Psalms 150 · The Lantern

Let Everything That Has Breath Praise the LORD

Praise the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the expanse 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.

The trumpet is the contemplative mind or the mind by which the teaching of the spirit is embraced. The harp is the busy mind that is quickened by the commands of Christ.

"Praise Him in the sound of the trumpet" [Psalm 150:3]: on account of the surpassing clearness of note of their praise. "Praise Him in the psaltery and harp." The psaltery praises God from things above, the harp praises God from things below; I mean, from things in heaven, and things in earth, as He who made heaven and earth.

Let us praise him on the psaltery and on the harp, supposing that on the harp we may embrace the wood of the cross and on the psaltery we may maintain the universal confession. The sound is harsh because the confession is not held in unity.

Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.

The timbrel represents the death of fleshly desire because of honesty itself. Dancing is the agreement of reasonable spirits all saying the same thing and in which there are no divisions. The stringed instruments suggest the unison of the voices of moral excellence and the unity of the organ which is the church of God resting on reflective and active minds.

"Praise Him in the timbrel and choir" [Psalm 150:4]. The "timbrel" praises God when the flesh is now changed, so that there is in it no weakness of earthly corruption. For the timbrel is made of leather dried and strengthened. The "choir" praises God when society made peaceful praises Him.

Let us praise on timbrel and with dance, when we, firmly set upon a restored way of life, adorn the timbrel of our body with the models of best behavior.

Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD.

Psalms150

Let Everything That Has Breath Praise the LORD