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Scripture Reading: Psa. 146:1-2, 10; 147:1-2a, 12-14, 20b; 148:1-5, 7a, 11-14; 149:1-3, 5-9; 150:1-6; Rev. 19:1-9
After passing through the first one hundred forty-five psalms, we are now on the peak. All we have to do now is to shout Hallelujah! The last five psalms — 146, 147, 148, 149, and 150 — begin and end in every case with Hallelujah. In these five psalms there are ten instances of Hallelujahs. Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah! In these five psalms nothing new is presented. There is only praise, consummate praise.
First, there is praise in Psalm 146 for God’s reigning in Christ through Zion. “Hallelujah! / Praise Jehovah, O my soul! I will praise Jehovah while I live; / I will sing psalms to my God while I yet have being” (vv. 1-2). Regardless of what kind of being I am, though I am weak or strong, I will still sing praises to God. In verse 10 the psalmist gives the reason for his praise: “Jehovah will reign forever, / Your God, O Zion, forever and ever. / Hallelujah!” This is the main point of Psalm 146. “Jehovah will reign forever...O Zion.” Zion is the city, and the Lord’s reigning is for the earth. There is nothing new; there is just praise for the city and for the Lord’s reign in the earth. This is Psalm 146.
In Psalm 147 we have praise for God’s building of Jerusalem: “Hallelujah! / For it is good to sing psalms to our God; / For it is pleasant; praise is fitting. / Jehovah builds up Jerusalem” (vv. 1-2a). Again we have praise for the city. Verse 7 says, “Sing unto Jehovah with thanksgiving; / Sing psalms to our God with the lyre.” Verse 12 says, “Laud Jehovah, O Jerusalem; / Praise your God, O Zion.” It does not say, “Laud Jehovah, O saints,” or, “Praise your God, O David.” It says, “Laud Jehovah, O Jerusalem; / Praise your God, O Zion.” This is the city. Verses 13 and 14 say, “He has strengthened the bars of your gates; / He has blessed your children within you. / He makes peace in your borders; / He satisfies you with the finest wheat.” Here in the city we have the strengthening, the blessing, the peacemaking, and an abundant supply of the best food. Then in the last part of verse 20 we have, “Hallelujah!” Hallelujah for the city! Hallelujah for Jerusalem! Hallelujah for Zion! Hallelujah for the strengthening of the bars of the gates! Hallelujah for the blessing of all the children within the gates! Hallelujah for peace in the city! Hallelujah for the rich and best food! Psalm 147 is a psalm of the city. It is really marvelous.
In Psalm 148 the praise starts from the heavens and transfers to the earth. “Hallelujah! / Praise Jehovah from the heavens; / Praise Him in the heights. / Praise Him, all His angels; / Praise Him, all His hosts. / Praise Him, sun and moon; / Praise Him, all stars of light. / Praise Him, you heaven of heavens, / And you waters that are above the heavens. / Let them praise the name of Jehovah” (vv. 1-5). In verses 7 and 11 to 14 the praise moves to the earth: “Praise Jehovah from the earth, / ...Kings of the earth and all peoples; / Princes and all judges of the earth; / Choice young men as well as virgins; / Old men with young men. / Let them praise the name of Jehovah, / For His name alone is exalted; / His glory is above the earth and the heavens. [Now Psalm 8 is fulfilled: ‘O Jehovah our Lord, / How excellent is Your name / In all the earth.’] / And He has raised up a horn for His people, / The praise of all His faithful ones, / The children of Israel, a people near to Him. / Hallelujah!” Verse 14 mentions that the Lord has raised up two things: a horn for His people and the praise of all His faithful ones. Do not say that we are too loud in our praising. When we praise, the Lord raises up our praises. We must be even more loud in extolling Him, “for His name alone is exalted; / His glory is above the earth and the heavens.” There are no new points in Psalm 148. It is a psalm of praise beginning from the heavens and coming to the earth.
