The Final Chorus | Psalm 150
Intro
In his book, Reflections of the Psalms, author C.S. Lewis writes this.
The world rings with praise — lovers praising their mistresses [Romeo praising Juliet and vice versa], readers their favourite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favourite game — praise of weather, wines, dishes, actors, motors, horses, colleges, countries, historical personages, children, flowers, mountains, rare stamps, rare beetles, even sometimes politicians or scholars. . . . Except where intolerably adverse circumstances interfere, praise almost seems to be inner health made audible. . . .
We have a way of declaring what makes us most alive, don’t we? And in so doing we feel even more alive. Seeing something beautiful demands a response. Eating something delicious ushers a noise of pleasure. It would not only be unnatural, it would hurt our being if enjoyment we found in something was merely kept inside. Praise is essential to our existence. It moves us and it’s what we were made to do.
Lewis goes on…
I had not noticed either that just as men spontaneously praise whatever they value, so they spontaneously urge us to join them in praising it: “Isn’t she lovely? Wasn’t it glorious? Don’t you think that magnificent?” The Psalmists in telling everyone to praise God are doing what all men do when they speak of what they care about.
We have in the book of Psalms, 150 songs that help us to join in the praise that eclipses all other praise. We like to sing the praises of our accomplishments, spouses, and favorite lunch spots, yet they all fail in comparison to the praise of the One who is of supreme value. And the Psalms do that primarily by giving us reason after reason to sing praises to God despite the enemies in front of us, in light of our many weaknesses that grip us, in the midst of our wide range of circumstances.
May my accusers be put to shame and consumed; with scorn and disgrace may they be covered who seek my hurt. But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more.
—Psalm 71:13–14
O my Strength, I will sing praises to you, for you, O God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love.
—Psalm 59:17
When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?
—Psalm 56:3–4
The five books that make up the entire Psalter really are a well-weathered hymnal written by a symphony of human experience, emotions, and expectation. But they are not just aimlessly sprinkled throughout. There is a trajectory in the divinely inspired architecture of this book. A gospel arc if you will. When we read the Psalms, there is a redemptive progression that increasingly gives way to praise and more praise.
For us, this morning, we find ourselves in the final section of this collection of songs. The doxology of not just book five but of the entire Psalms. Taking into account what precedes this section only serves to magnify the meaning and the effect of this doxology. You see, many songs written in this book are in light of the realities of this fallen world. Sin which leads to songs of confession. Suffering which leads to songs of lament. In fact nearly 40% of the entire book of Psalms is made up by laments.
But as we near the conclusion of this beloved book, a profound theme begins to dominate its pages. Every song in this grand doxology begins and ends with the same exact phrase. “Praise the LORD”. In Psalm 146, we are called to Praise the LORD and to not put our trust in princes that will fade but in YHWH who reigns forever. In Psalm 147, we are called to praise the LORD who rules over all creation and who particularly blesses His chosen people. In Psalm 148, all creation and all people are called to praise the One who is exalted above all the earth. And then in Psalm 149, there is a call to praise the LORD who executes judgment through His chosen people.
In this epic finale, the closing songs of this book are wrapping up every detail of redemptive history and they point us to see the fulfillment of something that all the songs before sing about in part. All the sin, all the pain and heartbreak, all the wrongs committed by us and against us, are being drowned out by a growing anthem.
As a wise man writes, “And then there is one more Psalm.”
PSALM 150
Praise the LORD! Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens!
Praise him for his mighty deeds;
praise him according to his excellent greatness!
Praise him with trumpet sound;
praise him with lute and harp!
Praise him with tambourine and dance;
praise him with strings and pipe!
Praise him with sounding cymbals;
praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD!
There is no mistaking what the Psalmist wants us to do in Psalm 150. With how the song begins to it’s ending forte, praise is the theme. 13 times are we commanded in Psalm 150 to “Praise the LORD”. Not generic “lord”, but the all capital letters LORD. That is YHWH, the covenant name for our God who is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” He is the object of our praise.
And Psalm 150 stands out from every Psalm before it not just because of the dominating theme of praise in the song, but because of the absence of the groanings and hardships and evil that are present in those songs.
