Psalm 150:4

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 150:1-6

We are here, with the greatest earnestness imaginable, excited to praise God; if, as some suppose, this psalm was primarily intended for the Levites, to stir them up to do their office in the house of the Lord, as singers and players on instruments, yet we must take it as speaking to us, who are made to our God spiritual priests. And the repeated inculcating of the call thus intimates that it is a great and necessary duty, a duty which we should be much employed and much enlarged in, but which... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 150:4

Praise him with the timbrel and dance ,.... Or "pipe" F21 ומחול "et tibia", Tigurine version, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Gejerus. ; See Gill on Psalm 149:3 ; praise him with stringed instruments ; or divers "kinds" F23 במנים "varia symphonia", Cocceius. of instruments not named, as R. Saadiah Gaon; and which, as Aben Ezra says, had all one sound or note; what they were is not known, as also many of them that are particularly mentioned; and organs ; which... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 150:4

Praise him with the timbrel - תף toph , drum, tabret, or tomtom, or tympanum of the ancients; a skin stretched over a broad hoop; perhaps something like the tambarine. Anglo-Saxon; the glad pipe. Taburne; Old Psalter. And dance - מחול machol , the pipe. The croude or crowthe: Old Psalter; a species of violin. It never means dance; see the note on Psalm 149:3 . Crwth signifies a fiddle in Welsh. Stringed instruments - מנים minnim . This literally signifies strings put in... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 150:1-6

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 150:1-6

Hallelujah: our life a psalm. There is no distinctive truth taught here; each verse gives utterance to that which has been sung before (see especially Psalms 148:1-14 .). But the strain of the psalm is that of an earnest summons to make the praise of God the prevailing note of our life. Let life be charged and crowned with praise. 1. If regularly at the sanctuary, there in order that it may be offered elsewhere, everywhere. 2. If on the sabbath day, then that it may be... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 150:3-4

Instruments to praise God with. Bishop Wordsworth notes that all kinds of faculty are engaged in the work of praise. The breath is employed in blowing the trumpet; the fingers are used in striking the strings of the psaltery and the harp; the whole hand is exerted in beating the timbrel; the feet move in the dance. The introduction of various musical instruments, as well as choirs of human voices, into the regular worship of the tabernacle and temple, is traceable to the time and probably... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 150:4

Praise him with the timbrel and dance (comp. Psalms 149:3 ). Praise him with stringed instruments and organs; literally, with strings and pipe . "Organs" are, of course, out of the question. The "pipe" intended is probably the double pipe so often represented on the monuments of Egypt, Assyria, and Phoenicia. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 150:4

Praise him with the timbrel - Hebrew, תף tôph. See this described in the notes at Isaiah 5:12. It is rendered tabret and tabrets in Genesis 31:27; 1Sa 10:5; 1 Samuel 18:6; Isaiah 5:12; Isaiah 24:8; Isaiah 30:32; Jeremiah 31:4; Ezekiel 28:13; timbrel and timbrels in Exodus 15:20; Jdg 11:34; 2 Samuel 6:5; 1 Chronicles 13:8; Job 21:12; Psalms 81:2; Psalms 149:3; and in the margin in Jeremiah 31:4. The word does not occur elsewhere. It was an instrument that was struck with the hands.And dance -... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Psalms 150:3-5

Psalms 150:3-5. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet, &c. “It is impossible for us to distinguish,” says Dr. Horne, “and describe the several sorts of musical instruments here mentioned, as the Hebrews themselves acknowledge their ignorance in this particular. Thus much is clear, that the people of God were enjoined to use all the various kinds of them in the performance of their divine services.” “And why,” adds he, “should they not be so used under the gospel? We read of sacred... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Psalms 150:1-6

Psalms 147-150 Praise the LordGod’s people should praise him constantly for his merciful and loving care: his care over them in particular (147:1-2), his care over those who sorrow (3), his care over all his creation (4), and his special care for the downtrodden (5-6). God delights to provide for the physical needs of his creatures (7-9). But of all his creatures, those he delights in most are those who humbly trust in his steadfast love (10-11). That is why he delights in Israel above other... read more

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