“Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.”
“Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.”
Psalm 150 is the last of the psalms. It is an appeal to every thing that has breath to praise the Lord. It speaks of praise to the Lord on many kinds of instruments. What a fanfare! And the Lord is worthy of all honor and praise. Verse 2 gives two bases for praising the Lord: His mighty works and His excellent greatness.
The Bible is full God’s mighty acts. In the first chapter of Genesis the story of creation is told. The original of everything we see around us was created by God by His word: God said, “Let there be…” and there was. Just this simple statement by Him was enough to bring into being angels and animals and plants and fish and water and land and light and air and earth and heaven itself! And all in proper order. Man was formed out of the dust of the earth, and the woman was formed from a rib from the man. This makes the creation of mankind unique! John 1 states that Jesus was the creator. While we might think that creation was done by the Father, Jesus, too, was the creator.
Another of God’s mighty acts was the Great Flood. Genesis 6:5-8 tells us, “And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.” God gave to Noah the task of building an ark in which God would preserve life. One hundred years later the flood came and it covered the earth. After the rain stopped, it took nearly a year for the earth to dry. Then Noah and his family and all of the animals left the ark. Flooding the whole earth certainly reveals God’s might!
A third example of God’s mighty acts was bringing Israel out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. In that one event many mighty deeds took place. The plagues on Egypt, the drying of the Red sea so the people went through on dry ground, the parting of the Jordan river at flood stage, (and the people went over on dry ground then, too), the manna, water supplied from a rock, shoes and clothes that did not wear out for forty years, and many more. God’s might was always on display for His people as they went to the Promised Land. He led them using a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.
The psalmist gives a second reason to praise the LORD, “praise him according to his excellent greatness.” God’s greatness can be seen in the examples just considered. These were displays of His might. But the psalmist says that we should praise Him according to His excellent greatness. That is, to the extent of His excellent greatness. This is other than His might.
In Numbers 14:19, Moses said, “Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.” Israel had sinned against the LORD from the time that they left Egypt. Here, they had just come to the edge of the Promised Land in the wilderness of Paran in the south. Ten of twelve spies came back with a bad report of the land, and the people decided to appoint a different leader and return to Egypt. They even accused God of bringing them to the Promised Land to kill them! For this Moses appealed to the LORD to forgive them according to the greatness of His mercy.
How great is God’s mercy? Psalm 36:5 says, “Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.” and Psalm 103:11 says, “For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.”
Toward the end of time, in Revelation 15:3, 4, God is praised in heaven, “And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.” His holiness and His ways are great, and are the basis for praise in this future day. His ways are just and true; He only is holy.
Another evidence God’s greatness is His great humility, as described in Philippians 2:5-11, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” For the sake of mankind, Jesus obeyed His Father, came as a man, and died under God’s wrath against the sins of mankind. For this He certainly deserves praise.
“Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.”
Praise Him, praise Him—
Jesus, our blessèd Redeemer,
Sing, O earth, His wonderful love proclaim.
Hail Him! hail Him! highest archangels in glory;
Strength and honor give to His holy name!
Like a shepherd, Jesus will guard His children,
In His arms He carries them all day long:
O ye saints that dwell on the mountain of Zion,
Praise Him, praise Him ever in joyful song.
Praise Him, praise Him—
Jesus, our blessèd Redeemer,
For our sins He suffered, and bled, and died;
He our rock, our hope of eternal salvation,
Hail Him, hail Him, Jesus the Crucified.
Loving Savior, meekly enduring sorrow,
Crowned with thorns that cruelly pierced His brow;
Once for us rejected, despised and forsaken,
Prince of Glory, He is triumphant now.
Praise Him, praise Him—
Jesus, our blessèd Redeemer,
Heav’nly portals loud with hosannas ring,
Jesus, Savior, reigneth forever and ever.
Crown Him! Crown Him—
Prophet, and Priest, and King!
Death is vanquished! Tell it with joy, ye faithful.
Where is now thy victory, boasting grave?
Jesus lives! No longer thy portals are cheerless;
Jesus lives, the mighty and strong to save. (Fanny Crosby)