NKJV - Psalm 150:1-6  Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty firmament!  2 Praise Him for His mighty acts; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness!  3 Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; Praise Him with the lute and harp!  4 Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!  5 Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with clashing cymbals!  6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD! 

People have all kinds of notions about what heaven is going to be like. For example, Origen, one of the early fathers of the Christian church, believed that since the perfect shape was a sphere, we would all be sphere-shaped in heaven. (I'm already well on the way there!) Chronicles of Narnia author C. S. Lewis in his short work "The Great Divorce" described heaven as a place where everything is "more real" than it is here on earth. (Think about that one for a while!)  Describing heaven for his own child who was dying, Martin Luther told of a place filled with everything children love:  ponies, carousels, and sweets.

As different as these ideas are, they share one important truth in common. None of these ideas about heaven are actually found in Scripture. The truth is that there's a lot about eternal life in heaven that we don't know.  However, one thing is for sure.  The eternal rest we enjoy in heaven is not just about sitting on the lounger by the pool with an umbrella drink in our hands!  Heaven is all about praising the Lord!  "Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty firmament!" (v. 1). Heaven is about worship!  

Now if you've ever been to church there's a part of you that sinks when you hear that. "Worship?! But worship is boring!" Can worship be boring? Certainly. The only music ever comes from the organ and the bad singing in the congregation. The service is the same week in and week out. The passionless preacher puts you to sleep. But the biggest reason that worship is boring? It's YOU! You make worship boring with your sinful attitude that demands to be entertained 24/7! You make worship boring with your own lack of enthusiasm and passion for praising the Lord! You make worship boring by refusing to pick up the hymnal and actually participate! You make worship boring by deciding before you even walk through the door that church is going to be boring today! The primary reason worship is boring is because we have sinful human natures that get bored!  

But listen to the words of Psalm 150:  "Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet...with the lute and harp!  Praise Him with the timbrel and dance... with stringed instruments and flutes... with loud cymbals... with clashing cymbals!" (v. 3-5). Does this sound boring to you? It's exactly the opposite, isn't it? Imagine what worship will be like when you are in glory with the Lord! Imagine the spectacle--the music and dancing that will take place to praise our God! It will be the most thrilling thing we get to enjoy! When we reach life eternal, we can't help but join in the worship and praise of the Lord--worship and praise that will last forever!    

In heaven our praises won't need to be coaxed out of us; we'll be ready to worship God in spirit and in truth. That's because we know the God we're worshiping. The psalmist encourages us to praise the LORD for His mighty acts, according to His excellent greatness (v. 2). So what are the LORD's mighty acts? Well, they're all connected with that name, "The LORD."  When you see "LORD" in all-caps, you're reading the name of God as He revealed it to Moses. That name is God's covenant name with His people, the name connected with His compassion and mercy, the fact that He is slow to anger and abounding in love. It's the name of the God who set Israel free from her slavery in Egypt through the use of His almighty power.  This is the God who saves us all from our slavery to sin and death by offering up His own Son in death on a cross as the payment for all the sins of the world.  This is the God who declares us all His children by raising His own Son from the dead on the third day after He died!   

In the knowledge of who our LORD is and all that He has done for us, that's where we find the reason for our worship and praise. In the wondrous grace of God, we are inspired to join the glorious, heavenly song!  And the psalmist's desire becomes our own:  "Let everything that had breath praise the LORD!  Praise the LORD!"

Prayer:  Lord, by your grace teach me to sing your praises now and forever.  Amen.