23rd August 2026

Experiencing the Psalms 5 – 23/08/26 (Psalms 150, 95, and 98)

Question: What do Handel's Messiah, Revelation, and the Psalms have in common?   Answer: "Hallelujah"

Handel, obviously the famous "Hallelujah Chorus", Revelation with its triumphant cry: "Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns." (Revelation 19:6), and the Psalms which are littered with the expression “Praise the Lord”, which means the same thing.

You might not be too surprised to learn that of the multiple times that the word “praise” appears in the Bible, well over half of them are in Psalms. That’s our theme this morning.

There are a lots of Psalms that talk about praise, but this morning we’re going to talk about just 3 of them, and start by leaping forward from the very first Psalm, that we talked about last week, to the very last one today, Psalm 150.

This psalm is just solid praise, using the verb a full thirteen times.
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 tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute,
praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals.
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD."

There are several ways we could look at this short psalm. One would be to see what it suggests to us about praise:

Where? (verse 1b) -- in his holy place, in the heavens (but not exclusively)

Why? (verse 2) -- for acts of power, for surpassing greatness 

How? (verse 3-5) -- with instruments and dance 

Who? (verse 6a) -- everyone that has breath

It might also be interesting to look for a moment at the musical instruments it talks about.

"Trumpet" was originally the ram's horn, although a metal trumpet made of beaten silver, is also mentioned elsewhere in the Old Testament, in the book of Numbers (10:2). Nothing like what we have today.

"Harp" or "lute" (NRSV), was then an instrument of 12 strings. It was larger than the "lyre" that David played, and had a deeper tone.   A modern harp, by comparison, has 47 strings and 7 pedals.

"Tambourine" or "timbrel" is a general term for small drums which were the most common percussion instruments in ancient times. Tambourines then didn’t have the jingly metal plates that modern ones do.

"Strings" or "stringed instruments", is probably just what we imagine.

"Flute" probably some kind of vertical flute or reed-pipe.

"Cymbals" were a bit different too. Apparently those that have been found in various Near Eastern sites from the 14th to the 8th centuries BC are generally bronze round flat plates, 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 cm.) in diameter, with central bowl-like depressions and fitted with iron finger rings. They were used in two ways:

As a pleasing sound. "Clashing, clanging or loud cymbals"  depending on which Bible version you read.

As an alarm signal. "Resounding cymbals". 

This psalms evokes both.

Now moving on, Come, Let Us Worship and Bow Down, says the psalm that Angela just read to us, Psalm 95.

On the one hand it’s a call to exuberant praise and thanksgiving, but it’s also a call to bow down in humble worship before our God and Shepherd.

As well as that, it’s an exhortation to obedience and faith in the Lord, for whom the author gives six different names or metaphors:-

· “LORD” (in small caps) = Yahweh, the creator God of the universe

· The “rock of our salvation”

· The “Great God”

· The “Great King above all gods”

· Our Maker

· Our Shepherd (implied)

Much like Psalm 150, in calling us to Praise the Lord, it has several different ways to express worship.

"Sing," "Shout aloud," and give "Thanksgiving" but we also see another kind of worship altogether.  "Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker." This is similar to what we see Muslims doing today.

The next verse is a beautiful image of a flock of sheep in a grass meadow. "... For he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care." (95:7)

We worship, we bow down, because we recognise both God's ownership of us, as his children, and his responsibility to care for us. He is the Shepherd, we are his flock of sheep. He cares for us, so much so that he laid down his life for us.

The final verses, though, are different from the rest of the Psalm.

"Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the desert, where your fathers tested and tried me, though they had seen what I did. 

For forty years I was angry with that generation; I said, 'They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known my ways.' 

So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.'"

It’s referring to the sad story of Israel's 40 years in the wilderness, when none of the men and women 20 years old or more would enter the Promised Land. They would die in the desert and only their children would enter the land.

Why did the psalmist insert this warning when the topic of the psalm is worship. His point is that worship not only consists of praise, thanksgiving, and outward submission, but also of being inwardly submissive to the Lord.

The Apostle Paul reminds us in Romans 12 to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

And finally, Psalm 98 that Philip read.

This one is typical of many of the praise psalms. It’s a love-song to God that was meant to be sung and accompanied by instruments.

Sing to the LORD a new song...., perhaps a spontaneous response to match the freshness of His mercies, which are 'new every morning.'

But particularly this psalm is a thank you to Yahweh for his “salvation” of Israel, a word that occurs 3 times.

It reminds us of God's deliverance of Israel from Egypt, and his carving out for them a new homeland in Canaan.

Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvellous things;
his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.
The LORD has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations.
He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to the house of Israel;
all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God."

Notice that, by doing that, God "made his salvation known" and revealed his righteousness to the unbelieving nations around. Our praise, in the way that we live and act, should also further his reputation by our testimony of how he has saved and delivered us.

The psalmist commands all creation to praise the Lord. He, or she, calls upon the sea and the earth and all their inhabitants to praise. Let the sea "roar." The word literally means "to thunder." If you've visited the coast, you know the roar of the breakers and the wind. The rivers are to "clap their hands," the mountains are to "sing."

And then it ends in the most amazing way.

Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.
Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy;
let them sing before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity.

You might think that "Here comes the judge!" would be a fearful message, not one that would inspire praise. But the reality is that we live in a world where the poor are oppressed, where laws are not enforced equally and justly, and where the wicked, the powerful and the ultra-rich have free rein, so we look forward to the coming of righteousness and justice with excitement and anticipation.

Prayer.  Father, what a privilege it is to praise you, to bring joyous happy praises to you with our whole hearts. As we praise you, you fill our lives with joy. May our whole lives -- not just our lips -- be a praise to your name. In Jesus' wonderful name, we pray. Amen.