Prophetic Scripture: The Book of Psalms
Psalm is the book of praise. It portrays Christ as Our All in All!
Let Everything That Have Breath Praise the
LORD!!!
Each
of the five divisions of the Book of Psalms closes with a doxology (a hymn or
form of words containing an ascription of praise to God).
(Psalm 41:13; 72:18-19; 89:52; 106:48). This entire psalm can be
seen as a doxology that not only closes the fifth and final volume of the
collected psalms, but also closes the entire Book of Psalms.
41:13: Blessed be the LORD
God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen and Amen.
72:18: Blessed be the
LORD God,
the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. Vs 19: And blessed be his
glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen.
89:52: Blessed be the
LORD for evermore. Amen and Amen.
Psalm 150, contains no argument,
no real teaching, no real explanation. It is an eloquent, passionate cry to all
creation to give Yahweh the praise due to Him.
“The
psalm is more than an artistic close of the Psalter: it is a prophecy of the last result of the
devout life, and, in its unclouded sunniness, as well as in its universality,
it proclaims the certain end of the weary years for the individual and for the
world.” (Alexander Maclaren).
Unlimited praise to the God who is unlimited
in His greatness:
David said, in every place, praise the LORD.
Praise (Heb.
Haw-lal’), meaning
to shine; hence to make a show; to flash
forth light; to boast, or be boastful.
Further down in the Brown-Driver-Briggs definition, it means to make a fool of; make into a fool; to act
madly; to act like a madman.
(Example): David danced out of his clothes.
Praise the LORD!
Praise God in His sanctuary;
Praise Him in His mighty firmament!
Praise the LORD: LORD in Hebrew is Jah; Yahweh; Jehovah (Yeh-ho-vaw); The Self-Existent or Eternal. This is the proper name of the One
True God.
This
last of the five ending psalms shares the same beginning and ending line as the
previous four. People are praised, and God’s people are encouraged, and
exhorted to praise Him. No crisis or enemy is in view, for this is totally pure
praise.
Praise God in His sanctuary: The sanctuary of God is a most fitting place for His praise. It is a place set apart for His honor and involves special recognition of His presence. It’s consecrated, dedicated, and holy. If Yahweh is to be praised anywhere, it should be in His sanctuary. His sanctuary, is the one not made by hands, but the one in which He dwells, which is within you and me!
In
light of the New Covenant, we realize that God’s sanctuary is not fixed to a particular building in Jerusalem.
Jesus
serves His people in a sanctuary in the heavens: Hebrews 8:1: Now of the things which we have spoken, this is the
sum: we have such a high priest, who is
set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens: Vs 2: A minister of the sanctuary,
and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.
Jesus
makes His sanctuary among His people collectively: 2nd Corinthians 6:16: And
what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God; as
God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
Jesus
makes His sanctuary in the individual believer: 1st Corinthians 3:16: Know
you not that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in
you?
Ultimately,
Jesus Himself will be and is the sanctuary of God among His people: Revelation 21:22: And
I saw no temple therein: for the Lord,
God Almighty, and the Lamb are the temple of it.
It
in Greek in this
verse is ow-tos’, meaning, himself, herself, themselves, itself, he,
she, it, the same. Simply meaning US!!! The Lord God Almighty and the Lamb
are the “temple” (dwelling place) of “IT” (the city) that we
the Church are become, in them, because we are all ONE!! Hallelujah 🙌
·
Matthew
5:14:
You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be
hid.
·
John
17:20:
Neither pray I for these alone, but for
them also which shall believe on me through their word: vs 21: That they all may be one, as thou Father, art in me, and I in thee,
that they also may be one in us, that
the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
Praise God in His mighty firmament: The wide expanse of sky, with all its might
in storms and weather, is also a fitting place to praise God. Since the firmament stretches from horizon
to horizon, it tells us that God should be praised in every place under the
sky.
“His
glory fills the universe; his praise must do no less.” (Kidner).
Praise God in His mighty firmament: Through
the whole expanse, to the utmost limits of his power. Praise Him whose power and goodness extend through all worlds; and let
the inhabitants of all those worlds, share in the grand chorus, that it may be
universal. (Clarke)
Firmament means in Hebrew, to beat, stamp, or pound the earth.
So,
when situations, circumstances, chaos, confusions, sickness or any attacks are
launched by the enemy, the Word says in 1st Peter 5:7: Casting all your care upon him; for he
cares for you. Casting
means to throw or place upon
Him. So don’t allow people or situations
or circumstances to burden you down.
Possess the power of the Holy Ghost given by God to prevail. Knowing that every situation you go through
is for your good, you have to praise God for your battles, and the victory is
in your praise!!!
