Latest / Reformed Thinking / Let Everything That Has Breath Praise the Lord (Psalm 150) | Charles Spurgeon

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Let Everything That Has Breath Praise the Lord (Psalm 150) | Charles Spurgeon · Reformed Thinking

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Imagine for a second right that you were climbing this massive
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sheer rock face. Like a really intense high
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altitude climb. Yeah, precisely.
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You've been ascending for days. Your muscles are just screaming.
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Your lungs are, you know, fighting for oxygen in that thin
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air. Oh, that sounds exhausting.
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It is, and you've spent the entire duration just staring at
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the stone like mere inches from your face, because you have to
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make sure you do not make a fatal mistake.
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Right, your focus is just locked in.
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Spot on. You've been following a guide,
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listening to these really rigorous instructions about
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physics. You're thinking about friction,
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weight distribution, the angle of your grip.
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And figuring out which unstable rocks to avoid, Yes.
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All of that, the whole endeavor, is just this exercise in strict
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mechanics. But then you pull yourself over
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the final ledge. The ground finally levels out.
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The relief? Yeah, the thin freezing air hits
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your face and the sun is just blinding.
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And in that specific fraction of a second, the mechanics
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completely cease. You're not thinking about the
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rules anymore. Not at all.
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You stop thinking about friction.
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You stop thinking about the rules of climbing.
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The view is so vast that the instruction manual in your brain
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just shuts off. The only thing you can do is
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stand there totally breathless and just look at The Expanse.
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That paints a really accurate picture of the mechanical shift
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we're unpacking today. I mean, when you cross that
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threshold from a state of rigorous instruction into a
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state of pure awe, the brain just stops trying to calculate.
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It starts trying to absorb, because you know, the rules of
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the climb are entirely necessary to keep you alive on the side of
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the mountain. But once you hit the summit,
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those rules sort of fade into the background.
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You transition from the discipline mechanics of the
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ascent to the unadulterated reality of the destination.
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Welcome to Reformed thinking. Today we are taking a deep dive
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into the absolute summit of the Book of Psalms.
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But they've won. It really is.
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We're unpacking Charles Spurgeon's commentary on Psalm
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150 from the Treasury of David, along with this massive stack of
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historical notes, translations, and observations from various
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theologians. Some really staggering insights
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in those notes. Yeah, and our mission here is to
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examine the sheer magnitude of worship presented in this
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specific text. We want to look at how
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historical figures understood the climax of the Psalms.
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It's a fascinating perspective. And I want to speak directly to
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you, the listener, right now. Whether you are a seasoned
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theologian who, I don't know, reads Hebrew commentaries on the
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weekend, or you are someone just looking for a shortcut to
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understanding biblical history, this conversation will provide a
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really comprehensive look at what happens when human language
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reaches its breaking point. Because that's what's happening
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here. The language is breaking.
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It is we are looking at a text that asks for total sensory
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overload. What's really fascinating here
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is how the text signals this massive shift from instruction
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to that sensory overload. Like if we hold onto your
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mountain climbing analogy, the entire book of Psalms functions
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is a vast mountain chain. OK, I like that.
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So to comprehend the ending, we have to look at the framing of
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the beginning. Consider Psalm 1.
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Right, the very beginning. But yeah, it opens with the word
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blessed, and the entire focus of that initial text is on duty
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instruction and meditation. It's very grounded.
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Very It outlines the man who meditates on the law day and
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night. It's highly instructional,
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telling the reader you know where to walk, where not to
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stand, where not to sit. It's giving you the mechanics of
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the climb. Spot on.
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But by the time we reach Psalm 150, the poet prophet is
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entirely done with arguing his case.
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He's done teaching. He's made it to the top.
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Yeah, he has stopped explaining the mechanics of morality.
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He simply cries out with these burning, rapid fire words.
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The contrast is just striking. You go from this very grounded,
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practical instruction in the beginning to this absolute
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rapture at the end. It really is like hitting the
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thin air at the top of the summit.
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Oh, absolutely. And the theologian John Pulsford
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made a staggering observation about the text itself.
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He points out the physiological reality of the writer.
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Pulsford has some great thoughts on this.
