Psalms 150:1

1. As the theme is praise, the psalm opens with a very specific designation of the Being to be praised. Two titles are given. First, Praise ye יה , ( Yah,) or Jehovah the name of God as in covenant with his people. Secondly, Praise אל , ( El,) God, the Almighty, the name denoting strength, power, by which God is known as the creator, the upholder of the universe, the deliverer and defender of Israel.

Sanctuary This is the rendering we should here give to the word kodesh, “holy,” for, having spoken of the Being to be praised, the author now mentions the chief places of his praise; and this also best agrees with the prefix preposition be, in “Praise God in his holy place.” Had it been of the abstract holiness of God that he was speaking, and not the holy place of his worship, he would have used the causal particle, kee, “for” “Praise God for his holiness.”

Firmament of his power “Firmament,” here, is used synonymously with what we would call the visible heavens. In the “sanctuary” God is celebrated specially for his redemptive work; in the “firmament,” as creator and ruler of all worlds. These are the visible seats of his manifested power.