As one author comments on Psalm 150, “Here we are given a glimpse of what heaven will be like.”
Psalm 150 encapsulates the approaching day on which people from every nation and tongue, and kings of the earth are joined with the praises of creation. In the presence of the LORD forever, stripped of every weight and sin which hinders us now, to one eternal purpose. One paramount privilege. Praise. Only praise.
The last song of the Psalms holds out to us the final chorus that will be sung for endless ages. And God graciously gives us this song to where we are right now. We are not there, yet. In fact, there may be some of us here who are more like what is described in Psalm 42:9.
I say to God, my rock: “Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
—Psalm 42:9
Can you praise God where you are right now?
Praise is not easy when you’re feeling crummy, or it’s just been one of those weeks, or you received the phone call you never thought you would get, or you feel like everyone has forgotten you, even God. But no matter where we are, or what we have, no matter the difficulty we face, praising the LORD is not only possible, it is right.
I believe Psalm 150 is more than able to convince us all that we will always have reason to praise God wherever we are with praise that is unashamed, unhindered, and unceasing. You will always have reason to praise God wherever you are with praise that is unashamed, unhindered, and unceasing.
The Place of Our Praise
It is clear that the object of our praise is the LORD, the One who made heaven and earth. All created things, that’s us, are to declare the glory of the One who created all things for the praise of His glory.
And then following the first “Hallelujah” of this final song, the Psalmist tells us where the praise of the LORD is to take place. “Praise God in his sanctuary” can be translated, “in his holy place.” This implies not only the purity of God’s character but His full devotion to Himself. It also suggests that the LORD resides in the place of His choosing. He dwells where He pleases because it is pleasing to Him with praise. Praise is in His house.
And He not only determines the place, but He sets the parameters. Because God is holy, his place of praise can only be approached through an atoning sacrifice. Immediately following the construction of the tabernacle, God commands Moses to make a sacrifice so He might dwell in the midst of the people. So Aaron and his sons bring burnt offerings and incense that are a pleasing aroma to the LORD. And then as Exodus 40:34 says,
Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
—Exodus 40:34
Whether a garden, a tabernacle, or a temple, God has always determined the place on earth for where He will dwell. And where His glory dwells, there is praise.
And the praise in the earthly dwelling place of God is a reflection of a heavenly reality. There is a song that has long been sung, day and night by heavenly hosts. Verse 1 also calls worshipers on earth to join with the praise taking place in heaven. It is a song that never ceases. It is a song of loudest praise. “Hark, how the heavenly anthem drowns all music but its own!”
We have the joy of joining that unceasing praise to the LORD that is taking place right now. That’s what just happened a little bit ago and what happens every Sunday when the church gathers. Emmaus Road Church is joining our few hundred voices in Sioux Falls, South Dakota with myriads upon myriads, thousands upon thousands in the heavens that declare the glory of God. That’s why “Sunday is the best day of the week!” This is one of those “do not miss” events. Because the gathered church is the place on earth where God’s presence dwells and the place in which He is pleased to dwell amongst the praise of His people.
This is why we so value gathering with the dearest place on earth. We’re not doing God any favors when we come together, we’re doing what He intends for us to do. God is more highly exalted when we praise His name together than if you were alone on your couch. His glory does not change in degree when the church is assembled, but the manifestation of it does. Which is why the Psalmist sings,
Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!
—Psalm 34:3
I will thank you in the great congregation; in the mighty throng I will praise you.
—Psalm 35:18
When we praise the LORD in His dwelling place on earth, that is in the church, we get a unique vantage point of His glory among us. It’s the difference between a lifelong Vikings fan witnessing the Minneapolis Miracle alone in their home, or witnessing it in a packed US Bank Stadium with 65,000 other diehard fans. You’re watching the same incredible moment happen, but it’s probably safe to say that the glory of the moment in the stadium with others far exceeds the experience by yourself.
Both the mighty heavens and the sanctuary are the dwelling place of God and so both are to be filled with praise to God.
And for us, we will always have reason, wherever we may be, to give God unceasing praise, because the place of His praise has been secured for us forever.
(Jesus) entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.
