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.

Alleluia!

(Psalm 150)

From the beginning of Psalm 1 to the very end of Psalm 150, from “Happy is the one...” to “Let everything that breathes praise the Lord, alleluia!”, the book of Psalms is an invitation to let our faith breathe, and to praise God. Not because all is necessarily well when we pray, but because God listens and answers prayer. The living God often surprises us but never lets us down. This is the profound conviction which undergirds these ancient prayers. The wonder is that everything in human existence, from the highest joy to the deepest desolation, has a place in the Psalms. Nothing is filtered out. Such prayer embraces life whole so as to bring it before God. In this case praise is more than praying to God when things go right. It is all of life as it enters mercy’s light.

Psalm 150, the conclusion to the Psalter, is a prayer of pure praise. The invitation to praise God, “hallelu”, is repeated in each line. A final “Hallelujah” comes once again at the very end. The setting is given in the first verse: we are in God’s sanctuary, his holy place, the Temple where the people gather to worship God. Singing with joy to God draws the faithful together and brings them into God’s presence. But of course no matter how beautiful or vast the sanctuary may be, it cannot contain God. The psalmist looks up and considers the firmament, the sky which is the reflection of God’s immensity and strength. Who could take hold of the sky or push back the heavens?

Praise grows verse by verse. Praise God with his deeds of power, it says in verse 2. To remember the good things which have been done for us or others is like a motor for praise. As with friends and loved ones, so with God: to recall the good things we have seen or received increases our thankfulness and deepens our joy.

The words used here, “power” and “greatness”, are not facile affirmations of God’s transcendence. In the Scriptures in general and the psalms in particular, they evoke God’s special regard for the powerless and weak. The Lord shows who he is when oppression is overturned, when suffering is alleviated. God’s power goes hand in hand with his mercy.

In verses 3 to 5, different musical instruments are named one after the other and invited to join the singing. If remembering good deeds can stir praise, it is when the sound of musical instruments is joined to that of human voices that praise grows full. Sing with all your skill, says Psalm 47. Praise is an art. It is playful and alert, ever inviting others to participate. Dance and tambourine and finally cymbals join in, loud clanging cymbals! The crescendo swells.

When we reach the final verse, the vista opens wide and the crescendo spills over into a call addressed to all living beings: “Let everything that breathes praise the Lord, alleluia!” Praise carries the believer always further. Where does it lead us? To rejoicing in God’s beauty, to serving God’s joy in one another until it spreads throughout all creation. The breath that makes us live and sing is that which animates all that God has made.

 For what “deeds of power” can I praise God? Where can I see God’s “greatness”?

 If praise is an art, what helps us “learn” to praise God?

 What changes in our lives when we praise or thank God?