“Praise
the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty
heavens! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to
his excellent greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him
with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him
with strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him
with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise
the Lord! Praise the Lord! -Psalm 150:1-6 (ESV)
The
closing psalm of the whole psalter (another “Hallel” psalm),
calls for “everything that has breath” to praise the Lord. It is
a festive praise hymn, fitting for the closing of the Psalms. It is
a doxology, reaching a jubilant crescendo inviting voices and
instruments to praise the Lord.
The
psalmist answers four questions. Let’s examine them and the
answers to the questions found in this doxology of praise.
Where
do we praise God (v. 1). Praise God in His sanctuary. To the Jew,
that would be the Temple or synagogue. To Christians the command
would be to praise him in a church. Lacking either of these to
gather in and to praise God, we can make a sanctuary—a sacred
place—wherever we are. “Praise him in His mighty heavens”
acknowledges that God made the heavens and the earth, and wherever we
approach God in reverence is a sanctuary where we can raise our
doxology of praise to Him.
Why
do we praise God (v. 2). We praise Him for His mighty deeds. We
praise Him because of “His excellent greatness.” These are
revealed to all people if only they will regard God and His works.
In Romans, Paul wrote “For what can be known about God is plain
to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible
attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been
clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the
things that have been made. So that they are without excuse.”
(Romans 1:17b-20)
How
are we to praise God? Here is given the most complete list of
musical instruments in the Old Testament. We are to praise God, of
course, with the voice; but then with the trumpet, the lute, the
harp, the tambourine, with strings (stringed instruments, which are
many), the pipe and both ‘sounding’ and ‘clashing’ cymbals.
And with the jubilant instruments of praise, add the body in
majestic movement, the dance.
Who
is to praise God? The poem seems to reach a crescendo as the
psalmist declares: “Let everything that has breath praise the
Lord!” People, animals, fish, birds, everything are to lift
praises to the Lord God. The Psalms could not have come to a more
climactic end than with this doxology of praise calling for everyone,
with whatever method is joyous and praise-giving, to life gratitude
and glory to the Lord. For great is He, and greatly to be praised.
Praise the Lord!
For
150 days, from the very first of January, I have gone through the
Psalms one by one giving brief devotional thoughts. The exercise has
drawn me closer to God. I pray that you who have read these
devotionals day by day have been blessed and drawn closer to the
Lord. - Ethelene
Dyer Jones 05.29.2016
I am almost sad that you have now completed your wise, insightful devotions on the Psalms, Ethelene, for I have not only enjoyed them, I have worshipped through them! Thank you for sharing them with us. I look forward to reading whatever the Lord leads you to write about next.
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