Creation Sings Through Human Lips

0:00 My name is Tony Ranke, host of the Ask Pastor John podcast with John Piper. It's an honor to be here with you all to look at praise and what we just did. We just sang praise. Why do we praise? Why do Christian hedonists get together to sing loud? That's what we're going to look at tonight. Well, Franz Kafka wrote some very bizarre stories. One of his most bizarre story was the short story called The Metamorphosis, which was built around the haunting premise that a young man in his bedroom, in his family's home, goes to sleep one night, and he awakens in the morning as an enormous pest. A man-sized insect. We're never given precisely what the description was, but we read that he has a hard, armor-like back and spindly little pitiful legs that wave helplessly in the air as he lays in his bed. Something like a giant beetle. This is what he woke up as. The former man can no longer speak words. He now only lets out a painful chirping. That's all he can say. A loud, high-pitched, squealing sound that's unintelligible to his entire family. He continues to have lucid thoughts internally, but he cannot share them. He can't speak. He is, Kafka tells us, speechless. No longer in communication with humans. He is horrified, and his family is horrified. They slam him in his door into his bedroom in disgust. His father grows harsh to him. This pest hides inside of his house wherever he can find a place to hide, mostly in his bedroom. He becomes a burden to everyone. His sister brings him food and cleans his room at first, but that kindness This ends very quickly.

1:45 His tastes change. He grows repulsed by his favorite foods in favor of scraps. He's just drawn to scraps. His volition erodes. He ebbs into something that is subhuman. His room becomes a prison. He becomes isolated, neglected, frustrated, depressed, and then he expires. He's just an empty shell. It is a claustrophobic horror story of the nightmare of transforming from a volitional creature into a non-volitional insect. Cut off completely from the humanity that he knew. And yet as dark and dehumanizing as Kafka's vision is, it introduces us to a very interesting humanizing theme tonight. My assignment tonight is to look at the joyful purpose of creation through the eyes of a Christian hedonist. That's what we're going to do tonight.

2:43 We're going to look at creation through the eyes of a Christian hedonist. Specifically for those of us who still want to be happy, who know we want to be happy, how does all that God created relate to my own joy? And those are connections that we're going to see tonight in Psalm 148. turn there near the end of the psalm, Psalm 148, the whole Psalter has been building momentum into this praise crescendo that we read at the end of the book until we get to Psalm 148, which looks like a repetitive contemporary worship song. Just praise the Lord, praise the Lord, praise the Lord over and over and over again. And here's the outline that we're going to look at tonight. We're going to look at this praise sandwich. This is what it is, a praise sandwich. At the beginning, we see that angels are praising God in verses 1 and 2, and we see that creation is praising God verses 3 to 10, and then humans, us, we come at the end in verses 11 to 14. The praise sandwich with the bulk in the middle, with the praising angels at the beginning, with praising humans at the end, and creation is the bulk of the psalm in the middle of this sandwich, the praise of non-volitional creation. The praise of stars and planets and moons and weather and mountains and animals and insects and beetles. How does that work? And I want to ask why. The short little message is to look at why is this psalm constructed the way that it is. So let's first ascend into the praise chorus from the sky in verse one. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord from the heavens.

4:22 Praise him in the heights. Praise him all his angels. Praise him all his hosts. The psalm starts very high encouraging the angels to praise God from a high elevation. I don't know that angels need to be reminded to praise, but if they do, this is their verse. This is their life verse right here. Here's the reminder. And with that, with just those simple verses at the beginning, we transition then into the bulk of the psalm, which is here the praise of non-volitional creation, the middle layer. We start off still very high, verse three. Praise him, sun and moon. Praise him, all you billions of shining stars. Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens, the water suspended in the sky, like we've seen all day, right?