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He does. Pulsford calls it a breathless
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enthusiasm. He notes that the writer is like
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an heir of God who has become completely eaten up with love.
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That's a great phrase. Yeah, and the writer is in such
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a haste to utter the next note of praise that he leaves almost
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no space between his words. Right, the phrasing is so tight.
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It is the phrase Hallelujah or praise the Lord is utilized 13
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times in a span of just 6 short verses.
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Paulsford points out the staccato nature of the
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sentences. Very rhythmic.
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Yeah, the greatest number of words between any 2 hallelujahs
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is 4, and that only happens one time.
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Everywhere else there are only 2 words between phrases.
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It creates a literally breathless rhythm.
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It's like a man standing on tiptoe, practically lifting off
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the earth, unable to formulate a long, complex sentence because
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the awe is just too great. I mean, how could you?
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You couldn't. And this brings us to the
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theological notes from John Henry Michaelis.
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He was a scholar from the late 1600s, and he observed that
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these 13 hallelujahs are not just a random display of
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enthusiasm. They correspond specifically to
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the 13 tribes of Israel. Yeah.
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This numerical detail gathers the entirety of God's chosen
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people in one unified action. It takes the fragmented,
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complicated, often really violent history of these tribes
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and unites them in a single word.
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Wait, I need to push back on that because something is not
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adding up there. Oh, what's the issue?
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Well, I've read the history and there are 12 tribes of Israel,
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right tracing back to the 12 sons of Jacob.
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That's a common understanding, yes.
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So is Michaelis just, I don't know, fudging the math here to
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fit a neat poetic theory? Like if there are 13 hallelujahs
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and he wants them to match the tribes, it sounds like he is
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just inventing a 13th tribe to make his commentary look clever.
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I see where you're coming from. Right, because how can we
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justify changing a historical number just to fit the poetry?
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That is a really perceptive objection, and it requires us to
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look into the mechanics of ancient Israelite census and
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land distribution. Because Michaelis isn't fudging
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the math. He's not.
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No. He's being strictly accurate to
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the historical reality of the nation's structure.
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Yes, Jacob had twelve sons. However, in Genesis 48, Jacob
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legally adopts the two sons of Joseph.
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Oh, right, Ephraim and Manasseh. Spot on, Ephraim and Manasseh
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are adopted as his own, which effectively splits the tribe of
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Joseph into two distinct tribes. I see, so that brings the total
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to 13 distinct family heads. Now, when the land of Canaan was
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divided, the tribe of Levi was excluded from receiving a
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massive territory. Because their inheritance was
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the priesthood. Yes, the priesthood itself.
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So for military and land owning purposes, you often see the
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number 12 used with Levi omitted.
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That makes sense. But Michaelis points out that in
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this context, this grand spiritual gathering of praise,
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Levi, has to be included. They're leading the praise.
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Right, so you have the original sons minus Joseph plus Ephraim
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plus Manasseh plus the priestly tribe of Levi.
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That equals 13 distinct tribal bodies.
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Wow. Michaelis argues that this
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specific number of hallelujahs represents a full spiritual
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census. No one is left behind.
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That completely changes how I read it.
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I mean, it is not just arbitrary enthusiasm, it's a meticulously
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structured gathering. It really is.
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It makes me wonder about the purpose of the preceding 149
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psalms. Like, is this breathless
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enthusiasm an anomaly? Is it just a poetic flourish
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tacked on to the end of a long book?
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Or is this the intended destination of all biblical
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instruction? That's the big question.
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Yeah, because if the whole point of the rigorous moral duty in
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Psalm 1 is simply to get us to the breathless rapture of Psalm
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150, that alters how we view the rules.
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It really reframes everything. It does.
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The rules are not the point. The summit is the point.
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The rules just keep you from falling off the Cliff while you
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climb. That is a vital distinction, and
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it aligns with how classical commentators like Matthew Henry
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viewed the text. What did Henry say?
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Henry noted that the first Psalm is an elaborate instruction and
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duty specifically designed to prepare us for the comforts of
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devotion. Prepare us?
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Yeah. The instruction lays the
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groundwork for the ecstasy. The entire design of the sacred
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songs is to assist the human mind and reaching this state of
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adoration. So the summit really is the
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goal. Yes, and knowing this
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destination shifts our focus to the geography of this majesty.
