Introduction
We’ve finally reached the end of the psalms. We began studying the psalms together on Wednesday evenings in June 2019. And two years later, in June 2021, we’d reached Psalm 72 and took a break. During those two years we went through the Covid-19 pandemic and I used the psalms on Sunday mornings. Remember those days? We couldn’t meet in person and so I recorded myself in my study and produced an audio file which was posted on the website. Anyway, we took a break from the psalms for a couple of years and I preached on the attributes of God and the Song of Songs and the Gospel of Matthew. And then we got back to the psalms in October 2023 and here we are in October 2025 and we’ve reached the end.
We all have our favourites and undoubtedly some are more popular and well-known than others. So, think of Psalm 23 — ‘The Lord is my shepherd…’ — or Psalm 27 — ‘The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? — or Psalm 46 — ‘God is our refuge and strength….’ — or Psalm 100 — ‘Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness.’ — or Psalm 103 — ‘Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.’ — or Psalm 121 — ‘I lift up my eyes to the hills….’ — or Psalm 139 — ‘O Lord, you have searched me and you know me….’ — are up there as firm favourites. But they’re all marvellous.
Many of them are lamentations, where the psalmist appeals to the Lord for help because of the trouble he’s in. Some are penitential psalms, where the psalmist confesses his sin and seeks God’s forgiveness. There are royal psalms which focus on God’s Anointed King. And there are wisdom psalms which are about living your life in accordance with God’s word. And then there were the Songs of Ascents, when the psalmist was on his way up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord with all of God’s people. And, of course, there are psalms of praise to the Lord our God and we’ve seen how the last five psalms in the psalter have been psalms of praise.
The whole psalter is divided into five books. Each book ends with a brief doxology or word of praise to God. But the fifth and final book, instead of ending with a brief doxology, ends with these five psalms of praise to God. And today we come to the last one which — like the previous four — begins and ends with ‘Hallelujah!’ or ‘Praise the Lord.’
This is a command. The psalmist is commanding us to praise the Lord. And notice, of course, that we’re to praise the LORD. As I’ve said many times as we’ve gone through the psalter, when the word LORD appears in our English Bibles in capital letters, then we know it’s God’s special covenant name, which speaks to us of his commitment to his people. He’s the one who has bound himself to us with a promise to be our God and to take care of us always.
In particular, he has promised to deliver his people from our sin and misery and to give us everlasting salvation by his Son. And on Sunday, we’ll gather around the Lord’s Table and give thanks to him because he has done what he promised to do, because God the Son came into the world as one of us and his body was broken and his blood was shed in accordance with the Father’s will to save us from the condemnation we deserve and to give us everlasting life in the presence of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, where we will praise him for ever and for ever.
Verse 1
One day we’ll praise the Lord for ever in the new heavens and earth. But in this life, God is to be praised both in his sanctuary and in his mighty heavens. That’s in verse 1 and the psalm is telling us in this verse where the Lord should be praised.
When the psalmist refers to God’s sanctuary, he’s referring either to the tabernacle or the temple. So, we don’t know when this psalm was written and perhaps it was written when the tabernacle was still in use; or perhaps it was written later, when the temple had been built. Whichever it was, it was God’s holy dwelling place and his people would gather there to worship and adore him and to praise his great and glorious name. God’s people on earth would gather together to worship the Lord their God.
That’s what was happening on earth. Meanwhile, God’s holy angels and his saints in glory gather in God’s mighty heavens to worship and adore him and to praise his great and glorious name.
Think of Isaiah’s vision in chapter 6 of his book where he saw the Lord, seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. And above him with angels with six wings each; and with two of their wings they covered their faces, because they dare not look upon the Lord in all his holiness. And they called out in worship, saying: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.’
Or think of John’s vision in Revelation 7, where he was allowed to see into heaven. And he saw a great multitude that no-one could count from every nation of the world and they’re standing before God’s throne and the Lamb, who is Jesus Christ our Saviour. These are the saints in glory. And the angels are there too. And the saints in glory and God’s holy angels are worshipping the Lord continually.
And while God’s holy angels and the saints in glory worship him in heaven, God’s people on earth are to worship him. We don’t go to the temple in Jerusalem now. Instead God’s people gather together in local churches Sunday by Sunday to worship and adore him and to praise his great and glorious name. And we join our voices with the holy angels and with those who have gone before us. And as we worship him here on earth, we anticipate what we will do for ever when we finally come into his presence in the life to come.
