How Should We Praise God? – Psalm 150:3–5
Jul 16, 2026 4
Praise isn’t just for people with musical talent. God calls you to praise him with whatever you have.
Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! — Psalm 150:3–5 (ESV)
This week, we are in Psalm 150, where we ask four questions about praising the LORD. Where? Why? How? By whom?
How is God to be praised?
What This Meant for Israel
Psalm 150:3–5 is a long list. Trumpet. Lute. Harp. Tambourine. Dance. Strings. Pipe. Sounding cymbals. Loud clashing cymbals.
Can you almost hear it? The great shout of joy to the One who is worthy.
Look at it more carefully. Notice what’s happening. The lips and breath through the trumpet. Skilful fingers on the harp, lute and strings. The hand and whole arm with the tambourine. The legs and the whole body with the dancing. And the loud sound of the clashing cymbals.
Israel was told to employ every means they had to make joyful praises to God.
Every instrument.
Every part of themselves.
With their whole being.
This wasn’t a concert. It wasn’t performance or entertainment. It was an act of worship, an offering to God. Every instrument was told to praise him. Every person was called to join in.
At the great festivals, the trumpet was perhaps prominent. In times of victory, the tambourine and dancing led the way. But the point was clear: use whatever you have. Make it all count.
What This Means for Us This Side of the Cross
The instruments have changed, but the principle hasn’t.
We may not have access to harps or lyres. That’s okay. Use what you’ve got.
The electric guitar.
The bongo drums.
The didgeridoo.
The record player.
The harmonica.
The synthesiser.
The drum kit.
Let’s make lots of noise as we muster all the musical gusto!
Whether you’re a talented musician or not. Maybe you know that you regularly sing off-key… that’s okay! We employ all that God has given us to give him the praise he deserves.
But praise isn’t just about music.
In 1 Peter 2:9, it says: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.” (ESV)
Praise is also about your words. It’s about telling God how great he is, telling each other and telling our workmates, our schoolmates, our neighbours. We are to be those who declare the praise of God.
So praise with everything means this: we use our voice, our instruments, our bodies, our words, our actions, our witness. We praise him when we gather, and we praise him when we scatter.
We praise God with everything we’ve got.
The Good News Is…
The good news is that we have even more reasons to praise God than ancient Israel. We give our everything in praise of the one who gave everything for us… Jesus!
As we considered yesterday, in Jesus we have an even greater act of redemption than Israel. In Jesus, we have the Holy God who has come among us as a human being. Though he was fully man, he didn’t sin as we sin; he lived the life we failed to live.
So we praise him for his perfect life.
He then died the death that we deserve, on the cross, in our place and for our sin.
So we praise him for his sacrificial death.
But death could not hold him down; he rose from the grave having defeated sin, Satan, and death.
And so we praise him for his triumphant resurrection.
How do we praise Jesus? With everything we’ve got! Our whole being–mind, mouth, heart, body–is to be employed in the praise and service of the one who saved us.
Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father, we praise you for who you are and what you have done. We praise you for creating us; we praise you for saving us through the life, death, and resurrection of your Son and our Saviour. We ask that your Holy Spirit will give us the will and desire to praise you with everything we’ve got. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Rev. Dave Miers
President, Good News Unlimited