Live to Worship; Worship to Live. Part 2: Psalm 150
The final psalm in the Psalms is psalm 150. It is a doxology for the entire book of Psalms. And it is one of the great psalms of praise and worship. Here are all 6 verses:
“Praise the Lord (Hallelujah in Hebrew).
Praise God in His sanctuary, Praise Him in His mighty heavens.
Praise Him for His acts of power, praise Him for His surpassing greatness.
Praise Him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise Him with the harp and lyre. Praise Him with the tambourine and dancing, praise Him with the strings and flute, praise Him with the clash of cymbals, praise Him with resounding cymbals.
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord” (Psalm 150, NIV).
Psalm 150 is called the Musician’s Psalm for obvious reasons. It has 6 verses; the same number as Psalm 1. Psalm 1 begins with, “Blessed is the man”; Psalm 150 begins with, “Praise the Lord”. “Man, who is blessed; God who is praised”. Psalm 1 emphasizes God’s relationship to man – blessing; and establishes the framework for God’s blessing. Psalm 150 emphasizes man’s relationship to God – worship and praise. These are the two end-member psalms that describe the book of Psalms
Praise is mentioned in the psalm 13x. In Hebrew ceremonies, the last verse, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord” was read 2x. That means ‘praise’ was mentioned 14x. 7x2=14. 7 stands for completion and perfection. 2 indicates a double measure of spiritual completion and perfection. 2 in the Hebrew Bible stands for incarnation. It points to Jesus. And the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew is broken into 3 groups of 14; 14 in Psalm 150 also points to Jesus.
Psalm 150 begins and ends with, “Praise the Lord”; in Hebrew, “Hallelujah”
· “Praise the Lord”, “Praise Ye the Lord, “Praise Yahweh”, “Praise Jehovah”. The Greek for Hallelujah is ‘Alleluia’.
· Hallelujah is the transliteration from 2 Hebrew words: ‘Hillel’ (or ‘halelu’), which is an imperative or exhortation to praise; and ‘Yah’, which is short for Yahweh or the name of God.
· It is an exhortation to praise God with passionate worship for His holiness. Jehovah only is to be the object of our ultimate devotion and adoration.
· Hallelujah calls us to joyous praise, to boast in God. God alone is worthy of our passionate and enthusiastic praise.
Authentic praise flows out of true worship. Psalm 150 is a song about praise; it tells us the ‘where’, ‘why’, ‘how’, and ‘who’ of praise.
Where Should We Praise God? Part 1. We praise Him in in His sanctuary: Praise El, the all-powerful One.
· Praise Him in the Sanctuary – the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies where the Chief Priest filled the Temple with sweet-smelling incense. Praise Him in the building set aside for His holy dwelling place.
· 1 Corinthians 3: 16. “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple (also translated as sanctuary) and God’s Spirit lives in you?” Here Paul is referring to the Church. We should worship and praise God in His Church – His Ecclesia. Ecclesia is the assembly or gathering of the called-out ones. The primary purpose of the Church is to worship and praise God. A ‘church’ without worship is something, but it is not a church.
· We worship in the building, like the Priests in the temple. We also worship together wherever His Ecclesia gathers – under a tree, in a shed, a house, or out in a field.
· “Man’s chief end is to glorify God (worship) and enjoy (praise) Him forever”. Man’s chief end, and therefore the church’s chief end, is to worship and praise God. God inhabits the praises of His people. Our greatest joy comes when we enter into His presence.
· 1 Corinthians 6: 19. “Do you not know that your body is a temple (sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit who is in you, who you have received from God?” 2 Corinthians 6: 16. “For we are the temple (sanctuary) of the living God. As God has said: I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” We worship in our prayer closet. When we are alone with God we enter into His presence through worship.
· The sanctuary with the Presence of God, the indwelling Holy Spirit, is within us. Scripture calls us ‘Priests of our God’. Like the priests of old, we are called in Psalm 150 to worship God in the sanctuary in our heart with all of our heart, soul, mind, strength, and body.
