604_Let everything that breathes praise the Lord (Psalm 150) Psalm 150 Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens! 2 Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! 3 Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! 4 Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! 5 Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! 6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! There is a well-known story about Johann Sebastian Bach, one of the greatest composers who ever lived. On many of his musical manuscripts, Bach would write three simple letters at the bottom of the page: S.D.G. — Soli Deo Gloria, “To God alone be the glory.” Music historians tell us that Bach did this not because every piece was written for church use, but because every piece, in his mind, was an act of worship. Whether he was composing a sacred cantata or a simple melody, he believed that sound itself was a gift from God, and the highest purpose of that gift was praise. That simple conviction captures the heartbeat of Psalm 150. When all words have been spoken, when all prayers have been prayed, when all struggles have been fought and all journeys completed, what finally remains is praise. We have come to the last of the Hallelujah psalms and, fittingly, to the final psalm in the entire book of Psalms. The Psalter does not end with a lament, a confession, or even a teaching. It ends with an unrestrained, passionate summons to praise. Thirteen times in just six verses, the word “praise” rings out like the repeated strike of a cymbal. It is as if the psalmist wants to leave no room for silence. The book that began with “Blessed is the man” now ends with “Let everything that breathes praise the Lord.” Once everything is over—when our life on earth has run its course, when the battles are finished, when our bodies rest in the grave—praise does not stop. As Psalm 145:2 declares, “Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever.” Praise is not merely the language of earth; it is the language of eternity. The psalm opens with a call that is both majestic and intimate: “Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty firmament.” The word “God” here points to the sovereign Creator, the One who spoke the heavens into existence. It awakens awe and reverence in our hearts. Yet the repeated cry “Praise the LORD”—Yahweh—draws us into relationship and closeness. He is not only the transcendent God above the heavens; He is the covenant Lord who walks with His people. The psalmist invites praise in the sanctuary, which for an Israelite meant the visible temple, the sacred place where God’s presence was uniquely manifested. But he does not stop there. He expands the invitation to the firmament itself, the vast expanse of the heavens, reminding us that there is no place where God is absent. Whether in a
