Psalm 148:1 – Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord from the heavens!
Praise him from the skies!
2 Praise him, all his angels!
Praise him, all the armies of heaven!
3 Praise him, sun and moon!
Praise him, all you twinkling stars!
4 Praise him, skies above!
Praise him, vapors high above the clouds!
5 Let every created thing give praise to the Lord,
for he issued his command, and they came into being.
6 He set them in place forever and ever.
His decree will never be revoked.

7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you creatures of the ocean depths,
8 fire and hail, snow and clouds,
wind and weather that obey him,
9 mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,
10 wild animals and all livestock,
small scurrying animals and birds,
11 kings of the earth and all people,
rulers and judges of the earth,
12 young men and young women,
old men and children.

13 Let them all praise the name of the Lord.
For his name is very great;
his glory towers over the earth and heaven!
14 He has made his people strong,
honoring his faithful ones—
the people of Israel who are close to him.

Praise the Lord! (NLT)

I can remember when I was a teenager my mother would sometimes say to me, “You better change your attitude, mister!”  She was right, of course.  I, like many teenagers, often had the wrong attitude.  Sometimes I had a rebellious attitude.  An attitude of rebellion is not unique to the young.  We often live out our rebellion in various ways.  After all, we are sinners living in a fallen world.

I believe that this psalm helps us maintain our focus, avoiding living a life of rebellion.  This psalm is one of the ‘hallelujah’ psalms.  Hallelujah means ‘praise the Lord’, and that phrase is repeated over and over again throughout this psalm.  What does ‘hallelujah’ and the having the right attitude have in common?  Praising God keeps us focused on the things of God, and focusing in the things of God helps us to continue to praise God.

There are plenty of things that would take our focus away from God.  Sometimes we can even involve ourselves in countless good things, yet still lose focus as to why we are doing what we do.  Throughout each day we must look for hallelujah moments.  We must be aware of the many opportunities we have each day to Praise the Lord!  Maybe it’s a beautiful flower garden.  Maybe it’s a kind gesture from a stranger.  I believe that we can find hallelujah moments most everywhere, we just need to stay aware.

Today, let us stay alert to the host of hallelujah moments that come our way.  Let us Praise the Lord throughout the day.  Let us stay focused, and we will in all times have the right attitude. 

Posted by Ramón Torres