Psalm 150

“Praise the Lord!  Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in His mighty firmament!  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 lute and harp!  Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!  Praise Him with loud cymbals; praise Him with clashing cymbals!  Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.  Praise the Lord!” Psalm 150:1-6 (NKJV)

Every music leader in every church worldwide dreams of a worship service where the congregants display the type of whole-self-worship described in Psalm 150!  What a fitting end to our nearly five-month daily journey through the Psalms.  The entire community of Israel, continually worshipping the Lord with every possible instrument at their disposal, is not a foreign idea to the people of Israel.  At least it isn’t in Scripture.  On the day the Lord gave His Word (through Moses) to the people, He commanded them to worship Him alone, with all they had.

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!  You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” Deuteronomy 6:4-5 (NKJV)

The worship of God’s people is not isolated to church (or temple) services.  Whole-self worship was and still is to be practiced continually among His followers.

“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” Deuteronomy 6:6-7 (NKJV)

Whole-self-worship is not simply a series of prayers mumbled under our breath or a closed-room intellectual Biblical pursuit.  God wants our faith to be on display so all can see.  Our faith should be observable to onlookers (for God’s glory and not ours), so the things we do (hand) are evidence of the way we think (between your eyes).

“You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:8-9 (NKJV)

Lest Christians write off this notion as an “Old Covenant” theology, remember that Messiah Jesus quoted this same commandment when asked which was the greatest.

“Jesus answered him, ‘The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.  And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’  This is the first commandment.  And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  There is no other commandment greater than these.’” Mark 12:29-31 (NKJV)

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord and by every means at our disposal!