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Since we have established the breathless tone, the text
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immediately identifies where this praise is directed.
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Where is it directed? Well, verse one calls for praise
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in the sanctuary and the firmament of his might.
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So the text moves from the overall tone to specific
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locations. It says, you know, praise God in
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his sanctuary, praise Him in the firmament of his might.
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And those two locations are heavily loaded with theological
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weight. How so?
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We can synthesize various historical translations here to
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get the full scope of what the ancient readers understood.
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Let's take the Vulgate for instance.
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The Latin translation. The late 4th century Latin
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translation of the Bible that became the Catholic Church's
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officially promulgated version. It translates sanctuary, as in
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sanctus ejos, meaning in his holy places.
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Then you have Martin Luther's German translation which renders
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it in Cinemhalizum, meaning in His Holiness.
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So it's about the attribute, not just a building.
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Yes, commentators often see the sanctuary as representing
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intimate holiness. Some even view it as referring
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to the physical flesh of Christ. You know, the ultimate localized
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dwelling place of God on earth. Wow, that's heavy.
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It is. It's the place where God makes
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himself small enough to interact intimately with humanity is the
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place where prayer is heard. The sanctuary is close.
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Very close, but then in the very same breath the text pivots to
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the firmament. And we need to clarify what the
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firmament actually means in this context, because modern people
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might picture it a bit differently.
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Oh, definitely. The ancient cosmological concept
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of the firmament was often thought of as a solid Dome over
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the earth. But the original Hebrew word
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rakia carries the idea of something stretched out like a
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canopy, like a vast sheet of beaten metal.
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Yeah, it represents the boundless expanse of
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omnipotence. The theologian Martin Guyer
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observed that this verse deliberately pairs grace, which
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is represented by the intimate sanctuary, with glory,
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represented by the vast firmament.
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Think of it like this. Imagine looking through a highly
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advanced electron microscope at a perfectly ordered human cell.
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Oh, that's a good visual, right? You see this incredible,
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intricate, deliberate design. The scale is microscopic,
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incredibly close and perfectly ordered.
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That is the sanctuary. The intimacy of it.
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Yeah, but then you step away from the microscope and you look
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through the James Webb Space Telescope at a Galaxy that is
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billions of light years across. Just staggering scale.
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Exactly. It contains billions of burning
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stars. You see raw, terrifying,
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boundless energy. That is the firmament.
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It's the total opposite end of the spectrum.
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It is, and the text is asking the human mind to hold both of
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those realities, the microscopic intimacy and the terrifying
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expanse, simultaneously. And holding those two concepts
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together is crucial for understanding the nature of the
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Supreme Creator. Charles Spurgeon points out that
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it is a magnificent reality that in the God of the Psalms,
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holiness and absolute might are united.
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Because if they weren't. Well, we can speculate on the
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disastrous results of separating those two attributes.
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Without might, holiness becomes entirely too weak for
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usefulness. That makes sense.
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Yeah, a being could be perfectly good, morally flawless, and full
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of grace. But if that being lacks the
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sheer force to enact that goodness or stop evil, it's
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functionally impotent. It's a nice thought, but it
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can't save you. Right.
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On the other hand, if you have might without holiness, you get
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absolute tyranny. Pure force devoid of moral
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perfection is just oppression. You see that in human power
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structures all the time. Like if you have a perfectly
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moral judge who has no police force or authority to enforce
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his rulings, the criminals just ignore him.
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There are no consequences. Yeah, his morality is useless to
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the victims. Conversely, if you have a
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corrupt dictator with a massive army, you have terrifying
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oppression. Total nightmare.
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Yeah, so the text is showing us that God possesses the flawless
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moral intimacy of the sanctuary and the unstoppable forest of
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the firmament. Precisely.
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And this combination naturally brings us to the scale of
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sovereignty we've identified where God is praised.
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So the text moves to the rationale for such intense
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adoration. The why behind the praise?
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Right verse 2 reads Praise Him for his mighty acts, Praise him
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according to His excellent greatness.
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OK, mighty acts and excellent greatness.