For every reason, praise the LORD.
Psalm 150:2: Praise Him for His mighty acts; praise Him according to His excellent
greatness!
God’s mighty acts are one
reason to praise God in every place. He has done great and powerful things,
especially what Jesus accomplished at the cross and the empty tomb.
The
singer of this psalm had only shadowy knowledge of it, but the ultimate
demonstration of God’s power would come in the resurrection of Jesus. Ephesians
1:19: And what is the exceeding
greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his
mighty power: vs 20: Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised
him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places.
For
this and all His mighty acts,
we should praise Him.
His
mighty deeds
might be rendered His heroic [or, valiant] acts. The reference is to His deliverance of His people as a clear
manifestation of prowess or conquering might.
(Maclaren)
‘Mighty’
were the ‘acts’ which God wrought for Israel; and ‘great’ was the Holy One in
the midst of His ancient people. But
mightier acts did He perform in Christ Jesus, for the redemption of the world.
(Horne)
Praise
Him according to His excellent
greatness. While it is right to praise God for the
mighty things He does, there is perhaps something even greater in praising Him
for who He is, in all the excellence of His greatness. This greatness surpasses
all else in the entire universe, excellent above
all.
We can’t praise Him enough for His excellent greatness, or greatness of greatness, which yet can
never be done, but must be endeavored. (Trapp)
The
psalmist said, Psalm 34:1: I will
bless the LORD at all times: his praise
shall continually (tamiyd’) [stretch; continuance extension; constantly;
regularly; daily; evermore] be in my mouth.
Psalm 150:3-5 is
saying, to us, “With every expression,
praise the LORD.”
Vs 3: Praise Him with the sound of the
trumpet: praise him with the psaltery
and harp. Vs 4: Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with the stringed instruments and
organs. Vs 5: Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise
him upon the high sounding (clashing) cymbals.
the trumpet:
There
was good reason to mention the trumpet first in this long
list. The sound of the trumpet is associated with the grandest and most solemn
events, such as the giving of the law, the proclamation of jubilee, the
coronation of Jewish kings, and the raging of war. It is to be thought of in
reference to the coming of something.
Trumpet in Hebrew is from shophar’, meaning to incise
(cut into); a coronet (giving a clear sound). It goes to shaphar’, meaning to glisten
(shine; glitter); cheer; majestic sound; be (make) fair; goodly.
Out
of “trumpet” comes the word “trump”.
1st
Thessalonians 4:13-18 [speaks
of the appearing/manifestation of Christ] (not the Christ that “is coming”, but the Christ that “is come”) [present tense]:
In verse 16, mention
is made of the “trump of God”: For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven
(He already has) with a shout, with
the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
Trump in Greek is sal’pigx,
meaning reverberation (repeated sound; re-echoing; resounding; reproduction) of what the morning stars and sons of God were
speaking and doing in the beginning before the fall of creation. All they believed and spoke was LIFE, as they walked in the dominion, authority, power, wisdom, understanding,
and knowledge of the Most High God!!!
The Adam race of people before the fall were
walking and living in their “divinity”
– but the fall of creation placed them back into their “humanity”! That’s
what God requires of us now, to move out of that which pertains to “humanity” and live in that which
pertains to His “divinity”!
We must understand that the “trumpet” in scripture is a voice.
On the Isle of Patmos when John was given the revelation of Christ, look
at what he said: Revelation 1:10:
“I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day,
and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet.”
Voice in the Greek, is phone’ (fo-nay’), meaning, a disclosure; a tone (articulate); an
address (for any purpose); saying or language; noise; sound.
The voice (disclosure
[secret being made known], the address [message]; saying or language), John
heard said: vs 11: “I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and what thou see, write in a book, and send
it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna,
and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia,
and unto Laodicea.” Vs 12: And I turned to see the voice that
spoke with me. And being turned, I saw
seven golden candlesticks (7 churches): vs 13: And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of
man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a
golden girdle. Vs 14: His head and his hairs were white like wool
(the Lamb of God), as white as snow:
and his eyes were as a flame of fire.
Vs 15: And his feet
like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace: and his voice as the sound of
many waters.
These many waters were people: Revelation 17:15: The waters which thou saw, where the whore
sits, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
Sound here in verse 15, has
the same definition as voice. John was seeing Jesus Christ in His fullness
in us (the church), and us (the church), in our fullness in Jesus
Christ, preaching and teaching what Jesus came preaching and teaching: KINGDOM
(Mark 1:15)The time is fulfilled, and the
kingdom (dominion; authority;
power) of God is at hand: repent
ye, and believe the gospel”: and LIFE (John 10:10) I am come that they might have LIFE, and
that they might have it more abundantly!!