5:16 The water is suspended there. Let them praise the name of the Lord, For he commanded and they were created ex nihilo. He made it out of his word. He spoke it into existence. And he established them forever and ever. He gave a decree and it shall not pass away. so again we're still in the sky we were talking about angels now we're into creation from the furthest glittering star out in the darkest black sky god's decree is behind all that he has created and his providence upholds it we praise god for his all-sovereign design and governance over all that he made by his sheer command Thank you. verse 7 praise the lord from the earth you great sea creatures in all deeps praise the lord whales and dolphins that explore all the oceanic depths those secret canyons under the water the ravines the cliffs all those things that most of us will never see i know there's at least one scuba diver in the house who has seen this with their own eyes most of us won't see it but praise the Lord. You deep ravines where whales and dolphins swim. Verse eight, fire.

6:39 Fire, fire from the sky, lightning, lightning. If you've read my tech book or you've listened to my message on Job 36 and 37, you know that electricity is all built into the created order by God's lightning strike. He put it here, right? Nikola Tesla didn't invent electricity. Sorry, that's that's not how it works. God put electricity into his creation. That fire from the sky we see in verse 8. And hail and snow and mist, stormy wind fulfilling his word. All of it to praise God.

7:14 I don't know if you're circling your Bibles, if you can do that. Most of you probably don't have print Bibles, but if you do, you can circle wind and word. Wind and word. There's a play on word play on words in those two words. Note the closeness of God in his creation. He speaks, God speaks a commanding word and the winds move.

7:35 Not just any wind, stormy wind. God speaks a commanding word and storm winds blow. Praise the Lord. You thunderbolts and hailstorms and stormy winds that fulfill God's will. God decreed you to be and all your stormy churnings fulfill his will. verse 9 mountains and all hills praise the Lord fruit trees and all cedars beasts and all livestock creeping things and flying birds it just goes on and on amazing list put all these verses together verses 3 to 10 you get the entire cosmic and terrestrial ecosystem the heavenly lights the sun the moon the stars you get weather elements storm clouds the lightning the snow the fog, the powerful winds, sea features, ocean canyons under the water, soaring Alps above the water, fruit trees, cedars, animals, insects, sea creatures, wild animals, domesticated animals are in here. Every crawling creature, even beetles, and every flying bird in the sky, all of it is God's handiwork, all of it designed by God, all of it designed by God to praise God.

9:05 Intentionally, the psalm ends us with us, with people at the bottom of the praise sandwich. First to all peoples of all tribes and all people. Verse 11, kings of the earth and all peoples, kings of the earth and all peoples. Impressive people, not so impressive people, all of them. Princes and all rulers of the earth, young men and maidens together you've got both genders old men and children you've got the whole age range let them praise the name of the Lord why? here's the ground here's the ground of human praise why do we praise on a Friday night when we could be doing so many other things for his name alone is exalted his majesty is above earth and heaven Amen. Godward praise from every human on earth is fitting because God's majesty goes beyond Mars.

10:05 this creation in all of its luster here is a mere echo of god's essential majesty this majesty that we see with our eyes points to a majesty beyond the stars a majesty that warrants praise from every single human being on this planet right now all peoples all ranks class, age, genders, all the peoples of the nations of the world. Praise the Lord. It's our purpose for being. It's why we exist. then the psalm ends with a very specific call to God's people to praise verse 14 he has raised up a horn for his people praise for all his saints for the people of Israel who are near to him near to him praise the Lord only those close to God will actually praise him.

11:13 You can be religious, distant from God, you're not praising him. True worshipers are affectionate. They are those who draw near to God. So the God whose majesty extends beyond Mars draws me close to himself. Do you have that category in your theology? or are those two polar opposites tearing apart? The God beyond Mars wants you to draw near to him.

11:47 I can't explain it more than that. That's what the Bible tells us. Transcendent, eminent at the same time. based on this psalm i want to close with just five pleas five pleas to my fellow human worshipers in this room plea number one human behold the god who made every atom in the universe to worship god behold this god look around you every atomic particle in creation exists because god decreed that it would exist and he willed it into existence for his own glory that's why it exists he made all things for himself as the apostle paul says this so well for by him all things were created in heaven and earth visible and invisible whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities all things were created through him and what for him that's right your bible people you know how that ends for him he made it for himself from the giant blazing heart of our galaxy down to the dancing electrons that we can't see. He made all of it for himself.

