Hallelujah! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in the firmament of his power.
Psalm 150 closes the book of Psalms, and its first line does not argue or plead — it calls for praise, and names two places where praise belongs. So where is God's sanctuary, what is "the firmament of His power," which the ESV calls "his mighty heavens" — and who is asked to sing?
The five psalms that end the book each begin and end with "Hallelujah," and this one gathers them all up. One writer notes how little the psalm looks back at events:
Psalm 150 brings this series to a finish. There is in it only one reference to what God has done: God Himself in His excellent greatness is before the Psalmist's mind. This is of course always the great ultimate theme of praise and worship.
The form of the psalm matches its subject. It ends the book the way a choir ends a piece — everyone singing at once.
Psalm 150 is a general closing summons to praise Jehovah... in His sanctuary, with all the various instruments of the temple — praise for His mighty acts, praise for His own excellent greatness. Everything that has breath is called to praise Him. It is a loud, chorus-like ending, full of power and energy, suited to the Jewish state and temple service.
The psalm keeps saying "in" — and each one marks a different sphere:
God is to be praised "in" certain things — in His sanctuary, in the firmament of His power, "for" or in His mighty acts. The first is His inner dwelling place. The second is the vast expanse of creation where His power works. The third is the actual doings in which His power shows itself. In the world to come, Israel will have the sanctuary of God set up among them, and there they will praise Him. We shall be among the heavenly saints... What praise will rise from the sanctuary on earth! What endless praises from the sanctuary in the heavens!
Commentators differ on whether "His sanctuary" means the temple on earth or the courts above. One reads the whole verse as heavenly:
This is the closing hallelujah — the praise of God in His sanctuary, His upper sanctuary, "the firmament of His power." The psalm before it was His praise in the lower sanctuary, "the congregation of saints." There we hear Israel; here we hear the heavens. His acts and Himself, His greatness and His ways, are the themes of this lofty praise.
Another keeps the two halves of the line distinct, so that the verse reaches from the ground upward:
It is a great blessing that these five psalms of praise close with a call to earth and heaven to join in the praise of the Lord. God is to be praised in His earthly sanctuary of His holiness, and in the firmament of heaven, where He displays His power and majesty.
The word behind "firmament" is not obscure. It is the open sky over our heads:
The Hebrew word is raqia, meaning 'expanse.' It is used for the sky we see when we look up, and also for the air in which the birds fly. We read that God called the firmament 'heaven'... The Psalmist speaks of them as distinct: "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork."
What God does from the place of His power agrees with what He has revealed of Himself in the place of His holiness:
Psalm 150 gives the full praise to Jehovah in a double character: the sanctuary, and the firmament of His power. His ways come from the firmament of His power, and they were always according to the sanctuary in which He governed Israel and made good the revelation of Himself there. So it is with us. He makes all things work together for good to those who love Him, but He does it according to the heavenly place to which they belong and to which He is bringing them.
An earlier psalm says "Praise our God." This one lifts the eye past what we have received to what He is:
Here it is not even "Praise our God," as the earlier psalm was. It rises higher: "Praise God in his sanctuary." The deep sense of what God is reaches beyond the relationship we stand in, though that relationship with Him is the highest we have. Our Father's love, ours and Christ's, is sweet, but we joy in God. Blessed be His name!
The call does not stop at earth. Voices above are ready to answer it:
The heavenly sanctuary is called to sing praise to God (v. 1). Not one voice in those glorious courts on high may stay silent. They have their own beautiful song to sing in the glories of the Father's house, and in the knowledge of Father, Son, and Spirit fully revealed.
- Place — praise starts in God's sanctuary, His inner dwelling place, and spreads into the expanse where His power works.
- Expanse — "firmament" means the open sky: the heavens we see above us, and even the air where birds fly.
- Agreement — the ways God sent out from the firmament of His power always matched what He revealed of Himself in the sanctuary.
- Height — the call rises above "our God" to God Himself; we can joy in Him, not only in what we have received from Him.
- Chorus — the call goes to earth's sanctuary and heaven's courts alike, and not one voice above may stay silent.
Praise him in his mighty acts; praise him according to the abundance of his greatness.
The last psalm gives its reasons for praise in verse 2: what God has done, and what God is. Both raise a question — which acts are meant, and how any creature could praise "according to" such greatness.
The verse names both the deeds and the doer. One writer holds the two together — the acts show His greatness:
Christ is in the firmament of His power now. He is praised for His acts, praised for His greatness manifested in them. Jehovah is the theme of praise — Jehovah the God of Israel, but Jehovah the Creator and Sustainer of all — the righteous judge.
