—Psalm 135:19-21.
Such in general is the sanctuary hymn of praise, but each of the hymns in this group (Psalms 150, 148, 147, 135, 113, 145, 111, 146, 115, 33, 117) merits or demands at least brief individual mention. Of all these Psalm 150 deserves to be mentioned first because its position at the end of the psalter may be accepted as strong testimony of the great importance attached to praise in the worship of Israel. The psalm also merits consideration for its own sake because of the clarity and symmetry of its arrangement:
Call to praise Yahwe (verse 1a); where praise Yahwe (verse 1bc); wherefore praise Yahwe (verse 2); wherewith praise Yahwe (verses 3, 4, 5); concluding call to praise Yahwe (verse 6).
Psalm 148 is particularly notable for the universality of its call to praise. Verses 1-5 call upon everybody and everything in the heavens above to praise Yahwe, while verses 7-13 call to his praise everything and everybody on the earth beneath including:
Kings of the earth, and all people;
Princes, and all judges of the earth;
Both young men and maidens;
Old men and children.
After the tremendous universality of this call to praise, the brevity of the body of the hymn, with the reference to Yahwe’s supreme glory on the one hand, and the reference to his goodness to Israel on the other hand, is very effective:
Let them praise the name of Yahwe,