Psalm 149 is another psalm concerning the city and the earth. “Hallelujah! / Sing a new song to Jehovah; / Sing His praise in the congregation of His faithful ones. / Let Israel rejoice in his Maker; / Let the children of Zion exult in their King” (vv. 1-2). Zion is the city, and the King (Christ) is for the earth. Verses 3 and 5 say, “Let them praise His name with dancing; / Let them sing psalms to Him with the tambourine and the lyre / ...Let the faithful ones exult in glory; / Let them give a ringing shout upon their beds.” The saints exult in glory because now they are in the kingdom, now they are reigning. Let them give a ringing shout upon their beds — in the night, not only in the day; in the bedroom, not only in the living room or in the meeting hall. “Let the high praises of God be in their throats [not the low praises], / And a two-edged sword in their hand, / To execute vengeance on the nations / And punishment among the peoples; / To bind their kings with fetters / And their nobles with chains of iron; / To execute upon them the judgment written. / This honor is for all His faithful ones. / Hallelujah!” (vv. 6-9). At this time the saints are reigning over the earth and executing the judgment of the Lord. Again, there is no new concept presented in this psalm. Psalm 149 is another psalm of the city and of the earth.
These last five psalms are all psalms of praise for the house, the city and the earth, and mostly for the city, because it has come to its ultimate consummation. Revelation 21 describes the final scene in the entire Bible — it is a revelation of the city for the earth, the New Jerusalem and the earth, with all the kings bringing their glory into it. Eventually, we just have the city and the earth.
Finally, we come to Psalm 150: “Hallelujah! / Praise God... / Praise Him.” In this psalm we have ten different ways to praise the Lord: (1) “Hallelujah! / Praise God in His sanctuary.” We must praise Him in the church, in the sanctuary; (2) “Praise Him in the expanse that manifests His power”; (3) “Praise Him for His mighty acts”; (4) “Praise Him according to His vast greatness”; (5) “Praise Him with the blast of the trumpet”; (6) “Praise Him with the harp and lyre”; (7) “Praise Him with the tambourine and with dancing”; (8) “Praise Him with the stringed instrument and the pipe”; (9) “Praise Him with the loud cymbals”; (10) “Praise Him with the loud clanging cymbals.” Then the psalmist exclaims, “Let everything that has breath praise Jehovah. / Hallelujah!” Of all the ten ways to praise Him, notice that the first is to praise Him in His sanctuary, His house. Hence, Psalm 150 is a psalm for the house. Praise the Lord, at the close of the Psalms we are left in the “hallelujah house.”
Psalm 150 is not merely the conclusion of the Psalms; it is the consummation of the entire Bible. The whole Bible ends in this way. When we have read all the psalms, from Psalm 1 to Psalm 150, we have read from Genesis to Revelation in abbreviated form, passing from the law, to Christ, to the house, and eventually to the city with the earth. Then we have the Hallelujahs.
Revelation 19:1 says, “After these things I heard as it were a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, Hallelujah!” This is the conclusion of the Bible, just exactly like that of the Psalms. No more do we have anything about the man being blessed who keeps the law. There is only a great multitude, saying, “Hallelujah! The salvation and the glory and the power are of our God. For true and righteous are His judgments; for He has judged the great harlot...And a second time they said, Hallelujah!...And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshipped God, who sits upon the throne, saying, Amen, Hallelujah! And a voice came out from the throne, saying, Praise our God, all His slaves and those who fear Him, the small and the great. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty thunders, saying, Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult, and let us give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. And it was given to her that she should be clothed in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints. And he said to me, Write, Blessed are they who are called to the marriage dinner of the Lamb [the house and the city]. And he said to me, These are the true words of God” (vv. 1-9). Praise the Lord!
The Psalms are just the entire Bible in miniature. The whole Bible is for Christ, the house, the city, and the earth. Hallelujah!
I am so grateful to the Lord that He has given us such a wonderful time in reading through all these one hundred fifty psalms. I do not have adequate utterance. I trust in the Holy Spirit that He will speak something further and deeper than all I have said to you.
In 1956, in Taipei, we had a life study on the Psalms. At that time the line was only with Christ and how God has turned the saints from the law to Christ. This time the line is with Christ, the house, the city, and the earth. It is much richer and more wonderful. Hallelujah! In all the history of the church, the Lord has never opened the Psalms as He has today. I am so grateful to the Lord for showing us these things. I believe that the timing of these messages under the Lord’s sovereignty is truly wonderful. He has opened the Psalms to us at exactly the right time. Now we only care for Christ; the Lord has turned us from the law to Christ, and Christ has brought us to the house. What can we say but Hallelujah! He is enlarging the house into the city, and from the city He will gain the entire earth. Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah!