Verse 2
Where should the Lord be praised? Here on earth and in heaven above. And why are we to worship him? That’s what verse 2 is about. The psalmist tells us to praise him for his acts of power and for his surpassing greatness.
We’re to praise him for his acts of power. So, we’re to think about his works of creation and providence: how he made the heavens and the earth in the beginning: the visible and the invisible. So, he made the angels which we cannot see and he made the sun and moon and the stars and all the planets including planet earth. And he made the dry land and the waters and he filled the sky with birds and the waters with fish and the land with plants and animals and people. And he preserves and controls all his creatures and their actions by his most holy and perfect will. And so, he provides for us each day and fills our lives with good things to enjoy and he guides and directs all things to his own appointed end.
And by his acts of power, we’re to think of the ways he delivers his people from trouble. Think of how he delivered the Israelites from Egypt and brought them through the Red Sea and then he brought them through the wilderness and he gave them the Promised Land and helped them to settle there. When their enemies attacked, he helped them by sending them men like Gideon and Samson to lead them. Then he gave them kings like David and Solomon. When they went into exile, he brought them back to the Promised Land. The psalmist, depending on when he wrote this psalm, may have been thinking of all of these things. Praise the Lord for that.
We, of course, can praise him for sending his Only Begotten Son to deliver us from our sin and misery in this life and to give us eternal life in his presence by his death and resurrection on our behalf. And we can praise God for his acts of power in the way he has rescued us from this present evil age by enabling us to repent and believe the good news so that we’re united with Christ by faith and are raised with him to live a new kind of life of faith and obedience. We can praise him for all the ways he helps us every day and provides for us and answers our prayers and for all he is doing to keep us on the narrow way that leads to everlasting life in his presence. And we can praise him for the ways he is conquering unbelief around the world and enabling men and women and boys and girls in every nation to believe in his Son for salvation.
Why should we praise him? For his acts of power. But also for his surpassing greatness or for his abundant greatness. People praise sports stars for their greatness on the pitch or on the golf course or on the track or wherever they compete. People praise musicians and actors for their greatness on stage. Husbands praise their wives and wives praise their husbands for being a great spouse. Bosses praise their workers for doing a good job.
There are many people who are able to do great things. But they’re perhaps only great at one or two things. And their greatness perhaps passes, because they can’t sustain it throughout their life and their powers and abilities fade. And even their best work is not perfect. But the Lord’s greatness surpasses all other greatness. The Lord our God is infinitely great, because he is infinite. And so, there’s no end to his greatness. And his greatness is eternal, because he is eternal. And so, his greatness is without beginning and end. And his greatness is unchangeable, but he is unchangeable. And so, his greatness is unchangeable and it can never diminish or fade in any way. All of our sports stars and musicians and actors and so on are only a very, very, very pale shadow of God who is infinitely and eternally and unchangeably great and glorious. And if we were to study God for ever and for ever — which is what we’ll do in the life to come — we’ll never get to the end of his greatness; we’ll never get to the bottom of it or to the limits of it. His greatness, like everything else about him, just goes on and on and on. His greatness is immense just as he is immense. His greatness is incomprehensible, just as he is incomprehensible. As one ancient theologian has said: God is something that which nothing greater can be thought. We can’t imagine anyone greater than our God. And so, we should praise him here on earth and in heaven for his acts of power and for his surpassing greatness.
And when we come to church on Sundays to hear his word, we’re reminded of his greatness and his acts of power and all the things he has done for us and all that he has promised to do for us in the future. And remembering these things and thinking about them should cause our hearts to fill up with love and praise. And if our hearts do not fill up with love and praise, then there’s something wrong with us, because just as we see a delicious meal and we begin to salivate, or just as we see a beautiful landscape, and we want to stop and admire it, or just as we see a loved one, and we smile, so when we’re reminded by word and sacrament of God’s acts of power and his surpassing greatness, we should immediately want to praise him because he is so praise-worthy. And the only thing that keeps us from praising him is our own sin.
But thanks be to God, because he is so great that he’s able to overcome our natural sinfulness and our cold-heartedness by giving us his Spirit to stir up our hearts and to fill our mouths with praise. And whenever we mourn our praiselessness, then we should cry out to God to revive us so that we will praise him as we should.
