Ps 148:14 answers the age-old question ‘Who are we?’ So often, this question of identity nags at us individually and collectively; we need a sense of identity to find purpose and meaning in life. Eph 1:11 in the Message version says, ‘It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for.’ This psalm of praise has similar answers for God’s people.
Firstly, it reminds us that God has done something for ‘His people’. In sending His only Son, Jesus, to be the atoning sacrifice for sin, He has actually made those who were far off and not His people into His people (see 1 Pet 2:9-10, Eph 2:11-22, Hos 1:8-11) Those who call on the name of the Lord are not only saved, they are also born again and adopted into His family as children of God. (John 1:12, Rom 8:15)
Amazingly, God’s people are also described as ‘His faithful servants’ and ‘Israel’, again showing us that God’s sovereignty and choice grant us access to a new relationship with Him. There is a wondrous balance in the descriptions given to God’s people. That relationship is described at times in very intimate terms (as a child, as the bride of Christ, as a friend), but we are also reminded that we are servants who have been bought at a price. (1 Cor 6:19-20). This is not a negative description, for we are described also in this psalm as being ‘close to His heart’ (see also Is 40:11). God has done so much for us in rescuing us from the kingdom of darkness and bringing us into the kingdom of light. The only right response to the new identity given to us by God (see 2 Cor 5:17) is worship and service.