Tehilim Perek 148

Hello everybody. Today’s NachDaily will discuss Tehilim Chapter 148. We continue in the Pesukey D’zimra as we wind down with the last few chapters.

In this perek the author specifies the various parts of the creation that praise God, beginning with the heavens, then moving on down to the angels and stars. From the highest of the spiritual worlds to the lowest, they are all called upon to praise Hashem.

The perek then specifies the specific areas of the physical creation that praise Him. The earth, great sea monsters, the depths, fire and hail, snow and smoke, mountains and hills, fruit trees and insects, are called upon to ‘Hallelu es Hashem, praise God.’

Kings, princes, judges, men, women, children, old and young. Last but not least, Am Yisrael is called upon to praise Him.

The Malbim explains that there are several categories in the perek.

First - the higher spiritual worlds all the way down to our world.

Second - the arba yesodos, 4 foundational elements which encompass this world: afar, earth, eish, fire, mayim, water, and avir, air.

Third - the 4 levels of creation: domeim, inanimate objects, tsomeach, vegetation, chai something that’s alive, and midaber, the pinnacle of creation, referring to people who have been granted the ability to speak.

The perek opens with the words:

הַ֥לְלוּ יָ֨הּ ׀ הַֽלְל֣וּ אֶת־יְ֭הוָה מִן־הַשָּׁמַ֑יִם הַֽ֝לְל֗וּהוּ בַּמְּרוֹמִֽים׃

Halleluyah. Praise God from the heavens; praise Him on high.

Rebbe Nachman, in Lekutey Maharan, Lesson 232, explains that when a person says this perek he’s actually commanding each thing mentioned to give praise to God. It is therefore fitting for every person, on saying this perek in the morning davening, to be filled with enthusiasm in praise to Hashem.

Imagine that! By saying this perek, we’re actually activating and commanding all of creation to praise Him based on our words! There can be nothing more exciting and empowering than realizing that we are the force that activates creation to do its job.

May we merit saying this chapter every morning with great energy and enthusiasm, knowing that Hashem gave us the ability to command the creation to serve Him.

We’ll be moving on to Tehilim Perek 149. One more after that, and we’ve completed the Sefer!