Sept 6, 2014
Read: Psalm 150
When I asked a friend how his mother was getting along, he told me that dementia had robbed her of the ability to remember a great many names and events from the past. “Even so,” he added, “she can still sit down at the piano and, without sheet music, beautifully play hymns by memory.”
Plato and Aristotle wrote about the helping, healing power of music 2,500 years ago. But centuries before that, the biblical record was saturated with song.
From the first mention of Jubal, “the father of all those who play the harp and flute” (Gen. 4:21), to those who “sing the song of Moses, the servant of God and the song of the Lamb” (Rev. 15:3), the pages of the Bible resonate with music. The Psalms, often called “the Bible’s songbook,” point us to the love and faithfulness of God. They conclude with an unending call to worship, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!” (Ps. 150:6).
Today we need God’s ministry of music in our hearts as much as any time in history. Whatever each day brings, may the evening find us singing, “To You, O my Strength, I will sing praises; for God is my defense, my God of mercy” (59:17).
farther into the future, but I’m grateful that You’re
by my side. Grant me a spirit of praise and
thanksgiving in whatever lies ahead.
Insight
The last five songs of Israel’s hymnbook are also known as Hallelujah Psalms, because each of them (Psalms 146–150) begins and ends with the refrain “Praise the Lord” (Hebrew Hallelujah). Psalm 150 answers three important questions: Who should praise God? (vv.1,6). Why should God be praised? (v.2). How is He to be praised? (vv.3-5). The psalmist calls on “everything that has breath” to worship God (v.6)—including creatures on earth and angels in the heavens (v.1). We should praise God for what He has done (“His mighty acts” v.2) and for who He is (“His excellent greatness” v.2). We are to praise Him with our voices, with the accompaniment of all kinds of instruments, and with dancing (vv.3-6). “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord” (v.6) is indeed a fitting final doxology to God.