Weekly Devotional 22nd of August, 2025
by Bruce Billington
Weekly Devotional 22nd of August, 2025
We will conclude our series on hearing God through the Psalms by examining two final verses from Psalm 148, whose author is believed to be David.
Psalm 148:6,14 – “6 He has also established them forever and ever; He has made a decree which will not pass away.14 And He has lifted up a horn for His people, Praise for all His godly ones; Even for the sons of Israel, a people near to Him. Praise the LORD!”
As we reflect on all that God has done, we should praise Him because, from His love, He created us and because He rules over the universe. When we look up into the sky, we see God’s magnificent glory. We see the beauty, wonder, and unfailing order that reveals an infinitely great God throughout the entire earth (Psalm 19:1–4). Gazing into the heavens also reminds us that, far above everything we can see, the LORD sits on His holy throne. He made us to glorify Him just as He did the heavens. As our Creator and King, He deserves our highest praise.
He made His people strong, renowned, and victorious. His goodness to all His creatures does not prevent Him from having a special favour for His chosen nation: He is good to all, but He is God to His people.
When they are brought low, He sends them a deliverer; when they are in conflict, He grants them courage and strength, so that they lift up their horn amid the fray; and when all is peaceful around them, He fills their horn with plenty, and they lift it up with delight.
He is their glory: to him they give praise; and He, through His mercy, continually provides them with more reasons for praise and greater motives for adoration. He raises their horn (strength), and they lift up His praise. He exalts them, and they exalt Him. He is their God, and they are His saints; He makes them blessed, and they in turn bless Him.
A call goes out to all of creation to recognise today that the Kingdom of God has arrived and is the focal point of the universe. It produces and contains the purpose of the world’s history, and embracing and glorifying this is meant to be revealed through the church as the turning point for transforming the world.
God deserves our praise because He has raised up a horn for His people (verse 14). This horn signifies the strength and glory that God has given Israel. Yet, it also points beyond that glory to the reason for it: the salvation that God would send to the world through Israel, His Son and our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
God loves Israel and chose her to bear His Son. Although we rejected Christ as our Messiah, God still loved them and offers a glorious plan for all who surrender to Jesus. He will appear at the end of the age with mighty power to establish His Kingdom upon the earth.
All in Christ should proclaim His praises. We can praise God for a reason that every other created thing or being cannot: we have been redeemed. The Apostle Peter revealed that the angels, God’s most powerful created beings, long to understand salvation through Christ (1 Peter 1:12). However, they cannot experience it. The song of the redeemed can only be sung by humans. The rest of creation praises God for His power and glory, but we alone can praise God for His redeeming love, a love so great that He gave His Son for us.
So here we conclude our journey of hearing God’s voice through the Psalms. I hope you have enjoyed this journey as much as I have in creating it. I have gained many insights to assist in my own pursuit of deepening my understanding of our incredible God and His Kingdom.
May God bless you.