Ways Of Praise And Glory

Αἰνεῖτε αὐτόν ἥλιος καὶ σελήνη, αἰνεῖτε αὐτόν πάντα τὰ ἄστρα καὶ τὸ φῶς, αἰνεῖτε αὐτόν οἱ οὐρανοὶ τῶν οὐρανῶν καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ τὸ ὑπεράνω τῶν οὐρανῶν. Αἰνεσάτωσαν τὸ ὄνομα Κυρίου ὅτι αὐτὸς εἶπεν καὶ ἐγενήθησαν αὐτὸς ἐνετείλατο καὶ ἐκτίσθησαν Καὶ πῶς ταῦτα αἰνεῖ, ἴσως εἴποι τις ἂν, οὐ φωνὴν ἔχοντα, οὐ γλῶτταν, οὐ ψυχὴν, οὐ λογισμὸν, οὐ νοῦν, οὐ φωνητικὸν ὄργανον, οὐ διάνοιαν; Ὅτι δύο δοξολογίας τρόποι· εἵς μὲν, ὁ διὰ ῥημάτων, ἕτερος δὲ, ὁ δι' ὄψεως, καὶ τρίτος δὲ μετὰ τούτων, ὁ διὰ βίου καὶ ἔργων. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ ἀνθρώπων οὐ φθεγγομένων μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ σιγώντων, δόξα ἀναφέρεται τῷ Θεῷ· ὥσπερ καὶ Χριστός φησι· Λαμψὰτω τὸ φῶς ὑμῶν ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ὅπως ἴδωσιν ὑμῶν τὰ καλὰ ἔργα, καὶ δοξάσωσι τὸν Πατέρα ὑμῶν τὸν ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. Καὶ πάλιν, Τοὺς δοξάζοντας με δοξάσω. Ἔστι καὶ διὰ γλώττης δοξολογία, ὡς καὶ Μωῦσης ἐδοξασε μετὰ τῆς Μαρίας λέγων· ᾌσωμεν τῷ Κυρίῷ· ἐνδοξως γὰρ δεδόξασται. Ἔστι καὶ ἡ διὰ τῆς κτίσεως αὐτῆς, ὡς αὐτὸς οὕτός φησιν· Οἱ οὐρανοὶ διηγοῦνται δόξαν Θεοῦ· ποίησιν δὲ χειρῶν αὐτοῦ ἀναγγέλλει τὸ στερέωμα. Οὕτω καὶ ἐνταῦθα αἰνεῖ αὐτὸν ἡ κτίσις τῷ κάλλει, τῇ θέσει, τῷ μεγέθει, τῇ φυσει, τῇ χρήσει, τῇ διακονίᾳ, τῇ διαμονῇ, τῇ λυσιτελείᾳ τῇ ἐξ αὐτῶν γινομένῃ. Ὅταν οὐ λέγῃ, Αἰνείτε τὸν Κύριον, ἄγελλοι, δυνάμεις, οὐρανοὶ, σελήνη, ἥλιος, ἀστέρες, τὸ ὕδωρ τὸ ὑπεράνω τῶν οὐρανῶν, τοῦτο λέγει, ὅτι ἔκαστον τῶν γινομένων ἄξιον τῆς τοῦ πεποιηκότος σοφίας, καὶ πολλοῦ γέμει τοῦ θαύματος· ὅπερ συντόμως ὁ Μωϋσης ἐν προοιμίοις ἔλεγε· Καὶ εἴδεν ὁ Θεὸς ὅσα ἐποίησε, καὶ ἰδοὺ καλὰ λίαν· οὕτω καλὰ, ὡς δοξάζειν τὸν πεποιηκότα, καὶ τὸν θεατὴν ἐνάγειν εἰς εὐφημίαν τοῦ τεκτηναμένου. Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος Εἰς Τον ΡΜΗ' Ψαλμον  Source: Migne PG 55 486

Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, every star and light; praise him, the heavens of the heavens and you waters beyond the heavens. Let all praise the name of the Lord; for He spoke and they were, He commanded and they were created. 1 And how do these things give praise, someone may say, which have neither voice, or tongue, or soul, or thought, or mind, or any organ of sound, or intellect? Because there are two ways of glorifying, one indeed by words and another by being seen, and indeed there is a third way which is by life and deeds. For men not only by words but even by silence may offer glory to God, just as Christ said, 'Let your light shine among men that they see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven. 2 And again: 'To him who glorifies me I shall give glory.' 3 There is indeed, then, a glorifying that may be done by means of the tongue, as Moses glorified with Miriam, saying, 'Let us sing to the Lord, gloriously He has been glorified.' 4 And there is that by a thing which has been created, whence it is said, 'The heavens tell the glory of God, the firmament announces the works of His hands.' 5 So indeed created things do praise Him, by beauty and position and magnitude and nature and utility and service and perseverance and by the benefit arising from them. When therefore it says 'Praise the Lord, angels, powers, heavens, moon, sun, stars, and the waters which are above the heavens,' this is meant: that anything which is made has its worth by being made by wisdom, and being replete with much wonder, which certainly Moses briefly told in the beginning: 'And the Lord saw what He had made and behold it was very good.' 6 Thus they are good because they glorify the Creator and the sight of them leads to the praise of the One who fashioned them. Saint John Chrysostom, On The Psalms, from Psalm 148 1 Ps 148.3-5 2 Mt 5.16 3 1 Kings 2.30 4 Exodus 15.1 5 Ps 18.1 6 Gen 1.31