12:59 That's why John Calvin can make the bold assertion that the whole order of nature is subverted and overthrown if the same God who is the beginning of all things is not also its purpose. the entire structure and coherence of everything that God made exists because God made it for himself and by himself. If that's not true, it all falls apart. there's zero rationale for a creation to exist other than to say i did not make myself that's why the creation exists you want to ask where i came from no one has an answer theories no answer and if that's true then we ask okay so how is god the end of creation it's not automatic and psalm 148 is teaching us how this all works so plea number two human listen to the sermon of the silent majesty of creation listen to the sermon of the silent majesty of creation the heavens are preaching a sermon to us listen how psalm 19 puts it with it a little bit weird it first says the heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork, day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. Then it says, there is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out throughout all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.

14:45 So it's like, what is Psalm 19 trying to teach us here? It's so odd. Creation preaches a sermon with words, kind of, but if you can't hear the sermon, there are no words. But if you can't hear it, there are words. How does that work? Well, Psalm 148 says that the whole creation of God is preaching to us as well. As creatures declare to us his majesty, his wisdom, his power, even his mercy. We see birds are soaring through the sky. We see mountains. We see the Alps stretching up into the clouds. And if we pay attention, they're all declaring to us that we ought to worship and to fear and to love the God that made all those things. But here's the problem. Here's the problem behind all of it. All the creatures that are visible are mute,

15:43 besides man. In the words of one Puritan, the other creatures cannot praise their maker, but by dumb signs and hints. Okay? So creation is praising God through dumb signs and hints. Wait, what? Okay. So this is another layer of weirdness onto this. Dumb signs and hints. This is like when you're watching a movie and there's a kidnapping, and the person who's been kidnapped is like a man who's worth money. You know, you're going to hold him for a ransom. You duct tape his mouth, duct tape his hands, throw him in a room, close it, keep them locked up. And then eventually you need proof of life. So you go in with the video camera to show this person that's still alive. You can see it. And what is the person doing on the video camera? If they know Morse code, they're blinking with their eyes, trying to do Morse code. Or maybe they etch something on the wall and they're trying to nod. Look what I etched on the wall. Trying to send some sort of signal out to the world. This is what creation is doing dumb signs and just trying to trying to squeak like a man-sized beetle and like we don't get it all of this creation is trying to speak to us through dumb signs and hints here's another metaphor creation is like a beautifully printed book opened for one to see the beauty of the characters without understanding the language that the book speaks so imagine a toddler picks up a 15th century hand-drawn manuscript on vellum. It's a beautiful book from the medieval age, but it's beautifully colored. It's beautiful Latin illustrations, colorful, gorgeous ink. But the meaning of the book is completely veiled.

17:39 This toddler has no idea what's in their hands. They don't know what this thing says. They're literally ignorant of the message that it contains. This is creation illustrated in a manuscript. It's like this beautiful manuscript we can't read. We don't know the language, but we know it's something. We know it's meaningful. Unless the Spirit will teach us, we can't read the characters and there are no words. Just loud screeching noises. Pick your metaphor. You can talk about, the Puritans would talk about a sermon manuscript that doesn't have a preacher. or you could talk about a passive monument standing in the middle of the desert that has no words on it. You don't know why it's there, but it's there.

18:23 A kidnapped man trying to give hints and nods to communicate through the proof of life video. A beautiful book with mysterious characters. A hymn book that's been left in the corner unread. The screeching of a man-sized beetle. There is a frustration within the non-volitional created order because it cannot fulfill this purpose.

