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)
As we come to the end of the Book of Psalms, we notice that each of the last 5 Psalms begins with, “Praise the Lord,” and each Psalm increases in praise and joy until we come to the last one in the holy hymnbook Psalm 150. For the psalmist, “praise the Lord” was definitely not a cliché but an ecstatic expression of unbridled joy! In six short verses, he uses the phrase 13 times. Every sentence starts off with “Hallelujah” (which is the Hebrew way to say, “Praise the Lord”) and is very short it’s as if he can’t wait to get to the next opportunity to say, “Praise the Lord” again.
The word, “praise” is derived from a Latin word which means to prize. When we praise, we are expressing our approval by valuing something or someone who has worth or merit. The word also means to “shine” or “make a show by raving and celebrating.” To praise the Lord is to prize Him and rave about Him as the only one worthy of glory and honor.
Where to Praise
Verse 1 begins with a bang: “Praise the Lord. Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in His mighty heavens.” The word used here for “Lord” is “Jehovah,” which means, “the self-existent and eternal one.” The psalmist than shifts his focus to another name and calls him, “God” or “El” in Hebrew, which means, “Strong and mighty.”
We are to praise the eternal, strong and mighty God in “His sanctuary,” which is a reference to the temple, where God used to dwell. Since Jesus died and rose again, God now “tabernacles” within His people, choosing not to dwell in a building. We are His temple and should therefore live out the implications of what that means. While God does not reside in this auditorium, He does reside within us.
The call to praise also extends to the “mighty heavens.” The psalmist is calling the firmament, and everything above it, to break out into a celebration of praise. Verse 1 is really saying, “Praise God in heaven and on earth.”
And so, verse 1 answers the question, “Where are we to praise Him?” We’re to do it everywhere. Verse 2 gives us the answer to the question, “Why are we to praise Him?”
Why We Praise
We’re called to rave about God for at least two reasons. First, we praise Him for what He does. We see this in the first part of verse 2: “Praise Him for His mighty deeds.” This is the theme of many of the psalms. The phrase, "mighty deeds” carries with it the idea of God as a champion because of the victory He has won. His acts of power are displayed in creation and in our own lives as we enjoy the benefits of His grace, forgiveness, and salvation.
But, we’re also to praise Him for who He is in the second part of verse 2: “Praise Him for His excellent greatness.” This is especially evident in the last group of praise psalms. Psalm 145:3 says, “Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; His greatness no one can fathom.” Psalm 147:5: “Great is our Lord and mighty in power; His understanding has no limit.” When we praise God for who He is, we are recognizing his surpassing greatness, or as the Hebrew indicates, for His “muchness of greatness and abundant magnitude.”
This is a good reminder for us. When we praise Him, we should do it for what He’s done in our lives and we should praise Him simply for who He is.
How We Praise
As we move to the next section in verses 3-5, we learn How to Praise God. Many of us would be a bit unsettled if we worshipped the way the Israelites did. Their music was loud and boisterous.
Let’s take a look at how they praised: “Praise Him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise Him with the harp and lyre, praise Him with tambourine and dancing, praise Him with the strings and flute, praise Him with the clash of cymbals, praise Him with resounding cymbals.”
The Israelites used 3 types of musical instruments wind, string, and percussion and all three are used in this pinnacle of praise in Psalm 150. This list of instruments appears to be in a random order and it’s likely that each one was played when it was mentioned and continued to be heard through the last “Praise the Lord.”
The first one listed is the trumpet - (My instrument!). This was also referred to as the shophar, or ram’s horn. It was the greatest of the Jewish instruments, and could be heard from a long distance away.
After the blast of the trumpet, verse 3 calls us to “praise Him with the harp and lyre.” We go from an explosive expression of praise to the sweet sound of strings. The harp is mentioned more than any other instrument and was played powerfully by David. Scholars believe that the harp and the lyre were similar in function and design, but the harp was probably larger.
Verse 4 gives us the next instruments of worship the tambourine and dancing. Associated with the deliverance at the Red Sea, this form of praise was jubilant and expressive. Exodus 15:20-21 describes the scene: “Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her, with tambourines and dancing. Miriam sang to them: ‘Sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted. The horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea.’”
The playing of the tambourine was often accompanied with dancing. The Hebrew word for “dance” indicates a “twirl or a twist,” and was done in an attitude of protracted praise and adoration. The hands and the feet were both set in motion and the entire body moved in response to God’s greatness and His mighty acts of power. Are there not periods of life when we are so happy that we could dance for joy? Brothers and sisters, there is enough in our faith to create and justify the highest degree of euphoric delight which breaks forth into melodious movement.
Verse 4 combines the joyful sounds of the tambourine with strings and the flute. Strings refer to instruments similar to the violin or cello. The word “flute” represents the whole class of wind instruments and has been translated “organ” in some Latin translations.
Verse 5 kicks up the volume level: “Praise Him with the clash of cymbals, praise Him with resounding cymbals.” These instruments were used in religious ceremonies and were played by the priests. They made a loud, distinctive sound when banged together. When the walls of Jerusalem were dedicated in Nehemiah 12:27, “…the Levites were sought out from where they lived and were brought to Jerusalem to celebrate joyfully the dedication with songs of thanksgiving and with the music of cymbals, harps, and lyres.”
The phrase, “resounding cymbals” can be translated, “the clamor of joy.” I like that. God wants us to clamor with joy.
Who Is To Praise
Verse 6 pulls it all together, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.” Not merely the priests and Levites, nor just the congregation, but all living creatures are included in the choir of choirs. God has given each of us breath; we’re called now to breathe His praise.
This song begins and ends with the command to praise the Lord. We’re to praise Him everywhere, with every means possible because of His mighty acts, and because of who He is. And, we’re to praise Him with a wide variety of instrumentation and with triumphant expressions of worship. God desires for you and for me to live a lifestyle of spontaneous praise for the best instrument of praise is a man or woman, teenager, or child wholly committed to Him. We are to be a people of praise.
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