Daily Devotional · Psalm 150
Let Everything That Has Breath Praise the Lord
Reflection
"Praise the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with timbrel and dancing, praise him with the strings and pipe, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord." Psalm 150 is the conclusion of the entire psalter. Five books of psalms — 150 poems, composed over centuries, covering every human emotion from despair to triumph, from confession to intercession, from individual lament to communal celebration — all arrive here: at the crescendo of praise. Where to praise: in the sanctuary, in the mighty heavens. The whole of creation is the space for praise. Why to praise: for His acts of power, for His surpassing greatness. Both what He has done and who He is. With what to praise: every instrument mentioned. Trumpet, harp, lyre, timbrel, strings, pipe, cymbals — the entire musical vocabulary of the ancient world. And dancing. The body joins the voice. Who must praise: everything that has breath. Not a select group, not the musically gifted, not the spiritually advanced. Every creature with breath — the breath that was first given in Genesis 2:7 when God breathed life into the man. The breath that was given for this.
Background
The five books of Psalms (1–41, 42–72, 73–89, 90–106, 107–150) each end with a doxology, and the final book ends with Psalms 146–150, each of which begins and ends with "Hallelujah" ("Praise the Lord"). Psalm 150 is the ultimate doxology — the final word of the entire collection. Structurally, the psalter moves from Torah meditation (Psalm 1) through lament and praise to this universal, embodied, unrestrained joy.
Truth
Praise is the final posture — not the optional enhancement — of a life lived with God. The psalter's movement from lament to praise is not a denial of suffering; it is the direction that suffering is meant to travel. Everything that has breath was made for this.
Application
Before you finish today, find one moment — one minute, five minutes, whatever you have — to praise God with your body as well as your words. Use an instrument, use your voice, use movement. Let Psalm 150 be literal: let the breath God gave you return to Him as praise.