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The mighty Acts refer to specific historical events,
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creation, Providence, and redemption.
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But that phrase, according to His excellent greatness,
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presents a massive philosophical problem.
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I can see that, because how can finite humans possibly offer
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praise that matches excellent greatness if the greatness is
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infinite? Our finite vocabulary and
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limited understanding are mathematically insufficient to
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match it. Right.
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If the requirement is to match infinite greatness, we are set
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up to fail before we even open our mouths.
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Like it's just physically impossible.
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Yeah. So how did the historical
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theologians deal with this problem of scale?
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Puritan writer Samuel Fairclough provided a robust framework for
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this issue. He introduced the concept of
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proportionable praise. Proportionable praise.
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What does that mean in practice? Well, God is not demanding an
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infinite volume of words from finite creatures.
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He wants praise that distinctly matches the specific
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dispensation of His mercy. Dispensation.
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Yeah. A dispensation in this context
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refers to a specific administrative act.
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It's the way God manages, distributes, or reveals His
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grace in a particular historical moment.
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OK, I follow. So Fairclough argues that the
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praise must be tailored to the specific mighty act.
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He cites historical examples from the biblical text, such as
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the deliverance at the Red Sea in Exodus 15.
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Where they crossed on dry land. Red or Deborah's military
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victory over the host of Sisera in Judges 5.
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You bring specific praise for a specific act.
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You don't just offer generic gratitude.
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You recognize the precise mechanics of the deliverance.
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You think about the Chariots in the sea, not just a general.
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Thanks. Spot on.
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But even with proportionable praise, Fair Clef and others
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recognize we still run into the issue of our own microscopic
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scale. Right, because no matter how
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specific and tailored our praise is for a specific event, we are
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still microscopic beings trying to address the architect of the
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firmament. We are tiny.
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Which is why the commentator, Joseph Carroll, framed this
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interaction through the lens of total divine sovereignty.
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Carroll pointed out that when the Scripture says God is great,
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it must be taken as an absolute superlative.
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There's nothing greater. Nothing.
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The Creator is so great that all persons, all nations, and all
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human achievements are little, even nothing before Him.
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Just zeroed out. Yeah, Carol references the
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prophet Isaiah, noting that all nations are to him but as a drop
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in a bucket, and they are counted as the small dust of the
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balance. Dust on the scales.
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Exactly. To the creator, the absolute
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greatest human empires, the tallest buildings, the most
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advanced technologies, they are small.
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They are nothing. You know, some people might hear
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that and feel incredibly depressed, like the idea that
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all of human achievement is just dust on a scale could induce a
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kind of cosmic nihilism. It can definitely feel crushing
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if you look at it from a secular.
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Perspective, yeah, but within the framework of reformed
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theology, this extreme smallness is a feature, not a bug.
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Oh, absolutely. The fact that a God of such
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terrifying, excellent greatness would orchestrate specific
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mighty acts of redemption for a literal drop in a bug bucket is
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the exact reason the praise must be so breathless it makes.
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The Grace stand out, Yeah. If we were peers with God, His
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help would just be a favor between equals.
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You know, like helping a buddy move a couch, right?
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But because we are dust, his intervention is an act of
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staggering grace. That is the theological
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linchpin. The vast inequality between the
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Creator and the creature magnifies the mercy.
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It has to. And because the greatness is so
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massive and our human vocal cords literally cannot displace
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enough air to match this scale, we need mechanical assistance.
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We need backup. We do.
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Human voices alone are insufficient.
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That is why the text calls for instruments bringing us to verse
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3. It says praise Him with the
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sound of the trumpet. Praise Him with the psaltery and
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harp. The brass in the strings.
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Yes, we are bringing in an arsenal of brass in the strings
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because our biology has reached its limit.
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We should really examine the historical reality of the
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trumpet here, or the chauffeur. Because the chauffeur is not the
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shiny brass instrument we see in a modern orchestra.
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It's not a jazz trumpet. No, not at all.
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It is a much more primal instrument.
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It's made of horn, typically a ram's horn flattened by heat.
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It's. Very rugged.
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It does. The researcher James Stainer,
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who is noted extensively in our sources, examined modern
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synagogues that maintain the unbroken historical chain of
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using these instruments. He read and measured them right.
