Psalm 148 - praising like a Holstein

Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights!
Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his host!

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.
He established them forever and ever;
he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed.

Praise the Lord from the earth, you sea monsters and all deeps, fire and hail, snow and frost, stormy wind fulfilling his command!

Mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars!
Wild animals and all cattle, creeping things and flying birds!

Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth! Young men and women alike,
old and young together!

Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted;
his glory is above earth and heaven.

-Psalm 148

The Praise of Sea Creatures

I have always assumed that the reasons for praising God fall neatly into two categories:

1. I praise God Because I’m in church.

or

2. I praise God Because God has hooked me up with something awesome.

But for those of us who think praising God is an occasional event relegated to church on Sunday or for gratitude about getting a raise at work, this Psalm is a little confusing. Because Psalm 148 is basically like the world’s weirdest line-up for a praise band. The Psalmist suggests that the list of God praisers includes stuff like fire, snow, fog....sea monsters. But it gets weirder. Because the praise of God comes forth also from flying things, creeping things, mountains, hills, wild beasts....cattle. THEN and only then do we get to human beings who, if you are keeping track, come after the cattle.

That’s right. We come after the cattle.

Which makes me wonder if maybe we aren’t as good at praising God as like, your average Holstein.

One commentator I read asked, “What keeps us from praising like the Psalmist?” And I thought, maybe a better question is, what keeps us from praising like the sea monsters and cattle? What keeps us from praising like wind and creeping things? The point being, if fog can praise God then maybe there are more ways to praise God than just a) coming to church or b) thanking God for that negative COVID test.

What I’m getting at is that maybe wind and sea creatures have something to teach us about praise. Because I’m pretty sure that praising God is not the same as sycophantically stroking God’s ego because God has low self-esteem and created a cosmic entourage just to remind God how great they are. I’m pretty sure fruit trees do not relegate their praise of God to an hour on Sunday or when they have a really great day. They can’t. They simply are who God created them to be and they simply do what God created them to do. The way in which creeping things of the Earth praise God is to simply creep on the Earth. Creatures simply praise the creator by being creatures.

Their being is in itself praise of the source of their being.

How beautiful is that? And what if the same is true for us? We are creatures who praise our creator simply by being creatures. Your being is in itself an act of praise toward the source of your being. There is no extra credit to be had.

So maybe there is indeed a way to Praise God as if we were hail or sea monsters or cattle – but it’s not as sexy or interesting or impressive as becoming a yoga guru or the leader of a praise band. Maybe the way to praise God like flying things and creeping things and snow is actually to just relax. You think cattle care what they look like or what others think of them or if they are righteous? Hell no. You think rain is self-conscious or cedar trees try and whip themselves into what feels like a state of worship. Of course not. Their being is in itself praise of the one who created them.

I think the difference is that the cattle don’t get their identity or sense of worth outside of God. Sea creatures aren’t looking to the Dow Jones or their Body Mass Index to know their value. Their value, as ours, rests in their createdness by God.

To praise God then is to live fully into the dignity of being God’s children. Perhaps to praise God is to simply look to nothing and no one else to know who we are.

Because your being is - in itself - in praise of the one who created you.

So let’s all just try less hard.

Love,

Nadia

As always, if a paid subscription isn’t for you - we happily give them for free to anyone who emails us at shamelessmediallc@gmail.com!