—Hebrews 9:12
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
—Hebrews 10:19–22
The place of our praise that God has established for us in His Son is a place we will never be turned away. It is secure and eternal. And that is good news, because we can come week after week to this gathering, fresh from the realities of this fallen world. And on account of our suffering we face and our sins we commit and our self-sufficiency that we promote, we can be tempted to look inward rather than upward and see our Savior there who made an end of all our sin.
Shame stunts praise. It’s really the opposite of praise. But we can praise the LORD, not because we come in our own strength, but we come to the place that He has established for praise, and we come confidently because the pardon we have received is full.
If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.
—Psalm 130:3–4
You will always have reason to praise God wherever you are because no longer do you need to trek up a mountain to a temple, nor do you need to prepare an animal sacrifice on an altar. It’s in Jesus, and united by faith to Him, we can approach the LORD to give praise to the LORD without blemish or spot.
Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.
—Psalm 34:5
Jesus has secured the place of your praise to the LORD, a place where there is no condemnation. He is not ashamed to call you brother or sister (Hebrews 2:11), therefore God is not ashamed to be called your God.
The Grounding of Our Praise
God never gives commands to praise Him without giving us reasons for why. And here in verse 2 is our why.
Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness!
—Psalm 150:2
Both His mighty deeds and His excellent greatness are reasons for God’s people to praise Him. What He has done and who He is are the reasons for why we praise the LORD.
Some of the LORD’s mighty deeds refer to His works of creation and so all we see in this world that God has made is reason for us to praise the LORD. Every new day is a reason to praise the LORD because each day pours out His speech and every time the sun rises and sets it is His words coming true. Which is why when we wake and when we lay down for sleep, praise to the LORD should be on our lips.
Psalm 104 points us to praise our Creator God for His works in establishing the earth, and covering it with oceans, and filling it with height and depth and color and movement and life.
O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.
—Psalm 104:24
Notice, as good as God’s works and deeds are in creation, we are never instructed to worship what God has made in the world. He is the painter of the skies and the Mover of mountains, so when we behold those breathtaking views, praise to the LORD should follow. God’s creations are but scattered beams, but He is the Sun. All His created works are merely reflections of the Original so we set our affections on Him, the Source.
There is no limit to the mighty deeds of the LORD.
My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge.
—Psalm 71:15
We will never run out of reasons for our praise to God. That’s why we often look back at the mighty deeds of God’s providence in our lives. The heading over Psalm 18 is,
A Psalm of David, the servant of the LORD, who addressed the words of this song to the LORD on the day when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said:
I love you, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.
—Psalm 18:1-3
Every one of us can look back and see the faithfulness of God’s rescuing works in our lives. Because His mighty deeds are not without purpose - they are always in line with His righteous character, and the good of His people.
And they are always to further His glory among His people for future praise.
One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.
—Psalm 145:4
When we praise the LORD for His mighty deeds, we are declaring to God AND to others, why He is worthy to be praised. Discipleship is happening every Sunday when we lift our voices telling of God’s wondrous works in our lives.
And there are consequences if we do not.
Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.
—Psalm 106:7
May we not be silent towards our children and to those we have covenanted with in this body of believers of the mighty deeds that God has always worked among us. Instead, may we me those who
Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!
—Psalm 105:2
His mighty deeds are an ever-growing reason for praise. And in these works of power, we see Him. And what we see is excellent greatness. Who He is is why we praise Him.
There would be a limit to praise if there were a limit to God. But He is the everlasting God. The immortal, invisible, sovereign One. The happy God who does all that He pleases. No one counsels Him. No one can hold Him back or say “what have you done?” He is exceedingly awesome. His greatness is unsearchable.
He is righteous in all His ways. His heart is always good. His wisdom beyond measure.
He is more beautiful, more powerful, more majestic than we could imagine. He owns everything and exists for the praise of everything. He is the only, holy God. And on top of it all, He is our God.
In salvation, God has shown His mightiest deeds in accordance with His excellent greatness. And it is here that the grounding of our praise is immovable.
His mighty deeds have given us many glorious things. We who deserve the wrath of God for our sin, have instead been shown mercy. He has opened our blind eyes to see His excellent greatness, He has forgiven us of every trespass. But as good as all the benefits of salvation are, the greatest outcome and the chief reason for our praise is that we have God.