Verses 3 to 5
Where should the Lord be praised? On earth and in heaven. Why should he be praised? Because of his acts of power and his surpassing greatness. How should we praise him? That’s what verses 3 to 5 are about.
Notice that he lists several ways to worship God. He mentions the trumpet first, which in biblical times was really a long horn which was used to call God’s people together. And then there’s the harp and lyre, which were stringed instruments. Then there’s the tambourine and dance, which recalls Exodus 15 and Miriam and the women who used tambourines and dance to praise the Lord for rescuing them from the Egyptians at the Red Sea. And then he mentions strings and flute. And last of all, he mentions cymbals.
These were the instruments the people had in those days and the psalmist is telling the people to take those instruments and use them for God’s glory. One man picks up an instrument and uses it to declare his love for the woman he loves. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But how more appropriate it is for someone to pick up an instrument and use it to declare their love for the Lord. The same instruments that can be used for a common purpose can also be used for a holy purpose.
And when he refers to the clashing of cymbals, he means we’re to make a loud and joyful noise to the Lord. So, we’re to sing out loud and play loudly, because we’re not ashamed of our God. And we’re not embarrassed to declare his praises. On the contrary, we want to boast about him. And once we realise just how great he is, we’ll want to boast about him loudly and often. Christians are not part of a secret society that does its business in secret. There’s nothing clandestine about the church. No, our services are public. The doors are open. Anyone can come in. And when they come, they will hear us confess our faith in the Lord our God and they’ll hear us boast about him when we stand to sing.
Verse 6
Where should the Lord be praised? On earth and in heaven. Why should he be praised? Because of his acts of power and his surpassing greatness. How should we praise him? Loudly and enthusiastically and unashamedly. Finally, who is to praise the Lord?
We’re now looking at verse 6. Who should praise him? Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. So, let every person who still has the breath of life in them praise the Lord. So long as we’re alive, we should praise him. God is the one who has given us our breath. When he created Adam at first, he was inanimate. But then the Lord breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and he became a living being. And God is the one who has given each one of us our breath and we should use the breath he has given us to praise him. From the moment we’re born and we cry out until the moment we die, we should be praising the Lord our God, giving thanks to him and honouring him for his acts of power on our behalf and for his surpassing greatness. And the reason we pray for the salvation of those who don’t yet believe is so that they too will see how great he is and they’ll want to praise him too.
Conclusion
There is no other God but the Lord. He only is God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He is the Holy Trinity, the Blessed Trinity, the Most High God, the most perfect being. There is none like him and he has done great things for us. And above all of his works on our behalf, there’s the self-sacrifice of his Son whose body was broken and whose blood was shed when he died on the cross for us and for our salvation. Though we are sinners who sin against him continually, he set his love on us and he sent his Son to save us. Who can grasp his kindness to us that he was prepared to do this for sinners like us? Who can fathom the depths of his mercy? Who can explain the love he has for us that he should give his Son for us? We cannot explain it, because we know our sins and we know we deserve to be condemned and sent out of his presence for ever. And yet instead of condemning us, he sent his Son to save us. Who can take it in? And then, he sent his Spirit to unite us to Christ by faith. Who can take it in? And instead of condemning us, he announces peace and life to us and he gives us the hope of everlasting life in his presence.
And so, we should do as the psalmist commands us to do. We should praise the Lord. He should be praised here on earth. He should be praised in heaven above. He should be praised because of his acts of power and his surpassing greatness. He should be praised loudly and enthusiastically and unashamedly. And what we have begun to do in this life, we’ll do for ever and for ever in the life to come, when we shall behold him and we’ll be lost in wonder, love and praise. We’ll worship him without weariness and he’ll stretch our minds and he’ll enlarge our hearts and he’ll direct our wills to know him more and more. And we’ll never get to the end of his perfections and we’ll never get bored by him, because there will always be something new and wonderful for us to learn about him, which will thrill us and satisfy us. And yet we’ll never be so satisfied that we’re full. Instead we’ll always want to know him more and more and more. And by knowing him more, we’ll praise him more. And in the new heavens and earth, we’ll praise him perfectly, because the Lord our God will make us perfect. We’ll be perfectly restored in Christ our Saviour so that we’ll love and praise the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength.
What better way is there to close the psalter than with this psalm? The psalms are God’s song book which he has given his church so that we might know how to praise him. And when everything has been said, there’s only one thing for us to do and it’s to praise the Lord our God.
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