that means? He isn’t concerned about a microphone that isn’t working or if someone is out of tune. There are a lot of noises of worship out there in His immense universe. He has a panoply (meaning “a beautiful array”) of praise. Every voice in creation is worship. He has a galactic symphony.

As I am looking at Psalm 148 and all the creatures and entities in the space, and I am seeing that everything is commanded to praise God and everything does worship, I draw this conclusion: God loves variety in worship. In fact, He probably prefers it. He must absolutely love the differing ways His creation glorifies Him.

Do you think a turtle worships God the same way a comet does? Do you think a tornado brings glory to God in the same way a gerbil will? Do you think a flower will honor God in the same way that a snowflake will? Answer: no. Every part of God’s creation worships God in a different way. They bring their own talents and abilities and giftedness to the table of worship.

And that most certainly should carry over into how we worship Him as well. There are very few parameters for how we worship God (e.g., worship in spirit and truth in John 4:23). If clapping is your thing, clap. If running fast is your thing, run as fast as you can. If singing old hymns without instruments is your thing, do that. If rapping theological poems is your thing, do that. Whatever it is, worship Him. With variety, worship God. He expects a wide variety and array of worship; He expects a panoply.