Of the two, God Himself is the deeper theme:
Psalm 150 brings this series to a finish. There is in it only one reference to what God has done: God Himself in His excellent greatness is before the Psalmist's mind. This is of course always the great ultimate theme of praise and worship.
The ESV says "mighty deeds"; an older translation reads "mighty acts", and the writers below use that wording. The phrase is not vague. Set beside the other reasons for praise in the psalm, it points to something concrete:
God is to be praised "in" certain things: — in His sanctuary, in the firmament of His power, "for" or in His mighty acts. The first shows His inner dwelling place. The second is the wide stretch of creation where His power works. The third is the actual deeds in which His power shows itself.
Those doings are of more than one kind, and not every voice in the chorus can sing every part of them:
Those bright unfallen spirits live in the firmament of His power. They will be full of His praise, as they always are, though they cannot sound the note of redemption as we do. They will have watched His mighty acts with delight — not only acts of creation but acts of GRACE, which will stir their Hallelujahs.
The two halves of the verse are not a repetition. One gives the occasion; the other gives the measure:
His mighty acts are the occasion of His power; its measure is His excellent greatness (verse 2). The ones who bring this acceptable incense are the breathing creatures His hand has made (verse 6). His breath is in their nostrils so that His praise may fill their lips.
That measure raises an obvious difficulty, since a made thing can never match its Maker:
He is not only to be praised "in" but "according to" His excellent greatness. Now, who is equal to this? No creature, however blessed and exalted, can ever rise to the level of the Creator. Yet in that day praise will surely rise up that is enough — praise that will satisfy the heart of God.
If the standard is that high, the psalm's own words might look inadequate — and in one sense they are, yet they are not wrong:
This is, blessed be God, the closing Psalm — the feeble effort, though it is by the Spirit, to express His great praise. Though feeble, it is perfect in its principle and perfect in what it expresses, if not in the way it is expressed, because of the greatness of the One spoken of. And yet it is rightly expressed to perfection, as far as human words can carry it.
In this praise only one Person is in view:
In this psalm God alone is named as the object before all hearts. This will be true in heaven and on earth. God's praise will sound in the sanctuary and in the firmament of His power, both for His mighty acts and according to His excellent greatness... Men will then turn to only one object of worship: the True God, the Living God, the Everlasting God, the Maker of all things, the Creator of heaven and earth, the Redeemer too, and the Saviour of His people.
Praise takes in everything:
His acts and Himself, His greatness and His ways, are the themes of this lofty praise... Every verse overflows with praise. Every thought is about it. Every object awakens it. Every power uses itself only in this service.
- Acts. Praise starts with what God has done — the actual deeds in which His power shows itself, in creation and in grace.
- Greatness. The acts are the occasion; His excellent greatness is the measure; He Himself is the ultimate theme.
- Gap. No creature can rise to the level of the Creator, so praise "according to" that greatness is beyond us on our own.
- Gift. The breath in our nostrils is His, given so that His praise may fill our lips. The psalm is a feeble effort, yet it is perfect in what it expresses, because of the greatness of the One spoken of.
- Goal. One object stands before every heart — Creator, Redeemer and Saviour — and every power serves only Him.
Praise him with the sound of the trumpet; praise him with lute and harp;
The last psalm stops giving reasons for praise and starts naming instruments instead. What did the trumpet, lute and harp mean to Israel, and what do they mean for us?
One writer sets the scene at the close of the book — a nation brought home:
It is Israel put back in its own land, in the joy of the kingdom, and in the presence of the King. The long night is over. The nation has received double for all its sins. Its warfare is finished and its guilt is pardoned. This is the time of its "comfort." What could suit it better than such a song! What could be more fitting than using instruments of music — the sweetest, the clearest, the loudest — to celebrate the praise of the Lord?
The word behind "lute" (older versions read "psaltery") is not fully known to us, though its use is:
The main word used is nebel, and it is thought to refer to some unknown kind of stringed instrument used to accompany the voice. It is at times mentioned along with the harp.
The harp is the only instrument named in heaven's praise, and on earth it was used more than any other:
In earth's millennial praise various musical instruments are named (Ps. 149, Ps. 150). But the choral praise of the heavenly hosts is represented by the harp only. The harp and song correspond, as in that of the martyred company of Judah (Rev. 15:2). In the direct praise and worship of the Lord of old, the harp seems to be used more often than any other musical instrument. The reason is its rare mix of solemn, grand notes with soft and tender strains under the hand of a skilful player.
