Psalm 150:1-6

1. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. 2. Praise him in, his might; praise him for the plenitude of his greatness. 3. Praise him with sound of trumpet, ³⁰⁶³⁰⁶     “The trumpets of the last Temple were probably formed after the ancient model; and as these are represented among the spoils of that Temple on the Triumphal Arch of Titus at Rome, we are enabled to see that they were long straight trumpets, of a form which has always been and continues to be common... Trumpets and horns are the only instruments concerning which any directions are given in the law. ‘In the infancy of a state,’ says Burney, ‘a nation has but little leisure for cultivating music any otherwise than as it is connected with religious rites and the military art;’ and it is thus that he accounts for the fact, that (with the exception of Miriam’s timbrel) no instruments but horns and trumpets are noticed in the Law. And, indeed, it may be said that they are scarcely mentioned as musical instruments, but as suited to and employed for making signals, calls, and conveying instructions during the religious solemnities, and in the field of war... It is clear, however, that trumpets and cornets were introduced into the musical choirs in the time of David; while they still continued to be employed in their former service. The following particulars concerning the use of trumpets in the Temple will be useful, and are collected chiefly from Lightfoot’s ‘Temple Service.’ The trumpets were sounded exclusively by the priests who stood not in the Levitical choir, but apart and opposite to the Levites, on the other side of the altar, both parties looking towards it—the priests on the west side, and the Levites on the east. The trumpets did not join in the concert; but were sounded during certain regulated pauses in the vocal and instrumental music ”—Illustrated Commentary upon the Bible.. praise him with psaltry and harp. 4. Praise him with timbrel ³⁰⁷³⁰⁷     See footnote 293, Psalm 149:3. and pipe, ³⁰⁸³⁰⁸     See footnote 292, Psalm 149:3. praise him upon chords, ³⁰⁹³⁰⁹     The original word is במנים “This word occurring nowhere else, it is impossible to ascertain what kind of instrument this was, but as Edwards, upon the authority of Rabbi Hannase makes, it a stringed instrument, and the word is probably derived from מנה, to number, probably it was so called from the extraordinary number of strings which it had; and perhaps it was the decachord, mentioned in Psalm 33:2, which, having ten strings, might be called Minim, κατ ἐξοχὴν, as consisting of the greatest number of strings in use among the Jews.” — Dimock. and the organ. ³¹⁰³¹⁰     The Hebrew name is עגב, ougab. This instrument is equal in antiquity to the כנור, kinnor, both being mentioned in Genesis 4:21, as the invention of Jubal. These are the two first musical instruments the invention of which is recorded in Scripture, and the only ones mentioned before the deluge. Subsequently they are almost always mentioned in connection with each other. The ougab was not that complicated instrument which goes by the name of the organ in the present day. Calmet supposes it to have been a flute which consisted of a number of pipes, of unequal thickness and length, set close or joined together, which gave harmonious sound when blown into, by moving them successively under the lower lip. Such is the common opinion, and there seems no ground to dispute its correctness. This instrument was the small organ or syrinx, or fistula Panis of antiquity; its invention having been ascribed to Pan, the great sylvan god, who was usually figured with the instrument in his hands. According to the fable, he formed it of reeds which grew by the river, and played upon it while his goats were feeding on the banks; which shows that it was regarded as properly a pastoral instrument, and as such it seems to be mentioned by Job. (Job 21:11, 12.) The principle of its construction is so simple, that it is among the most widely diffused of musical instruments. It is in common use in the island of New Amsterdam, in the South Seas, as flutes and drums have been found in Otaheite and New Zealand, an uncontestable proof that these are instruments which tribes the most barbarous and the most remote from each other naturally invent. The number of tubes, as represented on ancient monuments, varies from seven to eleven. 5. Praise him upon cymbals of sound, praise him upon cymbals of jubilation ³¹¹³¹¹     Of the Hebrew musical instrument called צלצל, tsiltel, or “cymbal,” as Calvin here renders it, and as it is rendered in the Septuagint and Vulgate, two kinds are here mentioned — צלצלים, “tsiltelim,” or, “cymbals of sound,” and “tsiltelim,” or “cymbals of jubilation.” The specific difference between these two sorts of the same instrument is not accurately marked. The latter were probably of a larger size than the farmer, or made of such a shape or of such metals as to emit a louder sound. The former are translated by French and Skinner, “the soft cymbal.” The literal translation of the Hebrew is, “cymbals of hearing,” i.e., say these critics, “cymbals which when struck do not overpower the voices of the singers.” They translate the latter, “the loud cymbals.” The ancient cymbals were two convex or hollow plates of brass or other metal, as silver or copper, made in the form of cups, which were held in each hand, and which being struck against each other produced a sharp clanging sound. Some, however, think that the word tsiltzel exclusively denotes the sistrum, and that cymbals, properly speaking, are denoted by the word שלישים shalishim, in 1 Samuel 18:6, which is, equally with the other, rendered cymbala by the Septuagint and the Vulgate, and which our authorized version translates “instruments of music.” It is difficult to decide as to these two opinions; but it seems admitted on all hands that both cymbals and sistrums were in use among the Jews. The sistrum was a concave plate of sonorous metal, and of an oval configuration, crossed by bars of the same metal with reverted ends. These bars moved freely in the holes through which they passed, and when the instrument was shaken by the handle to which it was fixed, the reverted ends striking upon the body of the instrument produced the sound. It had generally three or four transverse bars. It was much used by the Egyptians in their religious services, and actual specimens of it of an ancient date have been discovered. See volume 3 6. Whatsoever breathes, let it praise God. Hallelujah.