18:47 Psalm 148. plea number three human feel the cosmic nudge to worship god feel the nudge i hope in this room you're feeling like you want to sing all creatures and one more time let's do it again right now right i hope you feel this nudge to praise and worship god as we look at psalm 148 if god has lifted the veil and you can now read that manuscript here's what creation is telling us in all caps. It is saying, you human who wants to be happy, you still want to be happy, leave the idols that you have made with your own hands in order to worship the God who made everything. That's what creation is trying to tell us. And if you can hear it, that's what you're going to hear. Creation does not merely exist to display beauty. It exists to call you to worship the God beyond the created beauty.

19:43 don't worship the sun, right? Most religions throughout human history somehow worship the sun. Don't worship the sun. The sun is saying, worship the one who made me. Look beyond the sun. Here's Jonathan Edwards. If we look to the heavens or the earth or birds, beasts, or fishes, or plants and trees, if we do but take notice of it, They all declare to us that we ought to worship, to fear, to love, and obey the God that made all these things. Amen. Every leaf, every feather, every cloud is a silent messenger pointing you to your duty of delight.

20:31 A universe made by God and for God is not a neutral world. It's not a neutral world. It is a theater of God's magnificence on display for you and I to delight in the majesty of the God who made it. Do you feel that nudge? Do you feel that nudge towards worship? Or are thunderstorms just some indifferent system that mixes temperature and pressure and humidity and blind physical loss? or do those storms point you to the majesty of god it's very practical in a psalm like psalm 148 we're moving towards understanding the psalm so number one god made all things for himself number two listen for the silent song of creation and number three feel creation nudging your worship out of you you should feel that and now plea number four human give voice to creation's worship give voice to creation's worship for centuries theologians have seen this reality in creation when you praise God you do more than simply fulfill your own purpose when you praise God you awaken the muted glory of creation and you put that praise into words we are the mouth through which the whole created order was meant to speak.

22:03 Again, this is so insightfully put by Edwards. I went into the Yale archive and pulled the page of his sermon manuscript just to show you his own handwriting. It's what Edwards says. He says, God made man and placed him here to be the eye of the creation, to see the glory that he manifests, and the tongue to declare it. The eye of creation and the tongue to. Do you see it in the manuscript? His handwriting, the older he gets, the more sloppy it becomes, and the time it becomes, because, I mean, the guy wouldn't waste a scrap of paper, right? Like, he kept everything and drew on everything, receipts, whatever he had. So, little tiny handwriting. The eyes of the creation and the tongue of. You see that? That's him. That's Edward saying this, that we are, we are, worshipers are, the eye of creation to take in nature's glory, and we are the mouth of creation to proclaim it.

23:04 that's our role and I think you see it in Psalm 148 the stars the skies the snow the ocean the insects the birds of the earth none of them have a voice to speak their creator's praise but their beauty and their order and their strength is a hymn book for us all creatures of our God Samuel Rutherford, the Scottish Puritan, has his own metaphor. He says, creation is like a neglected harp in a dusty corner, which itself can make no music. The creatures borrow man's mouth and tongue to speak what they have been thinking of God and his excellency these 5,000 years.

23:53 The world is filled with silent instruments. No animal can form thanks. the trees do not declare the kindness of their maker the stars cannot praise the one who hung them but we can and must give language to that worship it's not just poetic possibility this is a priestly calling for the people of God here again is Jonathan Edwards all other creatures bring their tribute of glory to humans to be offered up through our hands to the creator whoa so what does all this mean plea number five let's close with this one human you are the high priest of creation's worship God redeemed his people through the blood of our high priest Jesus Christ praise God for the cross and he redeemed us to function as high priests of his creation to offer up the praises of all creation to our God as leaders of creations worship we are not simply fulfilling some obligation, right? Well, the angels worship and the stars worship, so we better show up on Friday night and worship. No, no, no. We have entered into a joy for which we were made to know, to love, to enjoy the creator. What we're doing tonight, we were made for this, just like the stars were made to flicker out in the darkness.