God asks each instrument for what only it can give. One writer admits that what they stand for is still hidden from us:
Then He is to be praised with all sorts of instruments, according to the full capacity of each. This waking up of lifeless nature, answering to the touch or breath of man, is a wonderful thing to look forward to. Nature is waiting on man, and so far he has drawn little but discord out of it. But this will be changed... Who will tell us what trumpet and psaltery and harp stand for here? — what spiritual meaning we are to find in them? Most would perhaps think even the thought of it mere fantasy; and we must at least still wait for the answer.
One writer traces where these instruments came from and where they end up:
The musical inventions of man's device started in the unblessed house of Cain, who was of that wicked one and killed his brother. Men had long used them to further their unholy joys, as tools of revelry for those who loved pleasure more than they loved God.
But now those once dishonoured instruments are in the hands of worshippers. They have learned by experience that the inventor of true melody is the living Spirit of grace. Pure and delightful harmony will flow freely out at their wise touch. They themselves have been brought into the light of the knowledge of God in the face of Jesus Christ. So they will regard and use the works of their own hands only as welcome tools of His pure worship.
The verse fits its own moment. But writers say the New Testament sets the note differently:
The Psalms were written under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. So we may conclude that this way of celebrating the praises of God fitted the way God was dealing with His people at that time. A call such as "praise him with lute and harp" sits perfectly in the Psalms. But in the New Testament it is "singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart"; and "I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also." "Those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."
What replaces the strings is not silence but a better instrument:
Meanwhile the heirs of salvation are waiting, and their anointing as the sons of God is from the Holy One. For them there are harps of purer tone and of a different making — the harps of GOD.
- Praise arrives. The long night is over. This is the music of a people home, pardoned, and standing before their King.
- Praise is given range. The harp appears in praise more than any other instrument, mixing grand, solemn notes with soft and tender ones under a skilful hand.
- Praise is stretched. God calls on every instrument to its full capacity. What each one means, some writers say, we must still wait to learn.
- Praise is reclaimed. Music began in Cain's line and served revelry. Now worshippers hold it, taught by experience that the true inventor of melody is the Spirit of grace.
- Praise continues. The call to praise with strings sits perfectly in the Psalms. Today the harps are God's own, and the melody rises from the heart, in spirit and truth.
Praise him with the tambour and dance; praise him with stringed instruments and the pipe;
Psalm 150 ends the book of Psalms with one call repeated over and over: praise God. Verse 4 hands that call to musicians and dancers, and it raises a question. Why is God's praise tied to such ordinary, festive things, and what should a reader do with them today?
The Hebrew words behind the verse name two real objects. One is a hand-drum, the other a set of pipes:
toph. A musical instrument with loose pieces of metal attached, similar to the modern tambourine. This instrument is still a favourite in the East. You tap it with the fingers.
uggab, ugab. A wind musical instrument, of either one or several pipes. Egyptian monuments show a double pipe with holes like a flute. Sometimes several pipes of different lengths were joined together. The syrinx, or Pan's pipe, is still used in Syria, and sometimes has as many as twenty-three pipes.
The tambourine and dance belong to a moment when every sorrow has been answered. Commentators read this final psalm as the joy of a restored people, and the noise of it is fitting:
Praise, and only praise, resounds on every hand. The voice of the enemy is silenced and his power is broken. No one hears the murmur of the wilderness any more. Its weary jarring notes, its sobs, its pains, its sorrows have given way to the glad "Hallelujah" of God's presence. Every heart is happy, and every mouth is filled with song... It is Israel replaced in its own land, in the joy of the kingdom, and in the presence of the King... And what more fitting than such a song! What could be more suitable than using the sweetest, clearest, loudest instruments to celebrate the praise of Jehovah?
These instruments have a history. Music started in a family far from God, and for a long time it served men's pleasure:
The detail in verses 3-5 about the instruments of human worship is full of interest. Man invented these instruments. They began in the unblessed house of Cain, who belonged to that wicked one and killed his brother. For a long time they served the unholy joys of men. They were tools of revelry for people who loved pleasure more than they loved God.
But the same objects can change hands:
But now those once dishonoured instruments are in the hands of worshippers. Experience has taught them that the inventor of true melody is the living Spirit of grace. Pure and delightful harmony will flow freely out at their wise touch.
