What does Psalm 150:6 mean?
ESV: Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!
NIV: Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.
NASB: Everything that has breath shall praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
CSB: Let everything that breathes praise the Lord. Hallelujah!
NLT: Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord! Praise the Lord!
KJV: Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.
NKJV: Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Verse Commentary:
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.
Verse Context:
Psalm 150:3–6 lists many of the ways in which God's people can praise Him. This includes all manner of in-struments as well as one's own voice. The psalmist calls on everything alive (Genesis 1:30; Isaiah 42:5) to join in this unified worship of the Lord God. This supports the idea that Scripture calls on mankind to use instruments and music "in general," and does not prohibit instruments not explicitly named in the Bible.
Chapter Summary:
This song uses a poetic form of repetition, calling for worship of the Lord. God should be praised for His attributes and mira-cles. All forms of instruments and singing should be included in this celebration. This psalm begins and ends with the He-brew phrase often translated into English as "hallelujah!"
Chapter Context:
This song completes the biblical collection of psalms, which traditionally has five divisions. These are Psalm 1—41, 42—72, 73—89, 90—106, and 107—150. Each "book" division ends with an exclama-tion of praise (41:13; 72:18–19; 89:52; 106:48). The last five songs of this "book" each begin and end with the term halelu-yāh, literally meaning "praise the Lord!" The text broadly describes all manner of instruments, indicating that worshipful praise can take many forms and styles.
Book Summary:
The book of Psalms is composed of individual songs, hymns, or poems, each of which is a ''Psalm'' in and of itself. These works contain a wide variety of themes. Some Psalms focus on praising and worshipping God. Others cry out in anguish over the pain of life. Still other Psalms look forward to the coming of the Messiah. While some Psalms are related, each has its own historical and biblical context.
Accessed 3/8/2025 12:57:53 AM
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Text from ESV, NIV, NASB, CSB, NLT, KJV, NKJV © Copyright respective owners, used by permission.
