1. Come and Praise the Lord (vv. 1-5). He tells us how we should praise Him (vv. 1-2) and why we should praise Him (vv. 3-5). This is communal praise, not individual, although both are important. Our praise should be joyful and enthusiastic–he even commands us to shout (v. 1 nasb)–and wholly focused on the Lord. The verb “come” in verse 2 means “to go to meet God face-to-face, to be in His presence.” Believers today do this through Jesus Christ (Heb. 10:19-25). We should be thankful in our praise as we extol the Lord for His great mercies. (On God the Rock, see 18:2.)

Why should we praise Him? Because He is great and above the false gods of this world (v. 3; 92:8; 93:4; 96:4; Ex. 18:11). After His ascension to heaven, Jesus Christ was enthroned “far above all” (Acts 2:33; Eph. 1:19-23; Phil. 2:9-11; Col. 1:15-18), and nothing can separate us from His love (Rom. 8:37-39). He is our “great God and Savior” (Titus 2:13 niv) and we should delight in praising him. But our God is also the Creator of the universe and controls all things (vv. 4-5). The depths of the sea and the earth and the heights of the mountains all belong to Him, and He knows what is going on in the waters as well as on the earth. The pagan nations had gods and goddesses for different parts of creation–the seas, the land, the mountain peaks, the sun, moon, and stars, the storms, the crops–but our God is King over all. No wonder we praise Him!