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He did. Steiner documented specific
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examples to show their varied scale.
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He noted a 12 inch horn used at the synagogue of Spanish and
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Portuguese Jews in Beavis Marx. OK, a foot long.
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Right, and then a massive 21 inch horn used at the Great
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Synagogue in Aldgate. The name Schaffer means bright
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or clear. Bright and clear sound.
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Yes, and it's crucial to understand that the Schaffer was
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not designed for playing a delicate, nuanced melody.
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You could not play a complex song on it.
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It's not for a concert hall. No, it was employed strictly for
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making massive auditory announcements.
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It called people together for solemn assemblies.
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It warned of approaching danger or signaled the raging charge of
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war. I picture the blast of the
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chauffeur like an emergency siren or, you know, an alarm
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clock that completely shatters your complacency.
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It jolts you awake. Yeah, you cannot sleep through
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it, not ignore it. It forces an immediate physical
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reaction. That's the perfect way to
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describe it. Spurgeon notes that the trumpet
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is associated with the grandest, most terrifying events in
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biblical history, like the giving of the law of Mount
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Sinai, where the sound literally made the people tremble.
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It shook the mountain. Yeah, and the joyful
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proclamation of the Jubilee year, when all debts were
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cancelled, the coronation to kings and the prophesied Second
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Advent. It's heavily Marshall.
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It is. It is bold and says wake up.
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Something massive is happening. But immediately after the
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chauffeur shatters the air, the text brings in the psaltery and
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the harp. And that transition from wind to
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strings is highly deliberate. Thomas LeBlanc makes a brilliant
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theological connection regarding the mechanics of these specific
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stringed instruments. LeBlanc is so insightful here.
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He really is. So the psaltery, known in Hebrew
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as the nabel, was a 10 stringed instrument.
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Crucially, it was struck with a plectrum.
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Which is like a guitar pick. Yeah, similar to a modern pick,
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often made of wood, ivory or metal, the strike of the
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plectrum produces a sharp, distinct, uncompromising sound.
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A heart attack on the string. Yes.
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Now the harp or the kinner was constructed differently.
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It was played gently with the human fingers sweeping across
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the strings. Much softer.
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Exactly. LeBlanc suggests that the
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psaltery and the harp represent the two massive pillars of
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theology, the law and the gospel.
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That analogy perfectly explains the mechanism of how those
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theological concepts operate, like the law which is
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represented by the plectrum, hitting the sultry strikes with
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strict unyielding demand. It demands precision.
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Right. It demands a specific note, the
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specific standard of perfection, And if you fail to meet it, the
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sound is discordant, the law is sharp.
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And it leaves a mark. Yeah, but the gospel,
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represented by the fingers sweeping the hark, operates with
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gentle grace. It is the soothing, restorative
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melody that follows the sharp demand.
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It brings healing. Yes, both are necessary.
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The Law shows you the standard, and the gospel provides the
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grace when you fail it. Both produce beautiful music
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when utilized by the master, but they operate in entirely
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different ways. They require different mechanics
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to produce their sound, just as the law and the gospel require
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different theological mechanics to accomplish their goals.
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That's a beautiful way to put it.
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And as the sound builds, the text expands the scope of
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worship even further. We move from the breath and the
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hands to the entire human body in verse 4.
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It gets even bigger. It does.
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It reads Praise him with the timbrel and dance.
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Praise him with stringed instruments and organs.
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The physiological engagement is total, the feet are now
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employed, and the entire body moves in sympathy with the
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sound. This is a highly physical
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reality. Worship is not just an
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intellectual exercise happening quietly in the Gray matter of
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your brain. No, it's visceral.
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Very visceral. Spurgeon connects this physical
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engagement directly back to the deliverance at the Red Sea,
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where Miriam took a timbrel, which is a type of tambourine,
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and LED the women in a dance. Right after crossing the sea,
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yeah. When the Israelites saw the
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Egyptian army wiped out, they didn't just sit down and write a
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quiet essay about sovereignty. They didn't have a seminar, no.
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The relief and the joy were so visceral that it bypassed their
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brains and went straight into their limbs.
