HOLY HALLELUJAHS (Psalm 150)

Can you believe it? We have come today to the last of the psalms.

Psalm 150 is the fifth and final “hallelujah psalm,” but it is also the crescendo, the climax of these 150 songs about God. I just want to pause right now and say, “Praise ye the Lord.” I am praising not only because we are concluding our study but also for the God we have discovered in our study.

This psalm tells us something about holy hallelujahs. We know that these last five psalms are the “Hallelujah Chorus” of this book, and now we are at the grand finale, where we find some great principles of praise.

But praise is not just something you do when you study the psalms. Praise is to be a way of life. The word “hallelujah” means “praise the Lord,” and each of these five final psalms begins and ends with the phrase, “Praise ye the Lord.” Now that we have come to Psalm 150, which is only six verses long, this idea of praising Him is found 12 times. Listen to it carefully.

Verses 1-6: “Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.”

You almost get the idea the Lord is trying to tell us something. What does He want from us? He wants praise, and He is worthy of it.

Psalm 150 is like God’s exclamation point in a book of praise. What can we learn about these holy hallelujahs?

They are to be Offered in Every Place

In verse 1, the “sanctuary” is the place of worship, which is a good place to start. But “the firmament of his power” includes all of creation. People talk about going to God’s house when, in reality, all of creation is His house. It is all His, which means it is appropriate to praise God in every place.

They are to be Offered for Every Perfection

In verse 2, “his mighty acts” refer to His power, while “his excellent greatness” is a reference to His character. It is about what He does and who He is.

Praise alone makes you look at God alone. You can study many things, but praise is unique because it brings you to God only.

They are to be Offered with Every Power Within You

They require all you have. Verses 3-5 show us this, beginning with the trumpet, which was used both for solemn and joyful occasions. It is the idea of reverent rejoicing.

Notice the variety here. There is quite a list of musical instruments in this passage. This illustrates the fact that we are to use whatever is at our disposal and praise the Lord.

I like the mention of the “high-sounding cymbals.” It suggests a clear, specific, unashamed, and bold sound. This is a time for God’s people to stand up and speak up. Those who know the Lord should say, “I just want to give God praise and glory for His goodness in my life.”

Going beyond the instruments, there is a reference to the “dance.” It means you should throw your entire being into your praise. It is more than emotion; it is action. It is saying, “Every part of me — spirit, soul, and body — has been given to God. He is worthy of all praise.”

They are to be Offered by Every Person

Verse 6: “Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord.”

Stop right now and take a breath. Isn’t that nice? Take another one. It was God who gave it to you. Every breath is God’s gift to you, and with every breath, you should be praising Him.

Psalm 150 ends not with the congregation but with the individual. It is a reminder of where you came from and where you are going someday. When you take your last breath here, you will immediately take your first breath of celestial air in the presence of Almighty God.

Do you know what praise does? It humbles a man. Praise brings you low because it lifts God high. Pride and praise can never dwell in the same heart. We are to give every breath He has given us right back to Him.

His whole life was an intercession for me, and my whole life should be praise to Him. Every breath Jesus breathed on this planet was for me, and every breath I am permitted to breathe on this planet should be for His glory and His honor.

It all comes full circle with that final statement, “Praise ye the Lord.” We find it at the beginning and end of each of these five concluding psalms. There is a simple principle here: “ye” means “me.”

God always gets specific, and He always gets personal. The question is: Will we? It all comes down to whether each of us will take this to heart and say, “By God’s grace, I want to live a life that gives true worship and praise to the God who is worthy of it.”

We have many of God’s names in scripture. The beautiful name given here, “LORD,” is a reminder that He is YAHWEH. He is Jehovah - the covenant God. Charles Spurgeon said "His name is in the Hebrew composed rather of breathings than of letters, to show that all breath comes from him: therefore let it be used for him." Acknowledge God right where we are.

This is the one thing you will be doing in eternity that you can actually do now. If you are a believer, you will be doing it one million years from now, and you can also do it today. Angels are doing it right now, and so can you. You can praise the Lord.

The first disciples said in Luke 11:1, “Lord, teach us to pray.” I think that is still a good thing for us to desire, but perhaps we could add, “Lord, teach me to praise.” There is power in a life of praise.

Psalm 150 is all about a life of holy hallelujahs. It is not simply saying, “Praise the Lord.” We should never say that flippantly or lightly. You should mean it from your heart. When you speak praise to God, let it be with your whole being.

I find it interesting that when the book of Psalms began, it was with the blessed man in Psalm 1. Now, it closes in Psalm 150 with us blessing God. Surely, He has blessed us, and we should bless Him.

“Praise ye the Lord.”

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- Scott Pauley and the Enjoying the Journey Team