THROUGH THE BIBLE - Psalm 14..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Let's read brothers and sisters together the Word of God. This is Psalm 148.

This is the Word of God. Let's read it with reverent hearts and paying much attention to each one of the inspired, life-giving words of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Psalm 148, it says, Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord from the heavens. Praise him in the heights.

Praise him, all his angels. all his hosts 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 and he established them forever and ever He gave a decree, and it shall not pass away. Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures, and all deeps, fire and hail, snow and misty stormy wind, fulfilling his word, mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, beasts and all livestock, creeping things and flying birds. kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth, young men and maidens together, all men and children. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted.

His majesty is above earth and heaven. He has raised up a horn for his people. Praise for all his saints for the people of Israel who are near to him. Praise the Lord. Amen.

This is the word of God. Now, brothers and sisters, the word that I want to share with you, it is on the sovereignty of God over all creation. That is the sovereignty of God. over all creation. And these Psalms, and even the Psalms that start from Psalm 145 all the way until the end of Psalms, are Psalms that speak of the sovereignty of God over all things that have been created.

But I want you to think carefully, my beloved brothers and sisters, on all those who are mentioned in this Psalm 148. All of those either people or creatures that are mentioned here in Psalm 148. You have in verse 1, you have the heavens. You have in verse 2, the angels and hosts. You have in verse 3, the sun, the moon, the stars.

You have in verse 4, the waters and the waters that are above the waters. In verse 7, you have the earth and all creatures of the earth. And then in verse 11, you have kings and rulers and all people. And in verse 12, we're told of young men, young women, old men and old women also, and also children. These are all of those who are involved or that are mentioned here in this psalm.

And brothers, even though we are given different names and different categories of these people, these creatures that are involved here in in this psalm. Even though we have so many different categories, heavens and angels and sun and moon and stars and waters and all of those, we have only two types of beings. And that is the Lord and everything else. That is the Lord who is the creator of everything and then everything else that it is a creature. And no matter how majestic or how big or how beautiful the creature is, when you put it next to God, then that remains being a creature.

And this is something very important because in existence, there's only two types of beings, and that is God as the creator and everything else as something that has been created, namely the creature. But this glorious psalm, Brothers and Sisters, does not only show us that there are only two types of beings, creator and creature, but it also shows us the relationship that exists between the creature and this creator. And this relationship that exists between the creature and the creator, it is summarized in this psalm with just a simple word, and that is praise. That is that everything that has been created, is to praise the Lord who was the creator of everything that has been created and praise brothers and sisters is the deepest exaltation of a being. It is the greatest recognition of how majestic I've been is in this case the Lord.

It is a recognition the Lord. So the relationship that exists between the creature and the Creator is one of praise. Everything that has been created owes praises to the Creator. It does not matter what it is. It does not matter how big or small.

It doesn't matter even if it's human or if it's just a creature. Everything owes praises to to the Lord. But why? The psalmist gives us the answer to this question of why creatures should praise the creator in four very interesting statements. If you go to verse five, if you go to verse five, it says, let them praise the name of the Lord.

And he gives us the first reason. He says, for he commanded and they were created. For he commanded and they were created. The first reason why creatures should praise the Lord is because they had been created by the commandment of the Lord. God spoke and everything was created.

There was not effort in God. He simply spoke and out of the power of his mighty word, All creatures were created and therefore all creatures are to bring praises to the Lord as their creator. But the psalmist gives us another one in verse six. He says, and he established them forever and ever. He gave a decree and he shall not pass away.

The Lord who created everything, the creator of heavens and earth and everything that is in them also has established them. forever and ever through His eternal decree. Brothers and sisters, heavens and earth, they will pass away. The Word of the Lord will not pass away, but the heavens and the earth that we know, they will be made anew. There will be new heavens and there will be new earth.

And even beings, humans, we are eternal. We have been established. forever and ever. And the eternity of the creation, it is only rooted in the person of God himself. And it only happens because of the eternal decree of God, who decided to establish heavens and earth forever and ever.

But he is also, the psalmist is going to give us a third reason and that reason it's found in verse 13. If you go to verse 13 there, we have another reason why the creature is to praise the creator, the Lord, and that it is found in verse 13. He says, let them praise the name of the Lord. For His name alone is exalted. For His name alone is exalted.

That is, that God is separated from everything that has been created. His name alone, uniquely, is exalted above the rest of all creatures. And He gives us another reason there in the end of verse 13, which is His majesty or His glory is above earth and heaven. It is above earth and heaven. So brothers and sisters, I want you to see here the effort and the intention of the psalmist to carefully point us to the distance that exists between God and creatures.

He says that God is exalted above heavens and earth. that his majesty is above heavens and earth, that is his name alone, only his name, the one that is exalted. No other name of any other creature is exalted as the name of God. So the psalmist is very carefully pointing us to the distance that exists between God and the creatures. But also, he's very intentional in pointing us to the necessary duty of the creature to give praises to the Lord.

But the glorious thing about this psalm, brothers and sisters, is not so much the eternal distance that exists between God and creatures and the necessary duty of creatures to give praises to the Lord, but is the way on how the psalmist concludes the psalm. Because the God that is exalted above all creatures, the God, the Creator that is above the heavens and the earth, the one whose name is only to be praised, that God has done something. And in verse 14 we're told that he has raised up, or that he has exalted, or that he has set above, the horn for his people that is that he has exalted raised up he has given value to the authority and the power and the and the might of his people that is praise to him. The psalmist has been very careful in showing us the distance between God the creator and everything that has been created and the majesty of God over everything that has been created but when he concludes the psalm he is very intentional in pointing us that the one that is exalted above all he has also exalted his people And these people, the children of Zion, the children of Israel, those who are in the person of Christ, those who are his people, they are near to him. That it is that the union, the relationship that we have with the Creator, of course, in the person of Jesus Christ.

fills the gap that separates the Creator from the creature just by virtue of their existence. And when they come together, we are exalted, we are raised up by God Himself. And we can say that we are close to Him. So then the Psalmist concluded, praise the Lord, because there's no other way by which creature can become close to God other than by God Himself. taking those creatures and bring them near to him, drawing them close to God himself.

This is the God that is sovereign over all creation. He is sovereign over heavens and earth and everything that takes place in heavens and earth. Nothing is outside the control of the Lord and Savior. Amen.