BIBLE VERSE STUDY
Psalms 150:6 — The Final Call to Praise
The final verse of the Psalter commands every living being to praise Jehovah, sealing the book's crescendo of worship.
Scripture
6Let everything that hath breath praise Jehovah. Praise ye Jehovah.
What this passage means
Psalms 150:6 consists of two short commands. The first statement, "Let everything that hath breath praise Jehovah," gathers the entire scope of the preceding psalm into a single sweeping subject. After verses 3-5 catalogued specific instruments—trumpet, psaltery, harp, timbrel, dance, stringed instruments, pipe, loud cymbals, high sounding cymbals—the final verse opens the call beyond any one instrument to any living creature capable of giving breath back to God. The phrase "everything that hath breath" defines the worshipper not by skill, possession, or station, but by the simple fact of being alive.
The second command, "Praise ye Jehovah," reiterates the Hebrew imperative Hallelujah ("Praise ye Jehovah") that opens the psalm in verse 1. Placing this same call at the very end creates a literary envelope: the psalm begins with praise and ends with praise, and the worshipper who reads or sings through it is swept into that frame. The closing word, often rendered "Hallelujah" in English Bibles, is not merely a title but the final command of the verse and of the entire Psalter.
As the closing line of the Psalms, this verse functions as a conclusion for the whole book, not only for chapter 150. The Psalter traverses lament, confession, thanksgiving, and kingship, and it ends here with a universal summons to praise. The verse does not introduce new material; it absorbs everything that came before into a single act of worship directed to Jehovah, whose name is the sole recipient named across the chapter.
Context
Chapter 150 is a six-verse doxology that forms the closing crescendo of the entire Psalter. Verse 1 places praise in God's sanctuary and in the firmament of his power; verse 2 grounds praise in his mighty acts and excellent greatness; verses 3-5 enumerate nine instruments and bodily expressions involved in worship.
Verse 6 then steps back from the catalog of instruments and addresses the broadest possible congregation. Since the instrument list in verses 3-5 already overflows any single liturgical setting, the shift in verse 6 widens the implied audience from sanctuary musicians to the whole of Creation. No verses follow in the chapter, so verse 6 stands as the final word of the entire book.
Common questions
Why does Psalms 150:6 end with the same word that opens the psalm?
The opening of Psalm 150 begins with "Praise ye Jehovah" (Hallelujah), and verse 6 closes with the identical imperative. This repetition creates an inclusio, a literary envelope that surrounds the psalm with the same call. The reader or singer who moves through the middle—through trumpet, harp, timbrel, dance, and cymbals—is thus carried from the first Hallelujah to the last.
Who exactly is being called to praise in this verse?
The phrase "everything that hath breath" defines the worshipper by the bare condition of being alive. Throughout verses 3-5 the psalm addressed specific instruments and actions; verse 6 widens the call to any living creature that has breath. The verse does not distinguish by role, by nation, or by moral status, only by the fact of being a living being.
Why is this verse placed at the very end of the Psalter?
Psalms 150 as a whole is the closing doxology of the entire book, and verse 6 is its final line. By ending with a universal command to praise Jehovah, the Psalter does not conclude with a new topic but with a final, sweeping summary of the purpose that has run through all 150 psalms. The placement means that whoever finishes reading or singing the Psalms is left with a single, unanswered imperative: praise Jehovah.