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It was an involuntary physical response to a supreme
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deliverance. You can't contain that kind of
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relief. You really can't and.
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Amidst this physical exertion, the text mentions organs.
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The Hebrew word here is uhab. Uhab.
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Yeah, and there is a significant, heavily researched
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debate among scholars regarding what the UHAB actually was.
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James Stainer unpacks this thoroughly.
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What's the debate? Well, the term UHAB appears very
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early in the book of Genesis as one of the first musical
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instruments invented by humanity.
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Because of its early origin, many scholars translate it as a
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simple shepherd's Reed or pan's pipes.
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Oh, like just a few reeds strapped together.
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Literally just hollow river reeds cut to different lengths
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and fixed together with wax. It was an instrument a shepherd
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could build in an hour while watching his sheep.
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Very rustic. Very.
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Yet the text in Psalm 150 places the simple oh GOB right
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alongside terms that encompass the entire highly trained string
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section of an orchestra. Which feels like a massive
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mismatch. You have a section of
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professional musicians playing intricately crafted harps that
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took months to build, and right next to them is a guy blowing
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into some reeds he glued together that morning.
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It does appear mismatched, and that leads some historians to
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wonder if the UGAB evolved over centuries into a massive,
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complex collection of tubes akin to a modern pipe organ.
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Oh, like a massive cathedral organ.
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Right Stainer notes that technically, whether it is a
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single row of 50 pipes in a small room or a mighty
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architectural instrument of 5000 pipes taking up the entire space
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of a cathedral, both operate on the exact same acoustic
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principle. Wind moving through a tube.
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Yes, but the theological conclusion we can draw from this
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linguistic ambiguity is staggering.
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Both the simple pastoral tools of a shepherd in a field and the
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massive, mathematically complex structures of high society are
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equally valid in this context. That's beautiful.
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Nothing is common or unclean. All levels of human intellect,
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all levels of engineering and all capabilities are utilized.
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So the shepherd and the master Craftsman are playing in the
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exact same band. Side by side.
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The text absorbs every level of human capability, and to
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illustrate the sheer scale of this gathering, we could look at
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a historical note from a commentator named Patrick.
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Yes, Patrick's note is really illuminating here.
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He detailed how different ancient nations expressed joy
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using their own highly specific methods driven by their unique
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cultures and geographies. He notes that the Etruscans use
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the trumpet, the Arcadians use the whistle, the Egyptians use
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the drum, and the Lassidimonians use the pipe.
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And we must examine why those specific nations use those
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specific instruments. Instruments because it proves
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how comprehensive this Psalm is. Break that down for.
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Us Take the Lacedaemonians, better known as the Spartans.
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They were a highly disciplined military society.
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They used pipes because they wanted steady, calm, unified
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marching steps. Because frantic trumpet charges
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would break their phalanx formation.
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Spot on. It would be chaos.
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Then you have the Arcadians. They were mountainous shepherds.
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They used whistles because high pitched sounds carry clearly
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over deep windy valleys. That makes total sense
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geographically. Right.
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And the Egyptians had a society built around heavy agricultural
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cycles and massive religious festivals where rhythmic
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drumming drove the communal labor and the dancing.
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So the percussion fits the culture.
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Yes, and finally, the Etruscans were an aristocratic martial
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society known for their advanced metalworking, so grass trumpets
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fit their societal structure perfectly.
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Wow. So when Psalm 150 calls for all
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these varied instruments, the breath, the strings, the
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percussion, the loud blast and the gentle melodies, it
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represents the total gathering of all human methods of
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rejoicing. Every single one.
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Every culture utilizing the instruments forged by their
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unique geography and history brings its distinct voice to the
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summit. But as the volume peaks, and as
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all these cultures and instruments clash together, we
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encounter a severe warning. There's a danger here.
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Yes, we reach verse 5, which introduces the loudest, most
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piercing instruments. Praise Him upon the loud
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symbols. Praise him upon the high
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sounding symbols, The cymbals, right?
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This text clearly points to hand symbols and finger symbols or
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castanets. They produce a joyful shattering
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clang that awakens the heavy slumberers.
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However, there is a hidden theological danger regarding
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sheer volume. And Robert Sanderson warned
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about this, right? He did.
