Title: TOOTING GOD’S HORN
Focus: We praise God for all his works, especially as seen in his Son, the Lord Jesus.
Function: To move people to express thanks to God for his gift of salvation.
Text: Psalm 148:1-14
INTRODUCTION
The English language contains many interesting expressions. For example, “The early bird catches the worm.” “Toeing the line.” “Shooting the breeze.”
Here’s another one: “Tooting one’s horn.” This is an expression that can be used positively or negatively. For example, when I brag about myself, about my strengths or accomplishments, you will say, “Pastor Jack is tooting his own horn.” And you won’t appreciate the lack of humility and modesty displayed by me. But when I praise the accomplishments of a co-worker, or staff member or any church member here, you will approve simply because tooting the horn of someone else is praise-worthy.
Building other people up with genuine lavish praise is a good thing to do. And that’s why I say to you tonight: Let’s toot God’s horn. Let’s praise God for all his works, especially as seen in his Son, the Lord Jesus.
The psalmist in Psalm 148 is tooting a horn. He invites us all to heap praise upon the Lord, our God. The psalm consists of 14 verses. And the psalmist frames his song of praise with two simple lines:
Vs. 1 “Praise the Lord.”
Vs. 14 “Praise the Lord.”
If you think of Psalm 148 as a Christmas gift, then these two lines make up the wrapping paper. Or if you think of Psalm 148 as a snapshot picture, then these two lines make up the frame in which the psalm is listed.
Now Psalm 148 has actually two snapshot pictures. And each snapshot comes with commentary. The first snapshot confronts us with the heavens. Listen: “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.”
The heavens include not only the universe with its planets and stars; it also includes the invisible, spiritual realms—those dimensions of reality where God dwells with all the angels and all the creatures who serve the Lord in heaven.
And all these creatures and all these created things hear the psalmist’s invitation to toot God’s horn—to praise him sky high and higher yet.
This snapshot of the heavens comes with a commentary. Listen: (vs. 5,6) “Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded and they were created. He set them in place for ever and ever; he gave a decree that will never pass away.” In other words, praise the Lord because he is your creator; he is fully in control. His authority cannot be broken.
I enjoy watching National Geographic films that explore scientific discoveries. I’m always amazed at the things we discover going on in the universe. Sometimes I laugh at the (what seems to me desperate) theories explaining the origin of the universe. Other times, I find joy deep down in my soul as I realize the grandeur and the majesty of God in creating the universe. It blows my mind—so much so that we do well to blow or toot the horn of praise—God’s praise, I mean.
The second
snapshot in Psalm 148 keeps our feet firmly planted here on earth. Listen: (vs. 7-12) “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 on earth, young men and maidens, old men and
children.”
This call to praise comes not only to people on the earth, but also to things, and creatures, and powerful forces: tsunamis, for example, or Mount St. Helen’s, or tigers, or goats and hummingbirds. Somehow, they all have a voice. And somehow they must toot the horn of God. So it is also with people. Not only powerless people—the homeless, the poor, the less-educated, or the most vulnerable such as infants, children and the elderly—Oh no! Kings, princes, rulers on earth—President Bush, Harry Reid, Bill Frist, Tony Blair, Fidel Castro, Chavez, and local city councilmen and women—all in authority must toot the horn of God. Why?
Listen to the commentary that comes with this snapshot: (vs. 13 and 14) “Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.” Think about the accomplishments of people you admire. Think of the achievements of people such as Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, Hubert Humphrey, or anyone else you may admire. Then add all their accomplishments together. And you’ll discover that their name, their splendor cannot equal the splendor and name or works of God. He is worthy of all our praise and adoration!
The psalmist, to be sure, speaks to all of creation and to all of life in the heavens and on the earth, but he has a special commentary for God’s people. Listen: (vs. 14) “(God) has raised up for his people a horn, the praise of all his saints, of Israel, the people close to his heart.” Here the psalmist touches upon the close, covenantal relationship between God and his people Israel, between the Lord and his church—the apple of his eye. And the psalmist points us to that special work of God—that work of raising up a horn—which is the praise of all the people close to God’s heart.
A full-grown rhinoceros is a massive land animal. You don’t want to cross its path, because a rhinoceros will make minced meat of you.They have horns on their noses. Those horns are made of keratin—that the stuff our hair and nails are made of. Some horns will grow to a length of six feet. The horn of a full-grown rhinoceros can pierce the side of a lion, an elephant, and even a car. It’s an amazing weapon. The rhino horn, then, made of thick, hairlike fibers, is a symbol of strength. You don’t want to mess with a rhino or its horn.
In the Bible, we find many references to the “horn.” Considering that there are no rhinos in the Land of Canaan, I don’t think the psalmist was thinking of a rhino horn when he said “(God) has raised up for his people a horn….” The ram’s horn, however, was a very common object in Israel.
The horn in the Bible is a symbol of strength; The New Catholic Dictionary tells us that the horn … is frequently mentioned to signify power and glory: ‘In my name shall his horn be exalted” (Psalm 88); “his horn shall be exalted in glory (Psalm 111); “my horn is exalted in my God” (I Kings 2); “the horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, says the Lord” (Jeremiah 48). Often in the Bible, the horn is a reference to Israel’s kings, or to Israel’s God, where the dignity and strengths of kings and of God come in play.
Here in Psalm 148 it is most likely a reference to Israel’s King, whom God has anointed to rule over his people and to bring security and peace to Israel. But in the vast scope of God’s mighty works, the horn in Psalm 148 may also be a prophetic reference to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. For he is the horn of salvation.
When
Zechariah, the high priest learns that his wife Elisabeth would conceive and
bear a son by the name of John, Zechariah has much time to ponder the
significance of his miracle child. With insight given by the Holy Spirit,
Zechariah realizes that his son John would be a herald, a messenger who would
announce the coming of someone great—a horn. Listen to Zechariah’s song (Luke 1:67ff) “Praise
be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed
his people. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his
servant David…to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant…to
rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without
fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.”
Jesus is that horn of salvation. And Zechariah teaches us that we have many reasons to toot the horn of God for his gift of salvation
On this Christmas day, we toot God’s horn because Jesus is our strength, our horn. What has he done? What is Jesus all about? Why should we toot the horn of God for giving us his One and Only Son?
As the Allied soldiers in 1944 destroyed the power of Hitler by the invasion forces landing on the beaches of Normandy, France, so Jesus destroyed the power of Satan by rising from the dead. Jesus’ resurrection dealt a deathblow to the power of death. This is why we toot God’s horn today—for his gift of Jesus means that Jesus is our strength, our horn of salvation. Here’s another reason:
“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us al our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”
Having destroyed the power of death by his resurrection, Jesus has also given us freedom from the guilt of sin, freedom from the inability to keep God’s law perfectly, and freedom to serve him by grace, in love, and in obedience. Here’s one more reason to toot God’s horn today:
This is why we toot God’s horn today. Let it fly! Sing the songs of faith! And keep on singing until the Lord will come again and make all things new!
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.