Psalms 150:1-6·~1 min

Let Everything That Has Breath Praise the LORD

Hallelujah opens the psalm with a call to praise God in his sanctuary and in his mighty expanse, and to praise him for his mighty acts and surpassing greatness. Praise is grounded both in who God is and in what he has done.

H¹allelujah! ²Praise Him for His mighty acts;

The psalm then calls for praise with horn, harp, lyre, tambourine, dancing, strings, flute, and loud cymbals. The piling up of instruments makes the praise sonically and physically expansive, as though every musical possibility is pressed into service.

³Praise Him with the sound of the horn; ⁴Praise Him with tambourine and dancing; ⁵Praise Him with clashing cymbals;

The book ends by calling every breathing thing to praise the LORD and sealing the summons with one final hallelujah. Nothing living is left outside the final chorus.

⁶Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!

Section summaryThe psalm begins and ends with hallelujah, calling for praise to God in his sanctuary and in his mighty heavens, for his mighty acts and his surpassing greatness. It then names a full orchestra of praise, from horn and harp to tambourine, strings, flute, and cymbals, before concluding with the final summons of the Psalter: let everything that has breath praise the LORD.

Role in the chapterThis section functions as the grand doxological finale of the Psalter. Its work is to leave the reader not with petition, lament, or narrative alone, but with a final totalizing command in which all space, all sound, and all living breath are gathered into praise.