Psalm 148 uses the word "praise" 13 times in its 14 verses! Every time it is the Hebrew word "halal", which means: to shine, to boast, to be clamorously foolish, to rave, to celebrate, to flash forth light, to make a boast of, to act like a madman, praise with shouting and jubilation! It is NOT a passive "Praise the Lord" but a wildly demonstrative show of adoration and jubilation! Have YOU ever praised the LORD like that? If not, WHY NOT? He is most definitely worthy of every kind of praise and worship! Read through this Psalm again and see who all is supposed to be praising Him in this way! If just Who He is isn't enough for someone to praise Him, look at verse 14 to see what He has done!
14 He has lifted up a horn for His people [giving them power, prosperity, dignity, and preeminence], a song of praise for all His godly ones, for the people of Israel, who are near to Him. Praise the LORD! (Hallelujah!)
WE are also His people, along with the nation of Israel, grafted into the original by the Spirit of God! So: PRAISE HIM!!!
Revelation 4 begins with John being taken up to Heaven. This chapter is all about the throne! The word is used 14 times in this chapter and 46 times in the entire book of Revelation! It is the Greek word "thronos" and means: a stately seat, a seat of power, a seat of authority. The main throne is the one that God the Father sits on and it emphasizes His sovereignty and the fact that HE is in control! AMEN! Verse 3:
3 And He Who sat there appeared like [the crystalline brightness of] jasper and [the fiery] sardius, and encircling the throne there was a halo that looked like [a rainbow] of emerald.
Words could not accurately describe the presence of God, so John is using earthly comparisons. Jasper is a clear gem and sardius is red. So God appeared to John to be bright like light and fiery at the same time! GLORY! And then notice that the rainbow encircled the throne. Not just an arc like we see on the earth, but a complete circle, because in the presence of God all things are complete! AMEN! There are the 24 other thrones with the 24 elders. When Daniel saw the thrones in Daniel 7:9, they were empty! Now they are filled! I believe that the 24 elders represent the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 Apostles of the New Testament, but we won't really know until we get there! We DO know that thrones represent authority, so I think that these represent God's power and authority operating on the earth through His people! We also see the 4 living creatures with different faces. Some believe that they are the representation of Jesus through the 4 Gospels:
- Matthew: the King, shown by the face of a lion.
- Mark: the servant, shown by the calf.
- Luke: the compassionate Son of Man, shown by the face of a man.
- John: the Deity (Son of God), shown by the eagle.
In Jeremiah 32-33 we see the LORD instructing Jeremiah to do something that SEEMED to be totally illogical! He told Jeremiah to purchase some land in the nation that was about to be overtaken by the enemy and the people taken into captivity! Has the LORD ever asked YOU to do something that you knew the world would not understand and that other people would mock? How did you respond? Jeremiah responded with obedience and then he began to praise the LORD! We see some of his praise to God in Jeremiah 32:17-19:
17 Alas, Lord GOD! Behold, you have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! There is nothing too hard or too wonderful for You -- 18 you Who show loving-kindness to thousands but recompense the iniquity of the fathers into the bosoms of their children after them. the Great, the Mighty GOD; the LORD of hosts is His Name -- 19 Great [are You] in counsel and mighty in deeds, Whose eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, to reward or repay each one according to the fruit of hid doings,
Then, in Jeremiah 33:2-3, God had this to say:
2 Thus says the LORD Who made [the earth], the LORD Who formed it to establish it -- the LORD is His Name: 3 Call to Me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things, fenced in and hidden, which you do not know (do not distinguish and recognize, have knowledge of and understand).
What a wonderful and powerful promise! Call on Him for wisdom and ask Him to reveal Himself and His plan and purpose to you! He WILL answer you! Thank you, LORD! AMEN!
Shalom in Him!
