Sunday, October 9, 2022

Seder 120: Psalm 148---Universal Praise

 In Psalm 148 all of creation is called upon to praise God, beginning with all things in the heavens---the angelic realm, stars and planets. (A midrash on Psalm 148 says that praise of the king should begin with the inhabitants of the palace.) They should praise God because he created them all and set up the universe as a beautiful, orderly system (vv 5-6).  

In response the earth and all its creatures should praise God.  The members of the earthly chorus are described in roughly the order in which they are mentioned in Genesis 1.  Among those mentioned are sea monsters, winds, and storms.  Here there may some be some implicit anti-Canaanite polemic.  In Canaanite mythology, Ba'al the storm god defeats Yamm the sea god.  The Bible makes clear that Yahweh rules over storms, the sea, and all forces of chaos.

Finally, all human beings should praise the Lord.  In particular, that includes the people of Israel.  "He has raised up a horn for his people," verse 14 states.  The horn can symbolize the glory that God has given Israel, for victory and prosperity. It can sometimes refer to the Davidic king, and ultimately to the Messiah.

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