Canon Rob's Reflections

Today is a major festival in the Christian Calendar and has been celebrated since the 4th Century although it has not always been kept on 1st November. However, it is entirely right that we give thanks to God for all “those heroes of the faith whose lives have excited others to holiness and have assumed a communion with the Church on earth and the Church in heaven.” [‘Celebrating the Saints.’] It is also entirely appropriate that on this special day the psalm, set for Evensong, is a call to praise God. Psalm 148 is one of several hymns of praise which we find towards the end of the Psalter and Dermot Cox in his book, “The Psalms in the Life of God’s People,” refers to Psalm 148 and says, “the ‘holy ones’ are those who reflect the covenant love of God by a manner of life that demonstrates to the world what they have become by grace.” The more we praise God, the more we reflect God’s love.

Today’s psalm may be about praising God but it is not just we human beings who are called to do so. Everything in creation is to come together in His praise. In verse 1 the heavens are to praise Him: “Alleluia. Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights.” This is followed by a list of those ‘on high!’ “..all you his angels” in verse 2, “sun and moon” and… “stars of light” in verse 3, “..you waters above the heavens” in verse 4. It is as if the author is painting a picture and, as we read his words, he wants us to imagine the sky during the day and night, bright or rainy. It is also important to remember that, when he wrote the psalm, his first readers would have believed that the earth was flat and heaven was high above the clouds in the sky. Everything in “the heavens” is called to give praise to God.


Then we are invited to look down. “Praise the Lord from the earth,..” and even further down to imagine the sea where “..sea monsters and all deeps” are to praise the Lord too. [Verse 7.] Nothing in creation is left out though! In verse 8 we could be reading a weather forecast: “Fire and hail, snow and mist, tempestuous wind, fulfilling his word.” Then come the things which we see around us. Mountains and hills and fruit and cedar trees: just two examples of plants which grow on them. [Verse 9.] The psalmist, like God Himself, doesn’t forget the animal kingdom either. “Wild beasts and all cattle, creeping things and birds on the wing.” [Verse 10.] Finally, people are included, whether Kings, princes and rulers [verses 11] or “ordinary” men and women of all ages. [Verse 12.]


As you reflect on these verses you might find it helpful to consider that the order in which this list appears is similar to the order in the creation story in Genesis Chapter 1 and the “crown of creation,” so called, are human beings. Everything on earth: plants; animals and human beings; are all called to join the chorus of praise to their Creator. The reason for this is in verse 5: “Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded and they were created.” This reason is picked up again in verse 13: “For his name only is exalted, his splendour above earth and heaven.” It is a recognition that the Lord God, and He alone, has called everything into being and to Him alone belong all glory and power.


So to the final verse, which seems to stand on its own, unrelated to the previous 13 verses. “He has raised up the horn of his people and praise for all his faithful; servants, the children of Israel, a people who are near him. Alleluia.” [Verse 14.] In Psalm 132, verse 18, the horn refers to David the King: “There will I make a horn spring up for David; I will keep a lantern burning for my anointed.” The horn is understood to be a symbol of strength and here refers to the special relationship God has with His people Israel.