Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Infinite and Intimate | The Writings | Psalm 148

Episode Date: December 27, 2024

Who are you searching for? Do you believe that God loves you? Why should we praise him? In today's episode, Jeff shares how Psalm 148 reminds us that God is infinite, but also intimate, and he is always moving towards us. Read the Bible with us in 2025! This year, we’re exploring the Historical Books—Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, and 1 & 2 Kings. Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Psalm 148

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Jeff Parrott. Kurt Thompson famously wrote in his book, The Soul of Shame. We are all born into the world, looking for someone, looking for us, and we remain in this mode of searching for the rest of our lives. That's a pretty powerful claim to make. So let's hear one more time. We are all born into the world looking for someone, looking for us, and we remain in this mode of searching for the rest of our lives. All of us are in that mode of searching right now. As you listen to this episode, at the beginning, middle, or end of your day, your life is marked by a kind of search. Behind and

underneath all of your endeavors, hopes, struggles, and obsessions, there is searching. In one of the great myths of our world today is that what you're searching for is something for success, for pleasure, for closure. But if Thompson is right, then your mode of searching is not for something, but for some one. And maybe you're searching as a person who believes in God, yet feels far from him right now. See, it's one thing to believe that God exists. It's quite another thing to believe that he's close to you, to believe that he loves you, to live like he loves you. I once heard from someone that it was possible for him to believe that Jesus rose from the dead, but not possible for him to believe that God loves him. There's a disconnect between God's

existence and God's affection, and that disconnect leaves us searching. So are you experiencing that disconnect, that kind of searching? Perhaps your searching takes on a different kind of flavor. Maybe you're not even sure if you believe in God, yet you have an ache within your soul that points you right in his direction. I like how the author Julian Barnes describes this kind of longing. He writes, I don't believe in God, but I miss him. I miss him. Is that you? Maybe this is your first time with us on 10-minute Bible talks, or perhaps you've been on a journey with us all year through the writings of the Old Testament. You're not sure what you believe or who you believe in, but you do know at a deep level that you're searching. What if that ache of searching

isn't just for something, but for someone? What if you're looking for your creator who's looking for you. This mode of searching shapes every single one of us and it presses us to the question, does the one I'm searching for really see me, really love me? Psalm 148 is an amazing Psalm that enters into that question and draws us further into it. It stretches our minds and strikes our hearts as it helps us see the one who sees us. As we approach God, God's word together, let's pause and ask for His grace to meet us and move through our time. Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of life and breath, and thank you for your word. We bring before you in this time our joys and our sorrows, our anxiety and our excitement,

our calendars and our contingencies. God, we bring all of those things before you. Jesus, help us abide in you as we engage with your truth. Holy Spirit, we ask you to move in and through your God, we bring all of those things before you. this time in Psalm 148. And as we read these words, let these words read us, read our lives, and help us see you in a new way. In Jesus' name, amen. The repeated refrain of Psalm 148 is that of praising the Lord. From heavenly beings to earthly creatures, all of creation works to praise the creator of all things. We're going to start by reading the first 12 verses. And notice two things that are at play. Notice the variety of things praising the Lord

and the reason for their praise. So we'll start in verse one. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord from the heavens. Praise him in the heights above. Praise him all his angels. Praise him all his heavenly hosts. Praise him sun and moon. Praise him all you shining stars. Praise him you highest heavens and you waters above the skies. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for at his command they were created, and he established them forever and ever. He issued a decree that will never pass away. Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding. You mountains and all hills, fruit trees, and all cedars, wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds, kings of the earth,

and all nations, you princes and all rulers of the earth, young men and women, old men, and children. Now, as we look back in those 12 verses, remember, we want to point out the variety of things praising God and the reason for their praise. When we look back at the variety of things praising God here, we see a remarkable, vastness and breadth that play. Heavenly beings, celestial objects, the land and sea, animals, kings, nations, men, women, children, young and old. This is a stirring, elevated depiction of the Creator God. That's part of the reason behind this, not just the variety of things praising God, but the reason is because when he speaks things into existence, they obey. They have to praise him because he created them with the power of his breath.

We're meant to notice the breadth of God's transcendence here. This is a stirring, elevated depiction of the Creator God. This is meant to magnify our sense of his vastness and his glory. This living God, the God who is there, is far beyond us. The worthiness of his praise is not one-dimensional. It is foundational to the existence of life. and beauty. Praise the Lord. Now, as we move on, verse 13 is like the height of a crescendo in this flow of thought. This is what verse 13 says. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted.

His splendor is above the earth and the heavens. All of creation here is calling out and praise to the God who called it into existence. This emphasis on God's transcendence, him being beyond us. It raises a question, could this God, who is far beyond us, really know us? Could this God really know me? I mean, this Psalm is soaring in its description of the God of the Bible. I mean, as verse 13 says, his splendor is above the earth and the heavens. Some people hear that and they wonder if it validates their greatest fear. Could this God, who is far above me, far beyond me, could he really see me, really love me? That's the question that stirs our searching. For us today, yes, but also for God's people going back for millennia now,

this God that we're searching for, is he searching for us? Now, if the psalm stopped here, our question would linger without resolution. But in the last verse of Psalm 148, the psalmist dives even deeper into our mode of searching. We read this in verse 14. And he, the Lord, has raised up for his people a horn, the praise of all his faithful servants of Israel, the people close to his heart. Praise the Lord. This Psalm, which is rightly focused on the glory of God's transcendence, him being beyond us, well, now it ends with a massive, massive emphasis on His his gracious movement toward us. Verse 14 says that the living God has raised up a horn.

Now, the image of a horn is a biblical metaphor for strength, particularly in relation to the strength of a king who will reign and restore all things. This here is describing the good news that we celebrated this week, that Jesus is the king, is God with us, that God is not only our creator, but also our re-creator. But why? Why would this God, who is beyond us, move to be with us? Why would he come to dwell with us? Well, as verse 14 says, we are the people close to his heart.

We're close to his heart. This is not only a closeness of proximity, but a closeness of affection and a closeness of love. this is the someone looking at us. Psalm 148 points us to the radical, beautiful, gospel truth that as much as we're searching for God, he's searching for us. He has us close to his heart. Really, this truth has been displayed throughout our entire journey

through the writings of the Old Testament. This year, we've seen the biblical rhythm of God meeting people where they are and bringing them where they need to be and the mechanism behind that, the engine that drives that movement is God's own steadfast love, his Hecad, his relentless, unhindered affection for the people close to his heart. So he's not only looking at us or looking for us, his love is moving toward us. And that, according to Psalm 148, is reason to praise him.

Now, as you prepare to end this year and look ahead to the next, take a moment to just reflect on where you are right now, in this moment even, where you are in your mode of searching. Is your searching leading you further from God as if your journey will lead to something that will alleviate the ache of your soul? Maybe this Psalm is a kind of year-end invitation from God to recognize how he's the one looking for you, moving towards you and love. What would it look like for you to live into that truth amidst your doubt, amidst your uncertainty, your suffering, and your sin,

to live into the truth that even then you are close to his heart? What would it mean for you to believe that the most important thing about you is that you are loved? You are loved by the one who made you, and is making all things new, and is making you new. Heavenly Father, help us see that in the midst of our searching, you are looking for us. You hold us close to your heart.

Jesus, we praise you for the gospel strength you display in coming to be with us in your life, death, resurrection, and reign today. Holy Spirit, would you stir our hearts and minds to help us remember who we are and to help us remember that we are love? in Jesus name, amen.