Psalm 150
1 Praise the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens.
2 Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness.
3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, 4 praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute, 5 praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals.
6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD.
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Psalm 150 – Final thoughts on praising God
(Verses 1-2) I am starting this last psalm in the Book of Psalms with a confession! After spending many hours writing and recording the psalms, I was looking forward to the last five because I thought I could do them quickly and ‘polish off the job.’ That was a wrong attitude, and I have repented of it and asked God’s forgiveness. The truth is that God has blessed me so much by the fact that I should be praising Him at all times and in all situations, because He is worthy of it, and not only because of all the wonderful things He has done for me in history and in my life since I trusted in Jesus. I have been challenged and greatly helped by that thought, and I praise God for that. To think on this short psalm of just six verses, I am using a ‘Question and Answer’ (‘Q’ and ‘A’) approach for each verse. Here we go:
(Verse 1)
- Q: Who should we praise? A: ‘The LORD’ who is ‘God’. To praise and worship anyone but God would break the first commandment. (Exodus 20:2-3).
- Q: Where should we praise Him?
A: ‘In His sanctuary’. Israel praised God in Zion’s temple; saved sinners praise Him from clean and renewed hearts and dedicated bodies. (Romans 12:1-2). Heaven is our eternal ‘sanctuary’ in Christ. Two created ‘mighty heavens’, ‘space’ and ‘sky’, show the need to praise the Creator.
(Verse 2)
- Q: What else do we praise Him for?
- A: ‘His acts of power’ and ‘His surpassing greatness’. In short, His acts and character.
(Verses 3-5)
- Q: What do we use to praise Him?
- A: Wind, stringed and percussion instruments, such as:
+ ‘the trumpet’
+ ‘the harp and lyre’
+ ‘tambourine ‘
+ ‘strings and flute’
+ ‘cymbals’—some ‘resounding’
- Q: What should be our attitude in praise?
- A: With enthusiasm and energy, when fitting. The occasional Old Testament ‘dancing’ was not smoochy or sexy, or wild like disco fever or rock ’n’ roll, or like ballroom dancing: it was similar to folk dancing or that done by Morris Dancers. Each dance would have a clear meaning to help Israel worship and praise God. It was not a worldly intrusion.
(Verse 6)
- Q: Who must ‘praise the LORD’?
- A: ‘Everything that has breath’. Think back to Psalm 148. All living things – animals, birds and aquatic beings that God the Creator made, are to ‘Praise Him’. For them that praise is ‘poetic’. It reminds us to praise God for their beauty, design, strength, power, and abilities which demand and show forth that there is an almighty and divine Creator/Designer.
But as all humans have ‘breath’, they all are commanded to ‘Praise Him’, whether high or lowly, male or female, young or old, and of all skin colours and races. It includes all the world’s kings, rulers, and the most powerful and influential people in all the world. All nations are commanded ‘to praise the LORD’. Not to ‘praise the LORD’ is a huge sin against God. It will be judged and punished eternally, with all other sins. (Hebrews 9:27, Romans 1:18).
Final thought
On that day of judgment all sinners will be judged. Only those who have repented of their sins and bowed their hearts and beings to the LORD Jesus Christ will be forgiven for their sins and be saved in Heaven. Hell awaits unrepentant sinners. Jesus took Hell’s judgment for us on the cross so that all who trust in Him will avoid Hell and enjoy Heaven forever. Jesus’ arms were nailed open there when He shed His blood for sinners. Today His arms are open to forgive all, but only if they come to Him in repentance. Have you turned to Him with all your heart? If not, please do it now. You will then have eternal reasons to gratefully ‘Praise the LORD’.