Back to Psalm 150:
Psaltery/Lyre: Neh’-bel (nay’-bel), is a hollow
stringed instrument; perhaps like the guitar.
Harp (Kinnor): is another stringed instrument,
played on with the hands or fingers.
The
books of Chronicles explain that the harp
and lyre were the instruments played by the Levites for temple music (1st
Chron.15:16).
In
addition to making music, these instruments were understood to have something of
a numinous (strong spiritual) effect.
The playing of the harp and lyre drove
the evil spirit out of Saul (1st
Sam. 19:9–10),
and according to 2nd
Chronicles 5,
the harp and lyre were played prior
to the arrival of the glory of Yahweh.
Timbrel (toph): was a drum, tabret, or tomtom of the ancients; a skin stretched over a
broad hoop; perhaps something like the tambourine.
After
the great miracle of the splitting of the Sea, Moses led the Jewish
people in singing praises to God. The Torah (the books traditionally ascribed to Moses) then describes
how Miriam led the women in singing their own song of praise, while
dancing and playing musical instruments.
Miriam,
the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel
in her hand, and all the women came out after her with timbrels and with dances.
And Miriam called out to them, “Sing to
the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously:
the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea” (Exodus 15:21).
The Talmud
(ancient teachings regarded as sacred and
normative by Jews) tells us that the Jews were redeemed from Egypt in
the merit of the righteous women. Many men had lost hope and chose not to
procreate so as not to subject their offspring to a fate of slavery and
suffering. The women kept hope alive, trusting that they would soon be
redeemed. With that in mind, they
enticed their husbands to procreate.
This
faith is reflected in the words “a
timbrel in her hand.” The Midrash (a Jewish genre of literature
that interprets and expands on the Bible) explains that the righteous women
were so confident that God would perform miracles that when
they left Egypt, they took musical instruments with them “in hand,” ready to sing praise.
Dance is from machol (maw-khole), or chuwl (khool), which means to
twist or whirl (in a circular or spiral manner), fear, tremble, travail, bear
or bring forth.
As
similarly in Psalm
149, the
call to dance and make music in Psalm
150 functions
in an anticipatory manner. The
psalmist invites “everything that has
breath” to sing and dance before
the Divine King in praise of who He is and in anticipation of what
He will do.
Dance is used as an act of worship in
Scripture and can continue to be used in that way today. However, churches
should take care to avoid dance that leads others to temptation or sin, and the
focus must remain on worshiping God. Dance is a beautiful art form that can
communicate truth, bringing glory to God and edifying others.
Stringed instruments: Both
words are from the Hebrew word men
(mane), meaning to apportion; a part;
a musical chord (as parted into strings): instrument. This literally
signifies strings put in order; perhaps
a triangular kind of hollow instrument on which the
strings were regularly placed, growing shorter and shorter till
they came to a point.”
The
book of Psalms has 'gems' and this is one of them. The stringed instruments are often a construct state which is a
generic symbol for ordinances, laws or statutes, godly or ungodly.
The
ten 'stringed instrument', signifies the ten
commandments of Moses.
Whereas,
to sing or play music, signifies walking/behaviors according to the
'ordinances' in question.
The 'ten
strings' denote the ten commandments of Moses on 2 tablets stones which aspect
is also reflected in the two sides of the 'ten stringed instrument', hence the
two 'fives of strings' on the
instrument.
The stringed instruments typify ordinances
or laws also illustrated in Isaiah 14, in that the devil goes to the pit with his
'ordinances', the 'psalteries/viols' which he used to deceive people in all the
earth. When the ordinances are ungodly, the 'sound' of that 'instrument' is
said to be a 'noise'.
Isaiah 14:9: Hell
from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirs up the dead
for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their
thrones all the kings of the nations. Vs 10: All they shall speak and say unto thee, art thou also become weak as
we? Art thou become like unto us?
Vs 11 Thy pomp is brought down to
the grave, and the noise of thy
viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.
Vs 12: How art thou fallen from
heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground,
which didst weaken the nations!
This
is the same figure of noise of the harps that
Israel made to God in Amos 5:23-24, and which was 'rejected' by the Most High.
Amos 5:23: Take
away from me the noise of your
songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. Vs
24: But let judgment run down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
On
the other hand, when the ordinances are in righteousness, the sound is
signified as a new song or sound, or
simply 'dancing' before God.
·
Psalm 149:3: Let
them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp.
