Psalm 150: Let Everything That Has Breath

"Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness."

"Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD."

The instruments

Shofar (ram's horn, "trumpet"), nevel and kinnor (two kinds of lyre or harp, "psaltery and harp"), tof (frame drum, "timbrel"; a clay figurine of a woman holding one is pictured), minnim (strings) and 'ugav (probably a pipe or flute, "organs" in the KJV), and two kinds of tseltselim (cymbals). Archaeology has found lyres depicted in art, frame-drum figurines, bronze cymbals and bone pipes in the Levant. Modern replicas are reconstructions; no one knows exactly how temple music sounded.

Where, why, how, who

The psalm answers four questions: where (in his sanctuary, in the heavens), why (his mighty acts, his greatness), how (every instrument and dance), and who (everything that has breath). "Praise him" (hallelu-hu) is said ten times, framed by "Praise ye the LORD" (hallelu-yah) at beginning and end.

The end of the five books

Books I–IV each end with a doxology (41:13; 72:18–19; 89:52; 106:48). Book V has no separate doxology: Psalm 150, and the whole final Hallel (146–150), is the doxology of Book V and of the Psalter. The Greek Psalter then adds Psalm 151, described as "outside the number"; see "How Psalms Came to Us." Psalms 146–150 have no heading other than "Praise ye the LORD" (hallelu-yah), with which each begins and ends; the Greek and Latin put "Alleluia" at their head. They are the closing doxology of the whole Psalter and are recited every morning in Jewish worship (Pesukei de-Zimra).