Verse 4 says to praise Him with these things. That small word matters:
The following verses show us Israel praising their God "with" all kinds of instruments of music. These instruments are the work of men's fingers. Today men use them for their own pleasure and praise, just like everything else their fingers make. Then they will be wholly for God. But even when they serve His glory in this way, they will still be lifeless instruments. Men may praise with them, but the instruments themselves do not praise.
The sound comes from the object. The praise comes from the person holding it.
So does this verse set the pattern for Christian worship? Kelly says no, and explains why:
This gives Christians no warrant to use such instruments in the worship of God. The mark of the Christian, as the Apostle says, is to "sing with the spirit and with the understanding also." But an earthly people would have an earthly way of expressing their praise. So everything here fits its own time.
Something takes the place of the temple instruments:
It is essential therefore that along with the tuneful voice there should be the melodious accompaniment of the heart. This is to take the place of the musical instruments of the temple worship. The Christian is not invited to praise the Lord with the sound of a trumpet, with stringed instruments and the harp and the loud cymbals. Still, his song should be full of the deep feeling and holy enthusiasm of the inner man.
- Objects. The verse names two ordinary things: a hand-drum you tap with the fingers, and a pipe.
- Fitting. The tambourine and dance suit a rescued people. Their enemy has gone quiet and their sorrow has ended.
- Redeemed. Music started far from God and long served pleasure. Here the same instruments are back in the hands of worshippers.
- With. People praise with instruments, never by them. The instruments stay lifeless; only a living person can worship.
- Heart. For the Christian the accompaniment moves inward. The melody now is the heart's own, sung with the spirit and the understanding.
Praise him with loud cymbals; praise him with high sounding cymbals.
The last instruments in the list are also the loudest. Two kinds of cymbals, struck one against the other, close a line-up that began with the trumpet. Why end the whole book of Psalms with the crash of metal, and what has that to do with worship now?
The instrument named twice in this verse was not a melody-maker at all. A dictionary of Bible terms describes them plainly:
Ancient musical instruments, made of metal plates struck together. On their own they made no tuneful sound (compare 1 Corinthians 13:1). They worked only alongside other instruments… In Corinthians it is a picture of someone making a show in speaking without love in the heart.
One writer sets the psalm in the day when Israel's long night is over. That setting explains the volume:
The murmur of the wilderness sounds no more. Its weary discords, its sobs, its pains, its sorrows have given place to the glad "Hallelujah" of God's presence. Every heart is happy, and every mouth is full of song… It is Israel put back in its own land, in the joy of the kingdom, and in the presence of the King. The long night is over… And what more fitting than such a song! What could be more suitable than using instruments of music — the sweetest, the clearest, the loudest — to celebrate the praise of the Lord?
The instruments in this list have a past. One writer says they were once dishonoured, and describes what happens when they change hands:
But now those once dishonoured instruments are in the hands of worshippers. Experience has taught them that the inventor of true melody is the living Spirit of grace. Pure and delightful harmony will flow freely at their wise touch… They will regard and use the works of their own hands only as welcome tools for His pure worship. For His glory they themselves had been created and redeemed, according to the riches of His grace.
Verse 5 ends the list of instruments. The next verse widens it past instruments altogether. One writer keeps the two together:
What a day that will be! Trumpets, lutes, harps, tambourines, stringed instruments, pipes, organs, loud cymbals and high-sounding cymbals — every one of them will serve the work of praise. And more than that, the most tuneful instrument of all is the human voice. It will rise in praise to the Lord amid the sounding of trumpets and the clashing of cymbals. Shall we stop there? "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord."
There is a limit to what any of these instruments can do:
These verses show us Israel praising their God "with" all kinds of musical instruments. These instruments are the work of men's fingers. Today men use them, like all the other works of their fingers, for their own pleasure and praise. Then they will be wholly for God. But even used this way for His glory, they will still be lifeless instruments. Men may praise with them, but the instruments themselves do not praise.
The same writer brings the point into the present:
The Jewish camp had the silver trumpets and the high-sounding cymbals, without a doubt. But what were they worth? Christendom's camp has magnificent organs and orchestras and lovely choirs, without a question. But what about "the fruit of lips, confessing His name"? That is another matter, and that is the thing that counts!
Commentators differ here. Some read the instruments as real music in a coming day of joy on earth. Another reads the trumpet, tambourine, strings and cymbals of verses 3–5 as "all speaking of genuine spiritual worship in various ways" (L. M. Grant).
