Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

1 Keil & Delitzsch 2 Keil & Delitzsch 3 Spurgeon

4 Botterweck, page 236 5 Botterweck, page 237 6 Spurgeon

PSALM 150: LET EVERY LIVING THING SING PRAISE Grand Finale of Praise

The last and most dynamic song is a command from God, a summons to mankind from within the Trinity to join the praises of eternity. The psalm is a continuous present tense yet it echoes into the fu- ture when the entire universe is consummated under the rule of the lord Jesus Christ. Not counting the repeated words, this remarkable poem uses ‘ …only twenty-two different words in the Psalm, the num- ber of letters in the Hebrew alphabet.’ 1 A ‘trinity’ (3) of “Hallelujahs” and ten “Hallal’” also distinguishes this grand finale of God’s spiritual symphony. ‘Ten is the number of rounding off, completeness, exclu- siveness, and of the extreme of exhaustibleness.’ 2 This is the highest point of the crescendo of worship! The Psalm is the ‘barack’ (Heb. ‘blessing’ ) and benediction to the entire book of psalms ending our spiritual journey in a barrage of praise before the throne of God. ‘No psalm rises more grandly from verse to verse, or terminates in a nobler or grander climax…’ Its historical setting was most likely a call to the great feasts of Israel reinstituted after the return from Babylon. In the blinding light of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, mankind is invited to concentrate on the surpassing love and greatness of God. This powerful anthem conveys three groupings of thought:

I

PRAISE GOD

1, 2 3-5

Who, Where and Why of Praise With Instruments of Praise

II PRAISE HIM

III PRAISE THE LORD

6

Worldwide Praise

I

PRAISE GOD

1, 2

Who, Where and Why of Praise

Who we Praise- “Praise the Lord! Praise God…” (1)

Three Hebrew names for God are employed in this psalm; “Yah” (the shortened form of Yahweh); “El” translated as God in this first verse and “Yahweh” in the last verse. “El” is most often associated with God the creator and sustainer while the most frequent name “Yahweh” , ‘occurring 5321 times in the O.T.’ 3 refers to God as Redeemer and Deliverer. It is “Yah”, “Yahweh”, ‘the I Am’ or ‘Self-existent one’ that is most celebrated in this Psalm and points to “Yeshua” , the Hebrew name for Jesus our Savior. In an argument in the Temple with the religious teachers and Pharisees, Jesus unashamedly claimed to be the “Yahweh” of the Old Testament; “…before Abraham was, I am.” (Jn. 8:58) The name “Yahweh” is called the Tetragrammaton, meaning ‘four letters’ (YHWH) with no consonants; ‘His name 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. Join all ye living things in the eternal song.’ 4 The Trinity cannot be easily divided and iden- tified in the Old Testament; this Psalm encourages the worship of the full revelation of God our Father and his eternal Son. The Book of Psalms began with mankind walking on earth, doing “everything the Lord wants...” (Ps. 1:2) and it ends in the heavenly sanctuary where the atmosphere is filled with praise. Christ prepared the way for us to join the celebration; “He has entered that great, perfect sanctuary in heaven, not made by human hands and not part of this created world. Once for all time he took blood into that Most Holy Place…Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our hearts from deeds that lead to death so that we can worship the living God.” (Heb. 9:11, 12, 14) Washed by the blood of Christ, we have been escorted into the Most Holy Place, the heart of the universe. When we worship on earth, we join the eternal jubilation around the throne of God. “The mighty heavens” that stretch on into countless light-years were created to accommodate the sound of his praises that will resound forever. Where we Praise- “Praise God in his heavenly dwelling [sanctuary NIV]; praise him in his mighty heaven!” (1)

Why we Praise- “Praise him for his mighty works; praise his unequaled greatness.” (2)

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