Psalm 150: Praise with Whatever You've Got
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Praise the Lord!
Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet
praise him with the harp and lyre
Praise him with timbrel and dancing
praise him with the strings and pipe
Praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord.
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The Psalms call God's people to use whatever they've got to praise God--make a joyful noise! Trumpet and timbrel and dance and harp! Their trumpets were horns from their sheep. The timbrel was a hand drum made of sheep skin. The harp was a fancy bow. They were playing whatever they had.
Here in America, Native people use dance and drum to praise God--as well as the flute and the bow. All over the world, hunting cultures used the bow as a musical instrument. You don't hear it much in modern praise music, but it's probably the oldest musical instrument in human history. Later, people added more strings and a board to stiffen the bow--voila! A harp!
But there's a spiritual lesson here. Use whatever you've got to praise God.
Listen to Buffy Saint-Marie play the bow in traditional style. Then look around you. Use everything you've got to make melody and praise God today.