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Psalms 150

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Where and Why to Praise God 1–2

1
Praise ye Jehovah. Praise God in his sanctuary: Praise him in the firmament of his power. ​
2
Praise him for his mighty acts: Praise him according to his excellent greatness. ​

Instruments and Every Breath of Praise 3–6

3
Praise him with trumpet sound: Praise him with psaltery and harp.
4
Praise him with timbrel and dance: Praise him with stringed instruments and pipe. ​
5
Praise him with loud cymbals: Praise him with high sounding cymbals.
6
Let everything that hath breath praise Jehovah. Praise ye Jehovah. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Psalms 150

Verse 1

Praise God in his sanctuary — Halal, to praise, occurs thirteen times in this psalm. Qodesh is holiness or the holy place, and the 'firmament' (raqia) is the expanse of Gen 1:6–8, which 'sheweth his handywork' (Ps 19:1). Praise is asked in the place of worship (Ps 134:2) and in the heavens above it.

Verse 2

his mighty acts — Gevurah, acts of might, and 'excellent greatness' is rov, abundance, with godel, greatness. Moses uses the same pair: 'thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness, and thy mighty hand… according to thy might' (Deut 3:24). Ps 145:5–6 speaks of the same acts.

Verse 4

the timbrel and dance — Toph, the hand drum, and machol, the dance, are together in Ex 15:20, when 'Miriam the prophetess… took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances'. 'Organs' is ugab, a reed pipe, first named in Gen 4:21, where Jubal is 'the father of all such as handle the harp and organ'.

Verse 6

every thing that hath breath — Neshamah, the breath that God 'breathed into his nostrils' at the making of man (Gen 2:7), so the whole of what lives is summoned. The last verse of the Psalms matches John's last vision of praise: 'every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth' (Rev 5:13).