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God
—1 Peter 3:18
Jesus died in our place so that we might enjoy full and lasting fellowship with God Himself. There are no obstacles keeping us from Him anymore.
Once we could not see Him, once we did know Him, once we could not draw near Him, but now we who were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ (Ephesians 2:13). Into fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore. Our praise is not dependent on what’s going on around us, but on the glorious object of our praise.
The mighty deeds of God have set our feet on a broad place, the rock that can not be moved, so with the grounding of our praise secure, our voices can forever sing the song of praise that has graciously been put into our mouths.
When we gather together, we’re not entering into a time of routine or dull obligation. We gather to freshly encounter the greatness of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Praising the LORD is not a duty that we need to perform but a privilege that we are pleased to do, because there is no hindrance for us to get to God. We belong to Him/in the family
We praise the LORD for what He does and who He is.
Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling! Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.
—Psalm 43:3-4
The Manner of Our Praise
Verses 3-5 instruct us on how we are to praise God. Psalm 150 is a brief song, only six verses, and half of it is about the instruments that are to be used in the praise of God. Brass, lute, harp, tambourine, strings, pipe, and cymbals. Each instrument listed in Psalm 150 is unique in both its sound and in its function. We see this throughout scripture and Israel’s history.
Trumpets were generally used to signal for the entire assembly to gather together. When you hear the unmistakable sound, you move you in a certain direction - it would announce for all that something important is happening.
Instruments like the lute, harp, and lyre were mainly used in the weekly sabbath worship of God. The sweet melodies intertwined with adequate volume of these instruments would serve the people to join their voices in praise together.
The tambourine can seem like a noise maker in a baby’s hands, but in the hands of a skilled musician, it is a tool that drives tempo. Rhythm is vital like rails that make up a track so that the train of the song can travel along and ensure it will not derail into a different place.
So it’s no surprise then that the tambourine is what accompanies dance. Anyone who has taken dance knows the importance of counting the beat to ensure the timing of movements. That’s why one of the places in scripture we see both the tambourine and dance together is immediately following the Exodus as the people of Israel looked triumphantly on their enemies.
Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and dancing.
—Exodus 15:20
This is not a reference to a sensual dance, but in light of the context, a spontaneous celebration of praise to the LORD.
We see string instruments predominantly in the praise of God through laments, while we see the pipe used in more joyous occasions. It shows that we have reason to cry out in praise to God when we are grieving as much as when we are cheerful.
And then last, cymbals are mentioned as an instrument to be used in the praise of God, not once, but twice. The song highlights that in using cymbals our praise to the LORD should be distinct and loud.
It’s a wide variety of instruments, yet not an exhaustive list. We are not restricted in the instruments we use because the purpose for which they are used far outweighs the sound they make. All instruments are wonderful gifts from God that accomplish their greatest purpose when used for the praise of God. Instruments are not an obstacle to our praise but a complement to our praise. The Psalmist tells us…
Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre; make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!
—Psalm 33:2
God wants us to use music to help us praise Him. While there is always a temptation to have our emotions ignited by only the music, the songs we sing in this church will never be void of the truths that root our emotions in God who is worthy to be praised.
Music can help us by blending melodies and rhythm that highlight realities about God.
That’s why we sing songs of God’s greatness that are loud because the high-energy, driven nature of the music helps convey the character of the truths of God’s might and power. And that’s why we also sing songs of God’s lavish mercy to sinners that are somber and reflective so as to help us slow down, and not rush past that of first importance, but confess our many sins and meditate on His full forgiveness. And sometimes the music of a song communicates perfectly where we are that we think no one else is.
Because music can not only help impart what we are currently struggling with or feeling, but it can also serve to magnify specific truths of God that we need where we are so we might praise Him.
I trust that is your experience and conviction as we are led week after week in song by the playing of various instruments and vocalists on this stage.
We have some incredible musicians that God has given to our church. Week after week they use their gifts to serve us and to glorify God. None of them are here for themselves. None of them are trying to be noticed by their exceptional play. They use their gifts to help the church praise the LORD.
