Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on February 11, 2022

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By Sigrid Fowler

Psalm150isa musical rush of sound bringing Gods praise to a crescendo.The sweep of adorationisset in the broadest terms, giving thepsalm an expansive tone that seems to take in the cosmos.Theopening versesestablish the setting. We are urged to praise Godinhis sanctuaryandinthe firmament of his power.We are to praise himforhismighty acts and according tohis excellent greatness.Thepsalmist merely approaches thepreeminence ofGod in these generalities. Its as if the limitlessbeingand character of theAlmightycan barely be expressed.Five of the sixverses begin, Praise him, and the brevity of the opening (vv. 1-2) confrontsliketheshoutof a herald. The blast of trumpets at the end of the psalm concludestheentirepsalterwith an audible outpouring of praise.We have to hear the musical hubbub.

The body of Psalm 150 is a catalog of instruments of praise, a veritable orchestra of celebration and rejoicing in God. Trumpets are listed first and last, maintaining the pitch of the praise. Psaltery and harpare next and listed together as if to hold their own against thelouderbrass.This isnt quiet worship!

The timbre of the various sounds enhancesthe specificity ofthe body ofthe psalm, moving the focus from thebroadgeneralities of the opening to a sense of individual praise. The Hebrew instrument names are translated inmanywayslute or lyre or psaltery, timbrel or tambourine or instruments of brass, strings and organs or pipes or flutes. A feeling of fortissimo results. Dancers (v. 4) add motion and excitement. A final crash of cymbals completes this orchestra of worship: Praise him upon the loud cymbals; praise him upon thehigh soundingcymbals (v. 5).

The Book of Psalmsissomething likethe hymnbook of Hebrew worship, and it engages us to be participants. It has been said that every human emotion is expressed in the psalms, but the focus is always on God. We are exhorted to express open praise, and the psalms and prayers include many examples. The negative tonein the lamentsoften lifts in the context of prayer and praise in these hymns.Again and again sorrow and fearor griefaretransformed to peace, confidence, and satisfaction when the psalmist turns his heart to God.

The final verse of the Book of Psalms sums up the tone and purpose of theentirepsalter. The specificity narrows to individual levelasvocal praise is addedto thesounds of instruments: Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD (Ps 150: 6).When the psalmist addresses everything that has breath, he or she is extending the praise beyond that of human voices! Consider the implications. All animals, birds, and insects breathe, not just human beings. In this final verse of the psalter, every breathing thing is urged to praise the LORD. Praise has now become as general as we can imagineasthe psalmistextendsthe size of his picture of praise to the whole of creation. The tone is again broadandgeneral. The backdrop of specific musical instrumentsin the previous verses,gives the psalm a kind of completenessthe whole as well as the individual parts and persons.

The first and last words of this psalm are the Hebrew wordhallelujah, 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 isan abbreviation of the name God gave Moses to tell the people (Ex 3: 13-16),andit isa form of the Hebrew being verb.Psalm 150 ends with the wordhallelujah(the literal Hebrew); the wordis a reminder,appearing frequentlythroughout the psalms, that we are to praise God. The grammatical formof this wordis plural, and the word is in the imperative mood,a commandto praise. The final syllable, the abbreviated name, keeps God in focus. In fact, this abbreviation of Gods unspoken name is thelastHebrew wordandthe last English syllable of the psalter: Jah/-jah.The worshipof Godis what the psalms are all about.Thesounds of praiseinPsalm150, thelist of musical instruments, and the reference to all breathing things increases the range of expressed praiseto bring us in. The audible qualityencourages reading the psalmoutloud.

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