“One-A-Week Challenge” – The Last Week, 52

“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!”

–Psalm 150:6 nasb

The book of Psalms begins and ends in blessing. In the beginning we see how God blesses man and in the end we see man blessing God. This final stanza of the Psalms beckons like a conductor before his orchestra and choir with one final admonition. “Praise the Lord!”

The Author of all creation has given us, through His infallible Word, our instruction and invitation to show Him absolute honor and glory through our praise. The Psalmist is saying that our breath should praise God because God alone gave us breath, and we have the very nature of God within us. Read again the words of Genesis 2:7:

“Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground,
and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life;
and man became a living being.”

It should not come as a surprise that the breath of life should breathe out praise and adoration to God.

When Jesus made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem on the first Palm Sunday, the “crowd of disciples praised God joyfully with a loud voice” (Lk.19:28-39) and when religious leaders of that day confronted Jesus by telling Him that He should rebuke these disciples for ascribing praise and blessings to Him. His response reminded us that God will always be praised.

“But Jesus answered, I tell you
if these become silent, the stones will cry out!”
–Luke 19: 40

The great joy of knowing Christ means that the redeemed do not have to wait until all creation stands before the Divine Judge to lavish praise on Him. One day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord (Phil. 2:9-11) but rather now while we breathe on earth we can praise Him for Who He is, what he has done, what He is doing, and what He will do.

Gregory of Nyssa says, “All creatures, after the disunion and disorder caused by sin have been removed, are harmoniously united for one choral dance, and the chorus of mankind concerting with the angel chorus are become one cymbal of divine praise, and the final song of victory shall salute God, the triumphant Conqueror, with shouts of joy.”

Let this page and all pages everywhere end with these words, “Praise the Lord!”