25:28 We were made to lead all of creation in the sacred praise. Our worship fulfills our own purpose as it completes the silent adoration of all creation. Amazing. And this is why humans occupy such a central position in the order that God created, set apart by our ability to know God in ways that no other creature can. As the tongue and the body, we speak on behalf of creation, articulating the silent praise of creation to its maker in effect gathering a tribute of praise from creation and offering it to God. I love ethics. I love talking about smartphones and social media and Hollywood spectacle making machine. I think you're going to get competing spectacles, my book on the spectacle machine of Hollywood.

26:25 I love talking about those things. And I love helping you come up with the hardest possible questions that you could possibly ask a pastor and then posing them to Pastor John. I love my side of the microphone Because I just have to ask the question And on his side of the microphone He's got to come up with the answers, right? God has given him a Bible, right? For him to find those answers But I love being the one that just gets to represent you To ask the hardest questions to Pastor John I love applied Christianity in the nitty-gritty of life I hope my ministry bears that out at this point There's a time to answer pressing questions. And there's a time like tonight to step back and answer no pressing question. Simply to take in God's incredible design for the universe.

27:18 Will Psalm 148 fix your marriage? Could. Fix your kids? Could. Could it make your job easier on Monday when you go back? Could. It has that potential. But it's worth taking a moment on a night just to see God's design.

27:42 My mom is a sewer. She crafts and sews and does quilting. She's done that for years. And there's this one season where she made a lot of dolls, like cloth dolls. And when you sew them together, basically you're working on the doll inside out, right? So you have all the seams and all the messiness on the outside, which means the doll is misshapen because like the face is looking at the inside of the head you know right so it's all inside out and then when it's time to stuff the doll you have to turn it right side out and then you put the stuffing in right and all the seams are hidden and it looks beautiful right I think Psalm 148 is like that it takes our miserable sort of self-focused we're internally concerned with ourselves we're depressed because of our lives we look at ourselves and what Psalm 148 does is it comes along and it says, let me turn you right side out so that you can see where you fit in the created order. I think Psalm 148 has a simple and profound point that can change your life.

28:44 When the psalmist calls for non-volitional creatures to praise God in Psalm 148, all of this is to quicken his own heart. rather than theirs. Because this is how we are told God's works praise him as they become to us motives and subjects of our praise.

29:12 When we behold God's invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and his divine nature, which we behold in the things that have been made, when we see God's majesty beyond creation, glimmering in creation, at that moment his creation is praising him through us. Psalm 148 isn't about training dolphins to sing Getty songs. That's not what it means. We're not trying to teach non-volitional creatures to praise God in some sort of vocal tune consistent with a praise song. It was written because every single command for worship from the stars and the whales and the storm clouds and the lightning and the snow and the fog and the gusty storm winds and the canyons under the waterline and the alps above the waterline, the trees, the birds, the insects, every command for creation to worship in Psalm 148 is a command for you and me to worship the maker. You see how it works? Be blown away. I'm blown away as I think of that. You still want to be happy. I know you do. You want to be happy. I want to be happy. You know why I know you want to be happy? It's because God put that fire, that spark inside of you to seek the ultimate good. He puts that in every human. Why? Because he's the ultimate good. We're all seeking that end. He is the point of all creation. His design His design is that our joy and His glory are not two separate things that come together in Christ.

30:57 They come together in how He built this entire creation. we are the happy choir of creation. Creation drawing us together, even tonight on a Friday night, into a choir assembled at the very center of God's purpose for everything else that he has made. God, what a high calling. I'm speechless when I think of the extent and the scope of your plan for me, for us, centerpieces of your creation. Thank you for making us human, unusually human. We are not angels. We share similarities with the angels, but we don't praise like the angels. and we're not beasts either. We have similarities to the beast, the animal kingdom here on earth, but we're not beasts.

31:51 We're human, unusually, uniquely set as humans, the heart of your purpose for your material universe so that we would find our greatest delight in you, not delighting in you and ignoring what you have made, but delighting in you on behalf of all that you have made. It's a joyful, blood-bought calling beyond anything that we can imagine. God, use your creation to loosen our praise and to so glorify yourself that we find our happiness in the maker whose majesty extends beyond Mars. In Christ's name we pray.