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Robert Sanderson, writing in the 1600s, drew attention to this
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critical. Dynamic Sanderson's warning is
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arguably the most practical application in this entire deep
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dive because he noted that while zeal, which is represented by
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the sheer loudness of the symbols, is absolutely necessary
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in every part of service, the symbols must first be well
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tuned. That's the key.
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Well tuned. Yeah, because if you have
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loudness without tuning, the louder it gets, the worse it
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becomes. Sanderson argued that meekness,
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peaceableness and moderation are the qualities that put the
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symbol into good tune. It dampens the harshness.
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Right. If the musician lacks meekness,
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the loudness becomes ungrateful, flat and aggressive to the
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hearer. If we pull this concept into the
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reality of modern human interaction, the implications
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are severe. Zeal without meekness is just
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chaotic noise. You can possess the truth, but
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if your delivery mechanism is untuned, the truth is lost in
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the racket. We see this untuned clashing in
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public discourse and on social media every single day.
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Oh, constantly. Right.
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Imagine someone shouting a perfectly factual statement.
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The data is correct, the theology is accurate.
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They have all the right information.
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Yeah, but they are delivering it with such aggression, such
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arrogance and such a total lack of peaceableness that absolutely
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no one wants to listen to them. People just tune them out.
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They do, and the person believes they are being faithful simply
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because they're being loud. They think the volume of their
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argument proves their righteousness.
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That's a huge. Trap, but an untuned symbol just
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gives everyone a headache. The tuning, the meekness, the
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moderation, the grace is the vehicle that makes the truth
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decipherable. Truth without grace is
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unintelligible noise. It is just brass crashing
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together. That is a highly accurate
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application of Sanderson's warning.
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It requires immense discipline to tune the instrument before
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striking it. You have to check your own pride
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and arrogance before you deploy your zeal.
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It's hard to do. It is, and once those tuned
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symbols have crashed, we reached the final exhalation of the
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text. Verse 6 reads Let everything
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that hath breath praise the Lord, praise ye the Lord.
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The finale. Yes, all the manufactured
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instruments fall away. The brass trumpets, the wooden
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harps, the metal symbols, they all stop and pure biological
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life takes over. Let everything that hath breath.
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It is a massive expansion of scope.
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Joseph Addison Alexander, a linguist and scholar from our
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sources, trace the structural transition happening in this
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finale. He knows how the song moves
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sequentially. It builds up.
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Right. Yes, it starts from the wind
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flowing through lifeless mechanical pipes.
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Then it moves to the articulate, intelligent, vocal praise of
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living men. And finally it expands outward
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to include all living, breathing creatures.
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A complete progression. Exactly.
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It's a transition from inanimate objects producing sound to
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intelligent human praise to a universal chorus of biology, and
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it is highly significant that the Hebrew name for the Lord
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Jehovah, or YHWH, is itself composed entirely of breathings
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and vowel sounds. There are no hard consonants in
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the name. Right.
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Spurgeon points out that this linguistic reality shows that
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all breath comes from him, and therefore the very act of
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breathing should be directed back toward him.
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That concept brings to mind a striking historical anecdote
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shared by the writer Barton Boucher.
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I love this story. It's so vivid.
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He recorded a tradition from former times when the the
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manufacturing of church bells was a highly religious, almost
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terrifying ceremony. It was serious work.
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Very serious. Picture this scene.
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You have these swarthy, soot covered bell casters from the
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old medieval guilds. They're standing in the dark,
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illuminated only by the Ruddy, violent glow of a massive,
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roaring furnace. It's heavy industrial labor,
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yeah. They're preparing to pour
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dangerously hot molten metal into the earthen molds, and
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while they are doing this heavy labor, these rugged men stand in
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a circle and chant this exact text with their deep voices.
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Singing the song over the fire. Yes, they are literally forging
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the inanimate instruments of praise while using their own
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biological breath to fulfill the Psalm.
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It is an incredible image that captures the intersection of
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heavy human labor and divine adoration.
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The workers are simultaneously acting as the creators of the
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instrument and the fulfillment of the text.
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It really brings the text to life.
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It does, and to synthesize this entire reality, this movement
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from the rigid instruction of Psalm One to the breathless
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universal choir of Psalm 150, we really must look at the massive
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quote from the celebrated French writer La Martin.
