Wisdom & Poetry · Old Testament
Psalms 148
Psalm 148: praise from the heavens and from the earth, angels to children
General context
The psalm opens with "Praise ye the Lord" and calls for praise from the heavens and the heights: all his angels and hosts, sun and moon, stars of light, the heavens of heavens and the waters above the heavens. They are to praise the name of the Lord because he commanded and they were created, established them for ever, and made a decree that will not pass. Praise is then called from the earth: dragons and all deeps; fire, hail, snow, vapour and stormy wind fulfilling his word; mountains and hills, fruitful trees and cedars; beasts, cattle, creeping things and flying fowl; kings of the earth and all people, princes and judges; young men and maidens, old men and children. They are to praise the name of the Lord because his name alone is excellent and his glory is above earth and heaven. The psalm closes by saying he exalts the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints, the children of Israel, a people near to him, and ends with "Praise ye the Lord".
Cited passages: Psalms 148:1, Psalms 148:2, Psalms 148:3, Psalms 148:4, Psalms 148:5, Psalms 148:6, Psalms 148:7, Psalms 148:8, Psalms 148:9, Psalms 148:10, Psalms 148:11, Psalms 148:12, Psalms 148:13, Psalms 148:14
Psalms 148 (KJV)
1Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the Lord from the heavens: praise him in the heights.
2Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts.
3Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light.
4Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens.
5Let them praise the name of the Lord: for he commanded, and they were created.
6He hath also stablished them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not pass.
7Praise the Lord from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps:
8Fire, and hail; snow, and vapour; stormy wind fulfilling his word:
9Mountains, and all hills; fruitful trees, and all cedars:
10Beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying fowl:
11Kings of the earth, and all people; princes, and all judges of the earth:
12Both young men, and maidens; old men, and children:
13Let them praise the name of the Lord: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven.
14He also exalteth the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints; even of the children of Israel, a people near unto him. Praise ye the Lord.
This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.
Historical context
The source prints no heading for this psalm; verse 1 begins with "Praise ye the Lord", so no title, author or occasion is given and none is asserted. No speaker is identified by pronoun; the whole psalm is command and reason. The only named people are "the children of Israel" in the last verse, called "a people near unto him"; kings, princes and judges are addressed as classes without names, and no place is named. "Dragons" and "all deeps" are listed among the things of the earth, and the text does not say what the dragons are. The "waters that be above the heavens" are stated without explanation. The "decree which shall not pass" is said of the created heavens, and its content is not given. "The horn of his people" is stated as exalted without saying what event, if any, is meant. No Selah occurs.
Cited passages: Psalms 148:1, Psalms 148:14, Psalms 148:11, Psalms 148:7, Psalms 148:4, Psalms 148:6
Literary context
The psalm has two halves that mirror each other. Each opens with "Praise" and a place, "from the heavens" and "from the earth"; each lists those who are to praise; each ends with "Let them praise the name of the Lord: for" and a reason. The heavenly list is short and nearly every item is commanded with its own "praise": angels, hosts, sun, moon, stars, heavens, waters. The earthly list is longer and runs without verbs, a catalogue in pairs, "and all" attached to deeps, hills, cedars, cattle, people and judges, moving from sea to weather to land to animals to rulers to the ages of human life, young men and maidens, old men and children. The reason in the first half is creation and a fixed decree; the reason in the second is the Lord's name and glory "above the earth and heaven", which joins the two halves. The last verse narrows from everything that exists to one people "near unto him", and the psalm's first and last words are the same.
Cited passages: Psalms 148:1, Psalms 148:7, Psalms 148:5, Psalms 148:13, Psalms 148:2, Psalms 148:9, Psalms 148:12, Psalms 148:14
Key moments
- Praise from the heavens (Psalms 148:1). The psalm calls for praise from the heavens and the heights.
- Sun, moon and stars (Psalms 148:3). Sun, moon and stars of light are told to praise the Lord.
- Commanded and created (Psalms 148:5). The heavenly things are to praise because he commanded and they were created.
- Praise from the earth (Psalms 148:7). Praise is called from the earth, beginning with dragons and all deeps.
- Wind fulfilling his word (Psalms 148:8). Fire, hail, snow, vapour and stormy wind fulfilling his word are listed.
- Kings and children (Psalms 148:11). Kings, peoples, princes and judges are called to praise, then young and old.
- A people near unto him (Psalms 148:14). The Lord exalts the horn of his people, the children of Israel, a people near to him.
For reflection
Sun, hail, cedars, cattle and kings are all told to praise in the same list, with no difference made between what has a voice and what does not. What does the psalm treat praise as, if a stormy wind can give it by fulfilling a word?