- Cymbals — metal plates struck together, with no tune of their own. They only work alongside other instruments. In 1 Corinthians they picture a show of speaking without love.
- Clash — the loudest instrument comes last because the occasion is the loudest. Sorrow has ended, the King is present, and every mouth is full of song.
- Reclaimed — instruments long spent on human pleasure come back into the hands of worshippers. They serve the glory of the One who made and redeemed them.
- Limit — even at their best they stay lifeless. Men praise with them, but the instruments never praise.
- Breath — the psalm climbs past the instruments to the human voice, then past the voice to everything that breathes. The fruit of lips confessing His name is the thing that counts.
Let everything that hath breath praise Jah. Hallelujah!
The book of Psalms ends here. Its last line asks God for nothing; it only calls for praise, and the call reaches every creature that breathes.
Commentators hear this last line as the high point of a long build-up.
And the finale, the last Psalm! It is the praise to the full. We have seen the "crescendo" of praise in these Psalms and now we reach the "fortissimo," the loudest and the strongest praise. With this the great redemption is complete. This Psalm begins with hallelujah and after this first hallelujah we find nothing but praise — praise Him — praise Him — praise Him! Let all that has breath praise the Lord. Hallelujah!
The song does not stop with trained singers. The call widens until it takes in everyone able to make a sound.
How glad the singers, how sweet the song! But the call goes out to make the song universal, and to gather every intelligent being into its joy: "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord." Breath means the breath of life, the faintest ability to say anything at all. Let such, and all such, praise the Lord. Hallelujah!
The verses just before this one are full of instruments. The last line moves from what praise is played with to what praise comes from.
The following verses show us Israel praising their God "with" all kinds of instruments of music. Men made these instruments with their fingers. Today they use them, like all the other works of their fingers, for their own pleasure and praise. Then they will be wholly for God. But even when they serve His glory in this way, they will still be lifeless instruments. Men may praise with them, but the instruments themselves do not praise.
So the closing line puts one sound above the whole orchestra.
Every instrument in the temple service is to serve His praise. But above all, the voice of man is to sound the praise of the Lord. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.
One writer looks ahead to what those instruments will sound like when man no longer draws discord from nature.
Then He is to be praised with all sorts of instruments, according to the full capacity of each. This waking up of lifeless nature, responsive to the touch or breath of man, is a blessed thing to look forward to. Nature is waiting on man, and so far he has drawn little but discord out of it. But this will be changed; and then what glorious music will fill man's home.
This line is a command. Commentators point to a coming age when it is answered in full.
Praise can only spring from those that have the "breath" of life. In the coming age there will at long last be an adequate outburst of praise to the Lord, coming from everything that has breath. The curse will be gone, and praise will fill the scene. The Hallelujah chorus will be universal and complete.
Another writer ties that day to the last words of the whole collection.
"Praise the Lord." So this inspired collection of psalms and hymns and spiritual songs ends as it should, in a grand chorus of praise. It rises from this long-suffering earth, which will soon be set free and full of joy, when the world-kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ has come.
The Psalter closes on a note that has a beginning but no recorded end.
With this call to praise, the Psalter closes. We read of praise beginning, but we never hear of it ending. Sighs and groans have often sounded on earth, and will sound again. Tears, too, have run down many a cheek and soaked many a bed. Sighs and groans will one day stop on earth. But praise will keep rising from this world, sin-stricken as it now is. It will rise when the trials and sorrows of the saints are past, and all on earth are at last enjoying the reign of the Prince of Peace. So the Psalter ends with "Praise the Lord," or "Hallelujah" — the keynote for God's people here below until time is no more.
Believers can taste that day now, whenever they gather.
When the climax of the Psalms is reached, there is no room for any idea except praise to the Lord. "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord." So when we gather, we taste the state of things that will soon overflow in a universe of blessing. We too have no requests to make. We are simply wrapped in a garment of praise.
- Crescendo. The Psalms build toward this line. The last psalm is the loudest, and after its opening "Hallelujah" nothing is left but praise.
- Breath. Praise can only come from what has the breath of life. Instruments are lifeless, so the voice of man sounds above the whole orchestra.
- Everyone. The call reaches the faintest ability to say anything, so it leaves out no intelligent being.
- Capacity. Every instrument is to sound His praise to its full capacity, as lifeless nature wakes up under the hand of man.
- Endless. Sighs and groans will stop. This praise begins, and no one ever hears of it ending — and believers can taste it now when they gather, with no requests left to make.