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La Martin had a very poetic view of this.
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He viewed these final Hallelujah psalms as the sublime finale of
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a 60 year opera sung by David. Lamartine describes David and
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his multiple facets, the young shepherd, the military hero, the
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ruling king, and finally the old man looking back at his life.
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The whole span of a lifetime. Yes, in this closing Psalm,
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Lamartine says, we see the almost inarticulate enthusiasm
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of the lyric poet. The words float upwards towards
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the Creator like the smoke of a great fire of the soul fanned by
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a Tempest. Lamartine has this one phrase
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that just stops you in your tracks, He says.
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David broke a vase of perfume on the step of the temple and it's
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scent reached all humanity. It's a gorgeous metaphor.
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He points out the sheer universal reach of these texts,
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like whether a person is Hebrew, Christian or Muhammadan, every
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religion that recognizes a supreme being, every complaint
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of a broken heart, and every prayer for deliverance has taken
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from this single vase. It transcends borders.
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It really does. The little shepherd boy who
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started out playing a simple Reed pipe in a dusty field
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became the master of the sacred choir of the universe.
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Lamartine goes further, contrasting this intimate
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dialogue between the creator and a human with the highly
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cultivated poetry of the ancient world.
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The Greek and Roman myths. Right.
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He observes that while the lyric poetry of other ancient nations
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sang of wine, blood, chariot races, and the petty squabbles
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of finite gods, the shepherd prophet was speaking directly to
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the infinite Creator of the Firmament as one friend to
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another. The scale is totally different.
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It is, Lematin concludes, that if you read Greek or Latin
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classical poetry after reading a Psalm, the classical poetry
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simply looks pale. It feels hollow.
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Because it's lacking that eternal fire.
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Yes, it lacks the fire of a finite soul engaging with the
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infinite. David, through these texts,
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became the psalmist of eternity. We have covered a vast scope.
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Today we started by looking at the cessation of mechanics, the
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breathless hallelujahs in the thin air at the summit of the
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mountain where the rigid instruction of Psalm One gives
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way to pure ecstasy. The transition from duty to awe.
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Yeah, we looked at the geography of majesty, balancing the
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microlosic, intimate holiness of the sanctuary with the
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terrifying, boundless expanse of the firmament, and how
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separating grace from might creates either impotence or
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tyranny. A vital balance.
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We investigated the problem of scale, seeing how our
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microscopic status actually magnifies the specific
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proportional grace of God's sovereign acts.
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The drop in the bucket. Right.
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We examine the arsenal of sound, the shattering alarm of the
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chauffeur, the strict, uncompromising plectrum of the
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law on the psaltery, and the gentle fingers of grace on the
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heart. The Law on the Gospel.
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We saw the total physical engagement of the human body and
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the linguistic unity of the simple shepherd's pipe with the
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massive cathedral organ drawing in the historical methods of the
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Spartans, the Egyptians and the Arcadians.
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A gathering of all nations. We confronted the severe danger
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of untuned zeal, recognizing that truth delivered without the
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meekness of a tuned symbol is just arrogant noise.
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Just clashing brass and. Finally, we arrived at the
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Universal Choir, where all lifeless instruments drop away
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and every biological breathing creature is called to sing.
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It is a comprehensive vision of reality that leaves absolutely
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no part of the human experience untouched.
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The intellect, the emotions, the hands, the feet, the breath, the
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engineering, the art, everything is gathered up and directed
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toward the Creator of the firmament.
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And that brings me to a final thought.
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I want to leave with you. Consider the sheer physical
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mechanics of the air entering your lungs at this very moment.
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It's happening right now. It is.
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If the very linguistic structure of the ancient Hebrew name for
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God, YHWH, consists entirely of breath sounds, then the sheer
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biological act of breathing is an involuntary acknowledgement
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of the Creator. You can't escape it.
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You don't own the air you are breathing.
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You are inhaling and exhaling A borrowed gift right now,
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utilizing the mechanics designed by the architect of the
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Sanctuary. So how does recognizing your own
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breathing as a borrowed gift alter the way you will use your
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voice tomorrow?