Psalm 150

150 Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.
2 Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.
3 Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.
4 Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.
5 Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.
6 Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.

​The first and last words of this psalm are the Hebrew word hallelujah, literally “Let us praise Jehovah.” The English Bible uses the word LORD for the unspoken name of God, sometimes expressed in the psalms as Jah/Yah. This is an abbreviation of the name God gave Moses to tell the people (Ex 3: 13-16), and it is a form of the Hebrew being verb. Psalm 150 ends with the word hallelu–jah (the literal Hebrew); the word is a reminder, appearing frequently throughout the psalms, that we are to praise God. The grammatical form of this word is plural, and the word is in the imperative mood, a command to praise. The final syllable, the abbreviated name, keeps God in focus. In fact, this abbreviation of God’s unspoken name is the last Hebrew word and the last English syllable of the psalter: Jah/-jah. The worship of God is what the psalms are all about. The sounds of praise in Psalm 150, the list of musical instruments, and the reference to all breathing things increases the range of expressed praise to bring us in. The audible quality encourages reading the psalm out loud.  -Sigrid Fowler

​Throughout Scripture, we are exhorted to “sing a new song,” or “sing praises,” or “sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.” Scripture also includes notable references of the Hebrews dancing to express exuberance over Jehovah’s activity in their lives. After crossing the Sea of Reeds, Miriam led the women in dance (Exodus 15). David danced before the Ark of the Covenant (2 Samuel 6). The psalms contain exhortations to include dancing as part of praise (Psalm 149), (Psalm 150). The Hebrews also lamented those times in which their dancing ceased (Lamentation 5) and they hoped for the promise of restoration (Jeremiah 31). --Beverly Howard