Psalms 150:3

150:1-6 A psalm of praise. - We are here stirred up to praise God. Praise God for his sanctuary, and the privileges we enjoy by having it among us; praise him because of his power and glory in the firmament. Those who praise the Lord in heaven, behold displays of his power and glory which we cannot now conceive. But the greatest of all his mighty acts is known in his earthly sanctuary. The holiness and the love of our God are more displayed in man's redemption, than in all his other works. Let us praise our God and Saviour for it. We need not care to know what instruments of music are mentioned. Hereby is meant that in serving God we should spare no cost or pains. Praise God with strong faith; praise him with holy love and delight; praise him with entire confidence in Christ; praise him with believing triumph over the powers of darkness; praise him by universal respect to all his commands; praise him by cheerful submission to all his disposals; praise him by rejoicing in his love, and comforting ourselves in his goodness; praise him by promoting the interests of the kingdom of his grace; praise him by lively hope and expectation of the kingdom of his glory. Since we must shortly breathe our last, while we have breath let us praise the Lord; then we shall breathe our last with comfort. Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.

Such is the very suitable end of a book inspired by the Spirit of God, written for the work of praise; a book which has supplied the songs of the church for more than three thousand years; a book which is quoted more frequently than any other by Christ and his apostles; a book which presents the loftiest ideas of God and his government, which is fitted to every state of human life, which sets forth every state of religious experience, and which bears simple and clear marks of its Divine origin.

Psalm 150:3-5 . Praise him with the sound of the trumpet, &c. — “It is impossible for us to distinguish,” says Dr. Horne, “and describe the several sorts of musical instruments here mentioned, as the Hebrews themselves acknowledge their ignorance in this particular. Thus much is clear, that the people of God were enjoined to use all the various kinds of them in the performance of their divine services.” “And why,” adds he, “should they not be so used under the gospel? We read of sacred music before the law, in the instance of Miriam, the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, who, to celebrate the deliverance from Pharaoh and the Egyptians, took a timbrel in her hand, and the women went out after her with timbrels and dances, Exodus 15:20 . The custom, therefore, was not introduced by the law, nor abolished with it. Well-regulated music, if ever it had the power of calming the passions, if ever it enlivened and exalted the affections of men in the worship of God, (purposes for which it was formerly employed,) doubtless hath still the same power, and can still afford the same aids to devotion. When the beloved disciple was, in spirit, admitted into the celestial choir, he not only heard them singing hymns of praise, but he heard likewise the voice of harpers, harping upon their harps, Revelation 14:2 .

And why that which saints are represented as doing in heaven, should not be done, according to their skill, by saints upon earth; or why instrumental music should be abolished as a legal ceremony, and vocal music, which was as much so, should be retained, no good reason can be assigned. Sacred music, under proper regulations, removes the hinderances of our devotion, cures the distraction of our thoughts, and banishes weariness from our minds. It adds solemnity to the public service, raises all the devout passions of the soul, and causes our duty to become our delight. ‘Of the pleasures of heaven,’ says the eloquent and elegant Bishop Atterbury, ‘nothing further is revealed to us, than that they consist in the practice of holy music and holy love; the joint enjoyment of which, we are told, is to be the happy lot of all pious souls to endless ages.’ It may be added, that there is no better method of combating the mischievous effects flowing from the abuse of music than by applying it to its true and proper use. If the worshippers of Baal join in a chorus to celebrate the praises of their idol, the servants of Jehovah should drown it by one that is stronger and more powerful, in praise of Him who made heaven and earth. If the men of the world rejoice in the object of their adoration, let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.” The best music, however, in God’s ears, is that of devout and pious affections.

Verse 3. - Praise him with the sound of the trumpet , (On the use of the trumpet in Divine service, see Leviticus 23:24 ; Leviticus 25:9 ; Numbers 10:10 ; 2 Samuel 6:15 ; 1 Chronicles 13:8 ; 1 Chronicles 15:24 ; 1 Chronicles 16:6 ; 2 Chronicles 5:12, 13 ; 2 Chronicles 7:6 ; 2 Chronicles 29:27 ; Psalm 81:3 ; Psalm 98:6 .) Praise him with the psaltery and harp (comp. Psalm 57:8 ; Psalm 81:2 ; Psalm 108:2 ; 1 Chronicles 15:16 ; 2 Chronicles 5:12 , etc.). Psalm 150:3

3 . with the sound of the trumpet ] With blast of cornet. The ‘cornet,’ originally a ram’s or cow’s horn, perhaps in later times a metal instrument of the same shape, was mainly employed for secular purposes, while the instrument generally used in religious ceremonies was the chatsôtserâh or straight metal trumpet. Cp. however Psalm 47:5 ; Psalm 81:3 ; Psalm 98:6 . It was ordinarily the work of the priests to blow the trumpet ( 1 Chronicles 15:24 ; Nehemiah 12:35 ; Nehemiah 12:41 ; and often); Levites are often described as playing psalteries and harps and cymbals ( 1 Chronicles 25:1 ; 1 Chronicles 25:6 ; Nehemiah 12:27 ); tambourines were beaten by women as they danced ( Psalm 68:25 ); the terms used for stringed instruments and pipes are not elsewhere connected with religious ceremonies. Thus the call to praise is addressed to priests, Levites, and people; and every kind of instrument is to be enlisted in the service. psaltery and harp ] Or, harp and lyre . The nçbhel and the kinnôr were both stringed instruments, but the precise distinction between them is unknown. There are some reasons for thinking that the nçbhel (A.V. psaltery in the Historical Books and Psalms[92], viol in the Prophets) was the larger and more elaborate instrument.

See Driver’s Joel and Amos , p. 234; and for illustrations of ancient lyres and harps, see Stainer, Music of the Bible , Chaps. i, ii. [92] These books were in the hands of the Westminster and Cambridge companies, and the Westminster company consisted mainly of Cambridge scholars, while the Prophets were in the hands of an Oxford company. In the Apocrypha also, which was revised by a Cambridge company, psaltery is used, but not viol .