One of the values that our music ministry has is what we call “undistracting excellence.” There is an aim to be not just acceptable, but excellent in our craft. That first honors God, to do your best with what He has given you. But the aspiration to be excellent is not merely for the sake of sounding really good. The Psalmist exhorts us to “play skillfully on the strings” because when we play skillfully, the music is not poor or weak, but excellent. And excellence does not divert the attention of the congregation where it should not be. No, God intends for the playing of musical instruments to always support the sound of the main instrument of praise to the LORD.
And what is the main instrument for our praise when we gather together on this day, the best day of the week with the dearest place on earth? It is the sound of passionate singing from men and women, fathers and mothers, sons and daughters who have been redeemed by God to praise God with their voices.
The climactic conclusion not only of Psalm 150 but of the entire book, is a call for all living beings, anyone experiencing the provision of God to them for life, to use what He has given them to praise Him.
“Let everything that has breath, praise the LORD.”
Allen Ross commenting on this verse writes,
Here then is the glory of creation. God gave humans breath, and so they owe their breath to him, making praise the primary reason they have it. The call is for breath to be used in this way.
—Allen Ross
There is no greater call for your breath to be used than for praise. God breathed life into us, so let us use what He has given us to praise Him.
But what if what you have been given isn’t as good as others? There are many types of voices, soft and loud, high and low, in tune and somewhere else, but the one thing that all our voices have in common is that they have been redeemed by Jesus, our Savior.
“The human voice, given over to Jesus, and found in company with other voices given over similarly, produces a dignified and worthy song from storefront church to cathedral…Singing is not an option for the Christian; no one is excused. Vocal skill is not a criterion.”
—Harold Best
When we sing with our variety of voices, God hears us through His Son. It is not by the excellence of our offering that makes our praise to God more or less acceptable, but the excellence of the Object of our faith. You do not need a professional voice to be pleasing to God because Jesus, the perfect man, presents our praise to God as pure and pleasing.
Which makes the criteria for singing in this place fairly simple. Are you alive? Have you been given a song to sing? Then use your breath that God is giving you and sustaining in you to praise Him.
In fact, the final command of the Psalm reminds us that there is nothing we have that has not first been given to us. Just as our breath is a gift from the LORD meant for praise, our entire being is meant for His praise. The apostle Paul writes in Romans 12:1,
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
—Romans 12:1
The manner of our praise is to be with what God has given us to praise Him. And by His unmatched kindness to us in Christ, we are invited to use ALL of what He has given us to praise Him. Which means you can praise Him with your voice - no matter the condition it is in, and you can praise Him from your ventilator. “Let everything that has breath, praise the LORD.”
And then, to cap off this grand doxology, one last “Hallelujah.” just one more reminder that our praise is not dependent on the quality of our life or our voice, but on the fact that we have something to sing about.
And church, we have something to sing about. What a joy it is to sing the praises of our God with you.
I am especially thankful for the vantage point I have most weeks, to look out and witness the church sing. We have a good team up here that leads us, but the most important instrument always comes through. No warming up, just ready to praise with passionate singing. Emmaus Road Church seems to know what breath is for. And using our breath to praise the LORD in this place has a way of convincing us even more that You will always have reason to praise God wherever you are.
Many of you embody that. I see it week after week, and I hope you all do to. I see living faith in God through unashamed expression. I see people who love to sing the gospel. And I look out and see joy in God, despite the agony of hard circumstances or unresolved health issues. You’re hurting, but you are convinced “It’s good to be near God, my refuge, that I may tell of your works.”
What we do for the first 20 minutes of this meeting each Sunday matters greatly. It is a taste of heaven.
Because when we gather together to praise the LORD, we model what Psalm 150 points to. Not perfectly - but our songs of praise now are an echo of the unceasing song that will be sung for all eternity. That is what the last song of Psalms sings to our regenerated hearts. The future day when we heaven and earth will be joined in the final chorus of praise to the LORD. It’s what we were made for. It’s what He has redeemed us for. And what a sight it will be, what a sound it will be. What a privilege it will be to be joined with this choir of praise.
And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
—Revelation 5:13