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Read the following passage. Why are Jesus’ disciples praising God as a “whole multitude”?
Luke 19:35-40
35 And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. 37 As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 38 saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”
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Their praise song/shout comes from Psalm 118. Read verses 14-17, 25-26:
The Lord is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.
15 Glad songs of salvation
are in the tents of the righteous:
“The right hand of the Lord does valiantly,
16 the right hand of the Lord exalts,
the right hand of the Lord does valiantly!”
17 I shall not die, but I shall live,
and recount the deeds of the Lord.
Save us, we pray, O Lord!
O Lord, we pray, give us success!
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
27 The Lord is God,
and he has made his light to shine upon us.
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Psalm 118 is a hymn of thanksgiving for deliverance from enemies. At many times in their history, the Israelites have praised God for delivering them from various enemies. In Luke 19 above, the community of corporate worshipers, are praising and thanking God for sending the Messiah, Jesus, to save them once and for all and to rule over Rome. They are declaring God’s goodness, His power, His salvation for them! Throughout Scripture we read about worshipers coming together corporately to declare the glory of the Lord, and as Jesus tells the Pharisees that if the people don’t praise, the stones will cry out.
This reminds me of Psalm 19.
Psalm 19:1-4
The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
2 Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
3 There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard.
4 Their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
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Could it be that when we worship together, we are declaring God’s glory in the same way His very creation does? Praise God for His creation that teaches us how to praise the Lord! As you go about your day, notice the way God’s creation praises Him.