Full-orbed Praise
TRANSLATION
(1) HALLELUJAH! Praise God in his sanctuary! Praise him in his mighty heavens! (2) Praise him for his mighty works! Praise him for his surpassing greatness! (3) Praise him with the blast of the ram’s horn! Praise him with the harp and the lyre! (4) Praise him with tambourine and dance! Praise him with strings and pipe! (5) Praise him with the sound of cymbals! Praise him with the loud clashing cymbals! (6) Let everything that breathes praise Yahweh! HALLELUJAH!
OBSERVATIONS
This final psalm in the Psalter was distinguished by its thirteen repetitions of the word “praise,” each occurrence followed either by a name for God or a pronoun referring to him. The psalm answered four important questions regarding our praise: Where? Why? How? and Who? In essence, this psalm could be labeled “the four dimensions of praise” since it provides us with a full-orbed summary of what praising Yahweh should look like and what it should include. What a fitting ending for the Book of Psalms is this outburst of praise!
OUTLINE
The full-orbed praise of Yahweh:
I. WHERE – We praise him everywhere both inside and outside. (1)
II. WHY – We praise him for his mighty works and his personal greatness. (2)
III. HOW – We praise him with every kind of musical instrument. (3-5)
IV. WHO – Every living creature that breathes should praise Yahweh. (6)
IDEA STATEMENT
Everyone, everywhere should praise Yahweh with every means at our disposal for everything he is and all he has done for us.
APPLICATION
The closest we come to a biblical example of the exuberant worship this psalm describes is found in 2 Samuel 6 when David brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. We read there, “So David went down and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. When those who were carrying the ark of Yahweh had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before Yahweh with all his might, while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of Yahweh with shouts and the sound of trumpets” (2 Sam. 6:12-15).
So unrestrained, spontaneous, and noisy was the worship of God on that occasion that Michal, David’s wife, expressed her disapproval. We read: “When David returned home to bless his household, Michal, daughter of Saul, came out to meet him and observed, ‘How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would” (2 Sam. 6:20). David angrily defended his behavior which had violated his wife’s sense of royal propriety with these words: “It was before Yahweh who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over Yahweh’s people Israel – I will celebrate before Yahweh” (2 Sam 6:21). In other words, what others think does not matter. Only Yahweh’s opinion is of consequence.
As we finish this yearlong study of the Psalms, each of us is faced with a searching question, perhaps not articulated in Psalm 150 but strongly implied, nonetheless. It is the question former Mayor Ed Koch of New York City used to ask his constituents: “How’m I doin’?” To rephrase this slightly, we should regularly ask ourselves, “How are we doing with the responsibility we have for joyfully praising Yahweh?” The following check list can help us determine if we are growing in our understanding and ability to praise him as we should.
WHERE – Do we praise Yahweh only when we are with other believers in church on Sunday or do we live our whole lives as expressions of praise to Yahweh wherever we go and whatever we do (everywhere, both inside and outside)?
WHY – Are we expressing adoration and gratitude to Yahweh for all that he is and all that he does for us? Are his glory and greatness the focus of our thoughts continually or do we praise him only when convenient or on special occasions?
HOW – Is our praise of Yahweh spontaneous, unselfconscious, and enthusiastic, or do we find ourselves constantly wondering what others think about how we appear or how we sound?
WHO – Are we doing everything in our power to offer Yahweh the sincere, heartfelt praises that his glorious person deserves?
As we continue to study and meditate on the Psalms in the year ahead, our goal should be to offer Yahweh an ever more meaningful and deeply felt “sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that confess his name” (Heb. 13:15).