Psalm 150:1–6

 ¹Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary;

Praise Him in His mighty firmament!

²Praise Him for His mighty acts;

Praise Him according to His excellent greatness!

³Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet;

Praise Him with the lute and harp!

⁴Praise Him with the timbrel and dance;

Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!

⁵Praise Him with loud cymbals;

Praise Him with clashing cymbals!

⁶Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord!

Commentary

Vs. 1 “Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary;

Praise Him in His mighty firmament!”

In this concluding Psalm it seems most appropriate that praising our God is the only theme. And in this, God’s praise is called for in His sanctuary, which must first be thought of as His heavenly sanctuary, for it is there with all His heavenly host with all the saints all around Him that His praise never ceases (Rev. 4:1-11; 5:8-14; 15:1-8; 7:9-17; 19:1-10 etc.). Thus, we will praise Him in His mighty firmament, but in saying that we will also render to Him all our praises down here.

Vs. 2 “Praise Him for His mighty acts;

Praise Him according to His excellent greatness!”

The reasons for our praising Him are because of His mighty acts, innumerable acts which down through the ages have brought about our creation and redemption, both individually and collectively. For if we recall anything in our lives down here it must be His ongoing faithfulness towards us. His mighty acts which saved us, time and again. Now the reason we also praise Him is because of who He is, for His excellent greatness demands our praise, all Mighty, all Knowing, Omni-Present and completely Sovereign and Self Existing our Lord God is Perfect and Holy in all of His Person and thus all of ways and doings, for it is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who alone is completely Sinless, for He is the Perfect Son of Man/Son of God.

Vs. 3 “Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet;

Praise Him with the lute and harp!”

Our manner of worship is now described and first mentioned is the trumpet, an instrument which has its origins in heaven and which was the loudest musical device then known. Therefore in considering the volume of it don’t think electric guitars, keyboards, or pianos etc. cannot be used in His worship and praise. For they can be used in declaring His praise if they are used with His reverence in mind. Praise Him with the lute and harp which in contrast to the then trumpet were the most melodic and soothing stringed instruments, and so once again these can take many forms and creative designs according to the skill of the craftsmen and cultures from which they come. The whole point then is to praise Him loudly and praise Him reverently, with whatever musical instruments and skill you have at hand. 

Vs. 4 Praise Him with the timbrel and dance;

Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!

Praising our Lord then is never an emotionless experience. For worshiping our Lord God apart from heart felt joy being expressed; here with timbrel and dance; is not right. Therefore our praising Him must entail our emotions, without any restrictions on the instruments we use to express our praise to Him. For the Scripture tell us to praise Him with our whole hearts an here with stringed instruments. Now just think of all the amazing stringed instruments in an orchestra and how some or all could be used in His worship, same with flutes, woodwind instruments, brass instruments of all sorts and types, for all have unique sounds that will only enhance our worship of Him as each helps express the immensity of our God and diversity of all His people, as we express our joy and delight in Him.

Vs. 5 “Praise Him with loud cymbals;

Praise Him with clashing cymbals!”

Let us not then forget about the percussion instruments, for these often are the backbone of any worship song, and here loud cymbals, yes clashing cymbals give voice to our Lord’s Mighty Awesomeness.

Vs. 6 “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord!”

All of living creation is now invited to praise the Lord, to join in heaven and earth's choir, No one then should ever be forbidden from praising the Lord. Praise the Lord!

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.