Deeper Commentary

Psa 150:1

Praise Yah! Praise God in His sanctuary! Praise Him in His heavens for His acts of power!-
We note one of several connections between the sanctuary and the "heavens". The sanctuary was intended to be a shadowy reflection of the heavenly sanctuary (Heb. 9:24). The joy of heaven itself at Israel's final salvation was to be reflected in the restored sanctuary upon earth. The Psalm therefore has relevance to the exiles and their hope and potential for restoring the kingdom of Heaven upon earth in Israel.

Psa 150:2

Praise Him for His mighty acts!-
The one great mighty act we will eternally praise God for is our personal salvation; see on Ps. 149:1. That is what we will spend eternity praising God for, rather than going over and over His acts in creation or human history such as the Exodus. So we could read this as an intensive plural. Psalm 150 is the grand finale of praise. If we will spend eternity praising God for salvation, it's quite likely that we will be re-living every moment of our brief lives now, and just be awed at God's grace to us and insistent desire to keep us on the track to eternal salvation. And we will be able to re-live the similar constant moments of grace in the lives of others too. We will have an ever increasing perception of His grace and salvation; and perhaps His mightiest single act was in the cross. Quite rightly do we remember that regularly [and with progressive insight] in the communion elements, for we will be doing so eternally. The "acts" retold with praise would be of God's saving grace in human history (as in Ps. 145:4,11,12); that will be our talk throughout eternity, and we should begin living the Kingdom life now.

Praise Him according to His excellent greatness!- The phrase used by David when dedicating the plans for building the first temple (1 Chron. 29:11). This makes the Psalm easily usable by the exiles rebuilding that temple.

Psa 150:3

Praise Him with the sounding of the trumpet! Praise Him with harp and lyre!-
The trumpet was sounded at the proclamation of the feasts (Ps. 81:3 s.w.), and this Psalm was likely used on those occasions. The sounding of the trumpet recalls the proclamation of a new king (1 Kings 1:39; 2 Kings 9:13). The situation in view may be the final proclamation of Messiah Jesus as King in the Kingdom.

Psa 150:4

Praise Him with tambourine and dancing! Praise Him with stringed instruments and flute!-
Possibly the idea is of male and female being united in praise- women being Biblically associated with tambourine and dancing, and men with stringed instruments. It's unlikely that we will be using physical musical instruments to praise God eternally. So possibly the idea is that music expresses praise in a form beyond words, for music speaks what. Tambourines are typically associated with victory (Ex. 15:20; Jud. 11:34; 1 Sam. 18:6; Ps. 68:25). The victory we will eternally celebrate is surely the Lord's work on the cross, and our salvation as a result of it. And we begin that right now.

David asks Israel to join him in his praise on tambourine and harp (s.w. 2 Sam. 6:5,14-16) for the ark returning to Zion. It is based upon Israel's rejoicing after the deliverance from Egypt (Ex. 15:20). But these images all had special relevance to the possibilities at the restoration of the exiles. The young woman taking the timbrel and rejoicing in the dance once again is presented as the epitome of the restoration (Jer. 31:4,13), after the years of exile when Judah's dance had been turned to mourning (Lam. 5:15). The invitation to actually do this confirms the great theme observed so often- that the restoration from Babylon could have led to the restored Kingdom of God, but was precluded by Judah's impenitence. But the Psalm urges them to do these things, to "let" these things happen (Ps. 140:3) by as it were fulfilling the prophecies.

Psa 150:5

Praise Him with loud cymbals! Praise Him with resounding cymbals!-
The reference to cymbals again suggests the bringing of the ark to Zion as the initial reference of this Psalm (s.w. 2 Sam. 6:5). But it looks ahead to the coming of the Lord Jesus, the ultimate dwelling place of Yahweh, to Zion- and being proclaimed king (see on :3), at His second coming.

Psa 150:6

Let everything that has breath praise Yah! Praise Yah!-
This looks ahead to a time when all that has breath, which includes the natural creation, praising Yahweh. The picture is of all creation being spiritually aware and entering into the conscious spirituality of God's children (Rom. 8:22,23). The reference to all kinds of instruments presents the idea that all types of people will be in the assembly of the redeemed who will sing praise to God and the Lamb for their salvation. This scene is found in Revelation, on Mount Zion, the location of our judgment. The idea surely is that the redeemed will be a symphony of all kinds of people and voices. The psalmist as it were imagines an orchestra. Psalms 145-150 are the conclusion of the Psalter, full of praise, with Psalm 150 as the final picture of praise. Perhaps the idea is that the ultimate conclusion of God's purpose with man is that we shall be in eternal praise of God: "You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for You have created all things, and for Your pleasure they are and were created" (Rev. 4:11; 7:9,10). That spirit must be in us now. God formed people so they would declare His praise (Is. 43:21). Salvation is "the praise of His glory" (Eph. 1:6,12,14). But God is not a narcissist who created everything just to fall at His feet in praise. He loves us and wishes His beloved people to exist on the highest level of joy for them. And He realizes that man as it were enjoying God, gratefully praising Him, is man's greatest joy. We can experience the start of that now. Although Psalm 150 contains 12 calls to praise, reflecting perhaps the 12 tribes of Israel, there is no direct call to Israel to praise. This is unusual for a praise psalm. The psalm instead speaks of a time and situation where all who have breath praise Yahweh. And the Bible presents animals as also having breath, so this may be another hint that the natural creation will somehow have a spiritual dimension revealed in them. Even now, creation groans for the Lord's return.

Praise of course arises from gratitude, and from appreciation of what He has done for us. A proud person doesn't have any of that. No wonder humility is the basis for human salvation. "He crowns the humble with salvation" (Ps. 149:4).

The LXX concludes with an extra Psalm:

"This Psalm is a genuine one of David, though supernumerary, composed when he fought in single combat with Goliad. I was small among my brethren, and youngest in my father's house: I tended my father's sheep. 
Psa 151:2  My hands formed a musical instrument, and my fingers tuned a psaltery. 
Psa 151:3  And who shall tell my Lord? the Lord himself, he himself hears. 
Psa 151:4  He sent forth his angel, and took me from my father's sheep, and he anointed me with the oil of his anointing. 
Psa 151:5  My brothers were handsome and tall; but the Lord did not take pleasure in them. 
Psa 151:6  I went forth to meet the Philistine; and he cursed me by his idols. 
Psa 151:7  But I drew his own sword, and beheaded him, and removed reproach from the children of Israel".