Psalms 148

Psalms 148:1

An EasyEnglish Translation with Notes (about 1200 word vocabulary) on Psalms 107 to 150

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Everything - *Praise The *LORD! Psalms 148 The 3rd *Hallelujah Psalm Jesus *commanded the wind and the sea, “Be quiet, and stay quiet!” (Mark 4:39) Psalms 148 v1      *Hallelujah!      *Praise the *LORD from the *heavens.      *Praise him in the high places.

v2      *Praise him, all his *angels.      *Praise him all his armies (in *heaven).

v3      *Praise him, sun and moon.      *Praise him, all shining stars.

v4      *Praise him, highest *heavens        and the waters above the sky.

v5      They will all *praise the name of the *LORD,        because he created (made) them by his *command.

v6      He has fixed them in their places for all time.      This rule will never change.

v7 - v10      *Praise the *LORD from the earth:           sea *monsters and all deep waters,           fire and *hail,           snow and clouds,           wind and storm obeying his *commands,           mountains and all hills,           fruit trees and all forests,           wild animals and farm animals,           *reptiles and flying birds.

v11 - v13a    *Praise the name of the *LORD:           kings of the earth and every country,           *princes and all rulers on earth,           young men and young girls,           old men and children.

v13b    (The *LORD’s) name is the only great name.      He is king over *heaven and earth.

v14    He has made his people strong.      So all the people that have accepted his kind love will *praise him.      They are the people of Israel who are near to him.      *Hallelujah! The Story of Psalm 148 We do not know who wrote Psalms 148. And we do not know when they wrote it. Many Bible students think that the *psalmist wrote it to use in the new *temple in Jerusalem. The *psalmist was the person that wrote the psalm. The *temple was God’s house in Jerusalem. The army of Babylon destroyed it but 70 years later the *Jews built it again.

Psalms 148 is the third *Hallelujah Psalm. “*Hallelujah” means “*praise the *LORD”. “*Praise” means “tell someone that he is very great”. “*LORD” is another name for God. It is the *covenant name. A *covenant is when two people, or groups of people, agree. Here, God agrees to love and send help to his people when they need it. His people agree to love and obey God.

Later, someone else wrote this psalm in a new way. They made it longer. It is in the book called the *Jewish Apocrypha. The Apocrypha tells the story of the *Jews between the *Old Testament and the *New Testament of our Bible. We call the new song The Benedicite. Some Christians still sing it in their churches. What Psalms 148 means The psalm has three parts:

        verses 1 - 6: the *psalmist tells everything in the sky to *praise the *LORD;

        verses 7 - 10: the *psalmist tells everything on the earth to *praise the *LORD (but not people);

        verses 11 - 14: the *psalmist tells people to *praise the *LORD.

Verses 1 - 6 “From the *heavens” means “everything that is above the earth”. In the Bible, *heaven or the *heavens means two things. It can mean the sky, where we can see the sun, moon and stars, (verse 3). Also, it can mean the home of God, where his angels also live, (verse 2). The angels are God’s servants in *heaven. *Jews believed that there were waters above the sky, (verse 4). God created (made) all this by his word of command. A command is when we tell someone what they must do.

Verses 7 - 10 Everything on the earth must also *praise the *LORD. We do not know how animals, birds, reptiles, snow, clouds, winds, storms, trees, hills and mountains all *praise the *LORD. But God knows, and accepts their *praise. Hail is rain with ice in it. A monster is a very large animal. A reptile is an animal like a snake.

Verses 11 - 14 The psalm ends by telling people to *praise the *LORD. Everybody is here. The leaders of people and people themselves are here, young and old, male and female. A prince, (verse 12), is the son of a king. Something to do When you see something that God has made, *praise him for it!

© 1999-2002, Wycliffe Associates (UK)

This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level A (1200 words).

December 2002

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var w5 = new Array;w5[0]=’<b%3EHebrew</b%3E ~ the language that the Jews spoke; they wrote the Psalms in Hebrew.’;w5[1]=’<b%3Epraise</b%3E ~ to say how great someone is; or, words that say how great someone is.’;w5[2]=’<b%3ELord</b%3E ~ a name for God; it means he has authority, or “master”;  It is the word “Adonai” in Hebrew. Look also at LORD below.