We’ve been exploring the darker side of the Psalms in our OK sermon series, but the Psalms are also full of moments of great joy and celebration! Psalm 150 is a great example of this. It rounds off the whole book with a burst of musical praise. After praising God for his ‘acts of power’ and ‘surpassing greatness’, the psalmist lists off a whole range of instruments – the trumpet, the harp and lyre, the tambourine, strings and pipes and lastly the clashing, resounding (some translations just say ‘LOUD’) cymbals! Dancing is also mentioned. Perhaps if the Israelites were performing this psalm, each of these instruments would get a turn to show their stuff. But what a wonderful image – a cacophony of praise to God! The psalmist ends by demanding that ‘everything that has breath’ praise the Lord so that’s pretty inclusive!

We all have different ‘languages’ of praise that come naturally to us. Perhaps you like to (metaphorically) pluck gently at a lyre or harp, blow brightly on a trumpet, or perhaps the crashing cymbal is more your style. As each of us brings our praise to God in our gatherings, we are like an orchestra – the sound together is more beautiful than each on its own. It puts me in mind of Paul’s image of the church as a body, each ‘playing their own part’. So whether you actually play an instrument up front or you can’t hold a tune, whether you like to sing loudly or hum softly, whether you clap your hands or lift them up – may we together make a wholehearted cacophony of joyful praise to our great God who deserves everything we can bring him!

Miranda