1.
Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.
The fifth of the last five Hallelujah Psalms, answering to the great thought of DEUTERONOMY. Compare Psalms 150:2 with Deuteronomy 3:24 , and Deuteronomy 32:43 .
Praise ye THE LORD. Hebrew Hallelu-JAH. App-4 .
GOD. Hebrew El. App-4 .
sanctuary. The earthly sanctuary and the heavenly: the lower being formed on the pattern of the higher. See Hebrews 8:5 ; Hebrews 9:23 ; and compare 1 Chronicles 28:13 , 1 Chronicles 28:19 .
firmament: Hebrew = expanse (Genesis 1:6 ).
2.
Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.
for = in [the recital of] His mighty acts.
mighty acts. Some codices, with Aram, and Syriac, read "His might".
excellent = the abundance of His greatness or grandeur.
3.
Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.
the. No Art. in Hebrew text.
4.
Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.
timbrel = drum. See note on Exodus 15:20 .
organs = pipe, or reed (singular, never pl).
5.
Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.
6.
Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.
breath. Hebrew. neshamah (see App-16 ): i.e. in contrast with material instruments.
praise THE LORD. Hebrew. tehallel jah.
Praise ye THE LORD. Hebrew. Halelujah, thus fitly closing the Book of Psalms. Compare the endings of the other four books; and see notes on p. 720.