· We are to worship and praise God corporately and individually.
Where Should We Praise God? Part 2. We praise Him in His mighty heavens (“In the firmament of His power” KJV; “Under the open skies” MSG):
· His glory fills the universe; our praise must do no less.
· Praise Him for His creation – from highest heavens to deepest sea. Praise Him for the beauty and majesty of creation, which speaks to and shines forth His glory.
This reminds me of a song (poem by Maltbie Babcock, music by Frank Sheppard):
“This is my Father’s world, and to my listening ears
All nature sings and around me rings the music of the spheres.
This is my Father’s world; the birds their carols raise;
The morning light, the lily white, declares the Makers praise.
This is my Father’s world: He shines in all that’s fair,
In the rustling grass, I hear Him pass, He speaks to me everywhere.”
Why Should We Praise God?
· Psalm 95: 3 – 7. “For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. In His hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to Him. The sea is His, for He made it, and His hands formed the dry land. Come let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for He is our God and we are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care.”
· Psalm 97: 1 – 6. “The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice. Clouds and thick darkness surround Him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne. Fire goes before Him and consumes His foes on every side. His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth. The heavens proclaim His righteousness, and all the people see His glory.”
· We praise God for His redemption, acts of creation, providence, power, love, kindness, mercy, grace (hesed), faithfulness. We praise God for His healing and deliverance; for defeating the power of evil. For taking our place on the cross. We praise God for His mighty victory.
· “He possesses a multitude of greatness, and therefore should be greatly praised. There is nothing little about God, and there is nothing great apart from Him. We should always be careful to make our worship and praise appropriate for God’s greatness. He is not small – our worship and praise should not be small either” (Charles Spurgeon).
How Should We Praise God? With loud music and wild worship!
· According to the Musician’s Psalm – with all the instruments of an orchestra plus dancing.
· Begin with blowing the shofar. Summon the people with a loud, clear note. Worship together.
· With everything we have. Not limited to any class or group. All enter into worship.
· Let the music announce God’s glory, never our own. Not a performance for the people – a performance for God.
· Joyful, enthusiastic. Set all our cares, fears, anxieties aside. This is a time to focus on God – to give God all of our attention and energy.
· Can you sing? Then sing. Can you play an instrument? Then play your heart out. Can you make a joyful noise? Then make noise. Can you dance? Then dance like crazy. This is a celebration.
· All our powers and faculties should praise the Lord. All sorts of people, under all circumstances, with differing gifts should worship and praise the Lord.
Who Should Praise the Lord? Everything that has breath! All living beings.
· God breathed life into each of us. Even today our life is connected to His breath.
· We worship and praise God in Spirit and in truth. His Spirit is pneuma – breath.
· Let every breath praise the Lord.
· Revelation 5: 13. “Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power for ever and ever!”
Finally, the Power of Praise: Psalm 149. Authentic praise has power!
“May Israel be enthused with joy because of Him, and may the sons of Zion pour out their joyful praises to their King. Break forth with dancing! Make music and sing God’s praises with the rhythm of drums! For He enjoys His faithful lovers. He adorns the humble with His beauty and He loves to give them victory. His Godly lovers triumph in the glory of God, and their joyful praises will rise even while others sleep. God’s high and holy praises fill their mouths, for their shouted praises are their weapons of war! These warring weapons will bring vengeance on every opposing force and every resistant power – to bind kings with chains and rulers with iron shackles. Praise-filled warriors will enforce the judgment-doom decreed against their enemies. This is the glorious honor He gives to all His Godly lovers. Hallelujah, Praise the Lord” (Psalm 149: 2 – 9 TSP).
Praises are our weapons of war! How do we fight the darkness all around us? We fight with worship and praise; we fight with love, joy, and light because we know the end of the story. We fight with prayer. We fight in whatever way God calls us to fight. But most of all, we fight from hope and joy because “Our God reigns, let the earth be glad” (Psalm 97: 1).
Hallelujah. Praise the Lord.