Psalms 150
1 Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.
2 Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.
3 Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.
4 Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.
5 Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.
6 Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.
World Behind This Chapter
Explore the people, places, language, history, and material world connected to Psalms 150.
What did the instruments named in Psalm 150 actually look and sound like?
The Hebrew names cover trumpet, harp/lyre families, frame drum, strings, pipe, and cymbals, but exact instrument construction changed across centuries. Archaeology and iconography provide analogies rather than recordings of Jerusalem's temple ensemble.
What stands out about the Psalter's final doxology naming sanctuary in Psalm 150?
Psalm 150 builds its movement around the Psalter's final doxology naming sanctuary, mighty acts, breath, and an orchestra of trumpet, harp, lyre, strings, pipe, and cymbals. Tracking repeated words, parallel lines, changes of speaker, and image clusters shows how the poem develops before assigning a later interpretation.
What world does Psalm 150 ask the reader to picture?
The poem evokes sanctuary filled with instrumental praise. Those settings may be literal, remembered, ritual, or metaphorical; distinguishing those possibilities is part of reading Hebrew poetry carefully.
WORTH A CLOSER LOOK
Look at a real ancient lyre from the world of biblical instruments
The bull-headed lyre from the Royal Cemetery at Ur is far earlier than the biblical Psalter and comes from Mesopotamia, not Jerusalem. Its surviving materials and reconstruction nevertheless make ancient Near Eastern stringed instruments tangible beside Psalm 150’s orchestra.
View the objectהָלַל (halal) — praise
The final psalm repeatedly uses the Hebrew root behind Hallelujah. Following the root shows how the Psalter’s last chapter concentrates its vocabulary of praise.
Explore the HebrewResearch PathsCurated links for exploring this chapter 3
History & Daily Life1
- The Musical Instruments from Ur and Ancient Mesopotamian MusicPenn Museum
Illustrated museum study of excavated lyres from Ur, their construction, tuning, strings, decoration, and performance context. It helps readers understand the craftsmanship and ritual importance of ancient stringed instruments named alongside winds and percussion in Psalm 150.
Language & Literature1
- Psalm 150 as the Grand Finale of the PsalterHTS Theological Studies
Open-access academic study of Psalm 150’s structure and role as the crescendo of the Psalter. It examines the repeated command to praise, the movement from sanctuary to cosmic firmament, the progression through wind, string, and percussion instruments, and the final summons to every breathing creature.
Artifacts & Manuscripts1
- Ancient Near Eastern CymbalHarvard Art Museums
Illustrated bronze cymbal comparable to instruments known from ancient Near Eastern and Classical settings. It gives readers a physical object to associate with Psalm 150’s distinction between loud cymbals and clashing or resounding cymbals.
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