30. The World as the Temple of God

A Meditation of Psalm 148

Psalm 148 is one of the five Hallelujah songs at the end of the Book of Psalms.  It is possible that these songs were specially written to be sung in the temple during worship. Psalm 148 presents a grand vision of the whole universe as one huge temple.  

Here in this psalm, the psalmist faithfully follows the existing cosmology of the time at which the psalm was written. See below a picture of the universe as understood by the psalmist and the people at that time. 

http://www.religioustolerance.org/cosmo_paga.gif 

http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/images/genesisearth.jpg

The psalm calls all beings existing at all levels of the universe to praise God. The congregation of worshippers includes waters above the heavens, angels from the heaven, and the Sun, moon, and stars from the sky. Coming down to the ground-level, there are fire, hail, snow, clouds, wind, mountains, and the living beings. Among the living beings, there are plants and animals. Plants include fruit trees and cedars. Animals include monsters in the sea, beasts in the forests, cattle, reptiles, birds and people. People include all kings, princes, judges, old ones, young ones and children. Going below the ground level, the psalm calls all deeps to praise God. 

The call is made to all that exists to participate in a grand symphony praising God. All are welcome to join the choir: not only the young but also the old; not only the humans but also the animals and plants; not only the living beings, but also the non-living beings; not only the beings on the earth, but also the beings in heaven and in the sky and in the deep. What a grand choir and what a majestic symphony!

Nothing or no one is excluded from this grand temple of God. The entire world belongs to God, and all the people in the world are God’s people. However, all worshippers do not have the same role within the temple. Some of them take a leadership role. They lead the entire congregation in worship in an orderly manner. That does not mean that they have a more privileged position. It only means that they happily took upon themselves a certain responsibility from God for the good of all. According to the last verse of this psalm, the call to praise God is made to the world by Israel. They took upon themselves a leadership role. Israel believed that they were a special people called by God for a special purpose. It has often been misunderstood as a call for special privileges. Here in this psalm, it is made clear that Israel was called not for any privileges but for a responsibility. They were called by God to be a means of blessing to all the people of the world.

The picture of the universe as the temple of God needs to be regained today. Ours is a flat and dry and meaningless universe in which people wander meaninglessly. A world of matter which is consumed and exploited by the human beings! Life is meaningless to our generation. Compared to the living and dynamic universe we see in this. 

psalm, ours is a dead and rotten universe. Compared to the one grand symphony of Hallelujah sung by all that exists in the temple of the universe, we have today discordant voices of grumbles, complaints, and curses. Compared to the temple-universe in which God dwells, ours is a universe that has no place for God.  What a tragedy!

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