Psalms 150

General context

The psalm opens with "Praise ye the Lord" and tells hearers to praise God in his sanctuary and in the firmament of his power, for his mighty acts and according to his excellent greatness. It names the means of praise: the sound of the trumpet, the psaltery and harp, the timbrel and dance, stringed instruments and organs, loud cymbals and high sounding cymbals. It ends by calling everything that has breath to praise the Lord, and closes with "Praise ye the Lord".

Cited passages: Psalms 150:1, Psalms 150:2, Psalms 150:3, Psalms 150:4, Psalms 150:5, Psalms 150:6

Psalms 150 (KJV)

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

The source prints no heading for this psalm; verse 1 begins with "Praise ye the Lord", so no title, author or occasion is given and none is asserted. No speaker is identified and no person, people or place is named; "his sanctuary" and "the firmament of his power" are the two places of praise, and the text does not say where the sanctuary is. The mighty acts are not listed. The instruments are named without saying who plays them or when. The psalm gives no reason drawn from the speaker's life and makes no request. It is the last psalm in the book as printed in this source, and it is framed by "Praise ye the Lord" like the psalms before it. No Selah occurs.

Cited passages: Psalms 150:1, Psalms 150:2, Psalms 150:3, Psalms 150:6

Literary context

Every verse begins with "Praise", and the word appears thirteen times in six verses. The verses answer three questions in order: where (sanctuary, firmament), why (mighty acts, greatness), and with what (trumpet, psaltery, harp, timbrel, dance, strings, organs, two kinds of cymbals). Verse 1 has "Praise God" and "praise him"; each of verses 2-5 has two halves that begin "Praise him", and the instruments are grouped by half-verse until the cymbals, which are given both halves of verse 5, "loud" and "high sounding". The last verse changes the form: "Let every thing that hath breath" replaces the list of instruments with the breath that plays them, and the closing "Praise ye the Lord" repeats the first words. There is no narrative, no petition and no contrast; the whole psalm is the one command in different forms.

Cited passages: Psalms 150:1, Psalms 150:2, Psalms 150:3, Psalms 150:4, Psalms 150:5, Psalms 150:6

Key moments

1. Praise in the sanctuary (Psalms 150:1). Praise is called for in the sanctuary and in the firmament of his power.
2. For his mighty acts (Psalms 150:2). God is to be praised for his mighty acts and his excellent greatness.
3. Trumpet, psaltery and harp (Psalms 150:3). Praise is called for with the trumpet, psaltery and harp.
4. Timbrel and dance (Psalms 150:4). Praise is called for with timbrel, dance, stringed instruments and organs.
5. Loud cymbals (Psalms 150:5). Praise is called for on loud and high sounding cymbals.
6. Everything that has breath (Psalms 150:6). Everything that has breath is called to praise the Lord.

For reflection

After five verses of instruments, the psalm ends by calling on everything that has breath. What changes when the last word is given not to the trumpet or cymbals but to breath itself?