It
is the same song of Moses and the song of the Lamb in Revelation.
Revelation 15:2: And
I saw as it were a sea of glass mixed with fire, beside which stood those who had conquered the beast
and its image and the number of its name. They were holding harps from God. Vs 3: And they sang the song
of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb: Great and wonderful are your
works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations!
That's
why the psalmist is specifying to God the EXACT instrument with which he is
going to sing to Him.
The harp was a ten stringed instrument, typifying the
symbolic laws of Moses.
Organs (Uwgabk) [oo-gawb’]:
means, in the sense of breathing. Another root word is agab’, meaning to breathe
(after) that (is) to love: Pipes (chaliyl) [khawleel’], a flute
(as perforated [to pierce]: Flutes
(mashrowqiy) [mashrokee’], a (musical)
pipe (from its whistling sound). They are very likely the syrinx (sir-ingks) or mouth organ;
Pan’s pipe; each of the ancients and moderns.
This
“breathing after” is the unconscious breathing of the Holy
Ghost. It’s simply the piercing breathing in or inhaling of the
mind of God, His knowledge, His wisdom and
His immortality, into ourselves (the body of Christ), enabling us to
manifest God’s glory in the earth.
Loud cymbals (Tselatsal’): defined as a clatter; a whirring or
buzzing (of wings)]. Two hollow
plates of brass, which being struck together, produced a sharp clanging
sound. The whirring or buzzing (of wings), we know by revelation, is the
message of the kingdom of God, which is the gospel/good
news of Jesus Christ.
·
Ezekiel
10:5: And the sound (qowl) [call aloud; a voice; proclamation] of the
cherubims wings (message of the Kingdom of God) was heard even to
the outer court: as the voice (qowl)
of the Almighty God when he speaks.
High sounding cymbals:
Sounding is from teruwah’, meaning, clamor; acclamation of joy or a battle-cry; clangor of trumpets, as
an alarum (loud noise) or an alarm:
shout (ing); jubilee; rejoicing.
The cymbals, perhaps, were those of a larger
make, struck above the head, and consequently emitting a louder sound. To make a “high
sound” was to shout, raise a sound, cry out, give a blast or shout a war-cry or alarm of
battle!
The
list of instruments is not meant to be comprehensive, though it may be. The
point is actually that everything you have can be used to worship God.
The
broad list of musical instruments tells us that God wants every class
and group of people to praise Him, because these instruments were normally
played by different types of people.
The horn (qe’ren)
[a horn (as projecting); coronet (resembling an elephant tooth); a ray (of
light); power]--[also known as a shophar’],
was curved and was blown by the priests: the harp
and psaltery were played by the Levites:
the timbrels were struck by women [as they were] dancing and playing on stringed instruments, pipes and cymbals. These instruments were not reserved for the Levites
only, but for all people.
Praise Him with loud cymbals: The individual instruments must be
played with strength and celebration, and the collection of them together would
fill the room with sound. This was not halting or hesitant praise – just like
the love and goodness of God are not halting or hesitant toward us in any way.
Psalm 150:6: Let everything that hath breath, praise the
LORD. Praise you the LORD. With every available breath, praise the LORD.
This
is a remarkably fitting conclusion to this psalm and to the entire Book of
Psalms. Everything that breathes
should give its praise to the One who gave it breath. Every breath is the gift of God and praise is the worthy response we should
make for that gift.
The
word breath in Hebrew is neshamah’, meaning, a
puff; wind; vital breath; divine inspiration; intellect; an animal; blast;
spirit; souls. This denotes all
living creatures, endowed with life by the Creator.
Genesis
1:24: And God said, “Let the earth bring forth the
living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the
earth after his kind”: and it was
so. Vs 25: And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, cattle after
their kind, and everything that creeps upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
So
people of God the only pre-requisite
for praise, is to have breath!
So
the Yehovah Elohim squeezed and pressured the man (Aw-dawm’)
[male/female], into a living soul.
He became alive, revived, and made whole by the breath (Spirit/Ru’wach) of the
Living God!
Psalm 150:6: Praise
the LORD:
The last line of the Psalter could be nothing else, other than Hallelujah!
Yahweh is to be praised and honored
and will be so among His people and all creation forever.
The psalter begins with ‘Blessed’, and ends with ‘Hallelujah’!!
Your
life may resemble the psalter with
its varying moods, its light and shadow, its sob and smile; but it will end
with hallelujahs!!!
“That
is, as long as you will keep true to the will and way and work
of the Most Holy.”
Hallelujah!
Clap Your Hands and Give God the highest praise!!!
Assistant
Pastor
Jackie
Burton