What does Psalm 150:6 mean?

The psalmist ends his call to praise the Lord (Psalm 150:1–2) with an all-inclusive summons. Everything alive ought to give honor and worship to God. Prior verses broadly described every type of musical instrument (Psalm 150:3–5). Here, the concept expands to every type of living thing. Everything alive owes its life to God's creation (Acts 17:25). In their own ways, even animals can give the Lord a form of worship (Psalm 148:3–10). This suggests that all per-sons, whether they can sing, play an instrument, dance, or none of these, can still worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24).

In Hebrew, this psalm ends with two similar yet distinct phrases. The first is tehallēl yāh', the second is halelu-yāh. In English, both are translated as "praise the Lord!" The expression halelu-yāh is the source of the English expression "hallelujah" and is more of an exclamation than the prior phrase. Fittingly, the collection of psalms ends with an enthusiastic utterance of worship towards the Lord.