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Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord! (v. 6).
One hundred and fifty Psalms.
The longest is Psalm 119 with 176 verses, while the shortest is Psalm 117 at two verses (also the shortest chapter in the entire Bible).
The Psalms have Psalm 23, which I don’t need to quote as everyone knows it, Psalm 91 with angels lifting you up, Psalm 63 about sleeping well, and really, a Psalm for any mood or situation in which you find yourself.
Not to mention, it is probably the most quoted book on Etsy and the inspiration for countless Christian hymns and songs.
How do we conclude such a book as the Psalms?
With Psalm 150 (the last Psalm) encouraging us to praise God 13 times, we can surmise that it is the way we should end everything – even our lives – by praising God.
Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heaven! (v. 1)
God’s people in both the Old Testament and New Testament assembled to worship – always. When they didn’t have a temple or synagogue in which to worship, and church buildings or house-gatherings became too open for persecution, God’s people worshipped in caves and catacombs.
If we stay home now, after a minor COVID blip, and don’t assemble for worship, Psalm 150 should convict us!
Verses 2 and 3 are like a John Philip Sousa march played on the 4th of July with fireworks in the background.
Praise him for his mighty works; praise his unequaled greatness! Praise him with a blast of the ram’s horn; praise him with the lyre and harp! (vv. 2-3)
Verses 4 and 5 continue describing the assembly of worship by adding dancing and other instruments.
Praise him with the tambourine and dancing; praise him with strings and flutes! Praise him with a clash of cymbals; praise him with loud clanging cymbals.
In Hebrew worship, the tambourines were played by women who helped lead processions of Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.
This worship was loud and joy-filled!
Having no musical talent, I admit to being jealous of Psalm 150. In any procession of worship on earth, I would be on the sidelines, as I have no rhythm. But in heaven, all of us will play a musical instrument.
Imagine…
Billions of angels along with sisters and brothers from all history, standing before the throne, each with their worship instrument, and all playing together with crescendo, melody, and variations of harmony.
Boom! Fireworks in heaven will be spectacular.
To be honest, I don’t know what crescendo, melody, and harmony mean. But I will learn in heaven.
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord! (v. 6)
While worshipping in heaven, look toward the front and you will see me playing lead guitar (whatever that is) – perhaps a little too much like Jimi Hendrix – but nobody will care!