O PRAISE HIM

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

The Lord has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all.

Praise the Lord, you His angels, you mighty ones who do His bidding, who obey His word. Praise the Lord, all His heavenly hosts, you His servants who do His will.

Praise the Lord, all His works everywhere in His dominion.

Praise the Lord, my soul.

Psalm 103:19-22

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As any of my regular readers know, I am a big Christian music fan. I love the new contemporary Christian music but I also love to pick up a hymnal and sing hymns that have echoed through the sanctuaries of churches for hundreds of years. The best of this music, and there’s a lot of it, has been inspired by the scriptures and the powerful influence of the Holy Spirit.

As I read the concluding verses of the 103rd Psalm, I am reminded of a fantastic song by the David Crowder Band titled “O Praise Him (All this for a King) and so in my devotion today, I will intermingle the song lyrics with the scripture passage and write from both. At the end of the devotion, I’ll have a link for the song so you can listen for yourself.

Before I do the breakdown, it’s important to establish why the Lord deserves all praise from everything. This verse sums it up:

The Lord has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all.

The Lord God Almighty is King of kings and Lord of lords. He is God and God alone, the Maker of Heaven and Earth, and so He reigns over everything from His throne in Heaven. No one is above Him and so all will bow down, praise, and worship Him from the heavenly host of angels to all who dwell in the world below.

First, consider what the psalm and the song, O Praise Him, have to say about the angels:

Praise the Lord, you His angels, you mighty ones who do His bidding, who obey His word. Praise the Lord, all His heavenly hosts, you His servants who do His will.

Turn your ear
To heaven and hear
The noise inside
The sound of angel's awe
The sound of angel's songs
And all this for a King
We could join and sing
All to Christ the King

Indeed, the angels of the heavenly host who are sent to earth to serve the Lord and carry out the His will are to praise Him with much rejoicing. You may recall one example of this as the shepherds were in the fields watching their flights by night. Coming to proclaim the coming of Christ, the scripture tells this about the angels that appeared:

An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” Luke 2:9-15

The angels appeared before the shepherds, shrouding them with glory and bringing great news of exceeding joy. Jesus, the promised Messiah and Savior of the world, had been born in Bethlehem’s manger. The Lord had come from heaven to earth and the shepherds could do nothing else but rush to see what the angels had shared with them.

As we think of our Savior Jesus, we should follow the lead of the angels and lift our voices saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven who brought us peace and hope in His Son Jesus Christ!”

Indeed, we are to praise like the angels. Look back to the psalm and song:

Praise the Lord, all His works everywhere in His dominion. Praise the Lord, my soul.

Turn your gaze
To heaven and raise
A joyous noise
O the sound of salvation come
The sound of rescued ones
And all this for a King
Angels join to sing
All for Christ our King

How can we not turn our gaze to heaven and raise a joyous noise when we think of how much God loves us – that He would sacrifice His Son Jesus so we might live, not just in the here and now but forever more?

We, the rescued ones, the creation works of God’s almighty hands, should be raising our voices to Him in eternal praise, echoing these final words from the song, O Praise Him:

How infinite and sweet
This love so rescuing

O how infinitely sweet
This great love that has redeemed

How constant, how divine
This song of ours will rise

As one we sing:

“O Praise Him, O Praise Him, He is Holy, He is Holy, Alleluia, Alleluia, He is Holy, He is Holy.”

Thanks be to God now and forever.

Listen to the David Crowder Band sing O Praise Him: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HK3Q_q6as7A

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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