A musical setting of Psalm 150 appears as the first track on 'Jester Before the Throne'. In the music I've tried to capture some of the drama that I feel this Psalm contains. The Psalmist bids the temple orchestra of his day to join in praising God. I've attempted to use a modern instrument, the synthesizer, to praise God in my own way. The whole recording was a God given opportunity. It seemed only natural to make the opening music an offering of praise to Him.

The words that follow are intended as a supplement to the music. If what I write sounds too much like I'm preaching about something, I make no apologies, the thoughts first appeared as notes for a sermon'! I just hope that you may find them a source of inspiration.

'The Great Hallelujah', falls conveniently into three major themes, 'A call to Praise God' (Verses 1 - 2), 'A concerto of Praise to God' (Verses 3 - 4), 'The climax of Praise to God' (Verses 5 - 6). The translation I'm using is partly my own work, but bears more than a little resemblance to that of the New English Bible.

'A CALL TO PRAISE GOD' verses 1 - 2.

What is praise?
Why on earth should you praise God?

"Praise God in His holy place
Praise Him in the vault of heaven
The vault of His power"

Praise is the lifting up of your heart to God. It's a bridge from ourselves to the great stronghold of Gods Presence. We're told to praise God in His 'Holy place' or within 'His temple' (as the Good-News Bible puts it). St. Paul wrote to a church in Corinth, at the beginning of Christian history. "Don't you know that your body is the temple of' the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and who was given to you by God?" (! Corinthians 6:19).

Praise should be as a spring of living water, within ourselves, that flows out from us as we realise the presence of God in our lives. It is not that we bring Him down to our level, but that through His indwelling Holy Spirit, we are lifted up.

Praise is Gods special way of communicating Himself. When the Spirit lifts your heart to God you not only know Him, in a fuller way, but also see yourself in a clearer light. Drawing near to Him means discovering His will for your life. Drawing close to Him means that you can be strengthened to put the will of Cod into practice. For to be near to God is to be close to the vault of His power.

Praise should be a powerful force that gives strength to live life to it's fullest potential. Because of that, praise is an offering, which you make with the whole of your life. The more we are prepared to give, the more we will discover the truth of what has been called "The power of praise".

That is not to say we should ever praise God simply for what we can get out of it. Praise is not a magic formula or talisman to bring instant miracles or blessings to be showered down from heaven. It's not a way of trying to get God to do what we want Him to. Rather, it's a way of tuning ourselves in to the will of God.

But why should we praise God?
What has He done that's so Praiseworthy?
Why does He demand to be honoured by our praising Him?

"Praise Him for His mighty works".

Psalm 150 stands at the end of the book of Psalms. It's a doxology to the whole of the book. The author knew only too well what was contained in the rest of the volume. To the community of Old Testament Israel, for whom he wrote, had been given the special things of God. The deliverance of the nation from slavery in Egypt was indelibly imprinted upon the lives of generation after generation. They knew what it was to see the powerful hand of God upon the nation both in blessing and in rebuke.

It is a psalm written for those who know themselves the people of God; a call for them to let praise of God pour out from them for all the mighty things He has done; that the whole world would be caught up in praising Him.

As a Christian, I believe the Old Testament foreshadows the New; that we live in the last days bought into being by Jesus Christ 'Son of God', who for a brief time lived an earthly life amongst us, identifying Himself with mankind, bringing the powerful love of God into our world in a dramatic, new, unique and powerful way.

Through the Holy Spirit, we can experience the touch of God within our own lives, we can know Him in a wonderful and precious way. We are people who are capable of knowing what it is to be delivered out of slavery. Through faith in Christ we can be Delivered from the drudgery of everyday life, delivered from the slavery of habits that threaten to crush us, delivered from the slavery of fear and the slavery of guilt. Jesus said He came to set people free. When I asked Christ into my heart, He put His Spirit into the midst of my life and gave me a freedom that this world us unable to give, or even understand.

Even death itself is now to be an open doorway to new-life, rather than a fearful destiny or untimely end. Christ spoke of His crucifixion as being for the forgiveness of sins. His resurrection, three days later, conquers, once and for all, the power of death.

"Praise Him for His mighty works" declares the Psalmist. I can not help myself but to Praise Him for the mighty way He's worked in my life and those of numerous other Christians. For I know I'm nobody special. I know I'm a long way from being the person God wants me to be. That God can touch such an insignificant little life as mine, I feel is a mighty, awesome thing that draws praise from me.

You may be thinking "Well, it's allright for you, but I haven't got that kind of faith". But you can discover it through Praising God. Praise Him for what faith you do have. Praise Him for the life that is within you, praise Him by starting where you are now. God's call to us is that we shall always praise Him. That includes the present moment. A different Psalmist has written "I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall continually be in my mouth".

Why is there such a stress on praising God constantly.
Has God got a problem?
Does He need constantly reassuring that He's loved?
Is it all that He wants, to be told how good and great He is?
In considering these questions, I'd like to consider some thoughts by C.S. Lewis (put far better by Himself in his book "Reflections upon the Psalms"). The next verse of Psalm 150 is particularly relevant.

"Praise Him for all his greatness,
Of which no man can measure".

Have you ever read a good book or watched a film, seen a work of art or heard a piece of music and thought, "Hey, this is good!". Have you ever stood somewhere, lets say, on a beach on a beautiful summer evening and seen a breathtaking sunset? You've said to yourself "Wow, that is really something!"

That response of admiration comes, not because anybody says, "You must admire this", but because truly excellent things, deserve admiration. Admiration is the correct, and often involuntary response that we make to them.

If we don't admire something of great  excellence, the only  person who loses out is ourself, we simply show how blind, how deaf or how insensitive we are to great, marvelous, supreme things.

Works of art or nature are mere shadows in comparison to the God who made all things and 'Saw they were good'. The most admirable works of Charles Dickens, or the greatest play of Shakespeare, are passing moments of inspiration in comparison to the great drama of salvation in Jesus Christ. If we fail to appreciate the immeasurable great and marvelous things of God then we lose all in the long-run. Our life will be incomplete because we will have been blind, deaf and insensitive to the giver of life itself.

Yet praise is a lot more than simply admiration. The whole world is full of Praise. Lovers praise their loved ones. Players praise their favourite games. People praise the weather, praise food, praise wine, praise places and times. Praise flows out of their enjoyment of life. To be around them is infectious.

They urge us to join in with them. "Isn't she lovely", "Wasn't that brilliant", "Wow, that was really something". People can't help praising things that they love and count as valuable.

Instead we feel our appreciation of them is incomplete till it is expressed. Can you imagine what it is like to know a good joke and have no one to share it with? To have composed a marvelous piece of music and have no one to play it to? To be in love yet not be able to let anyone know? Praise should flow out of our enjoyment of life.

The Scottish catechism states that mans chief end is 'to glorify God and enjoy Him for ever'. To fully enjoy something is to praise it. The command "Praise the Lord" is God's invitation for us to enjoy Him. Praise is letting God's Spirit lead us into a deep appreciation of His love and His greatness.

Our thoughts will focus upon Jesus Christ. For in Him, ,God has revealed Himself in a way which all can understand. In His name we are forgiven; In His name we have access to God. In His name we are children of God. It is He who offers prayer for our sake. It is when we are one with Him that we are one with each other and one with God. St. Paul writes in his letter to the Phillipian Church of how it is ultimately in honour of the name of Jesus "... all beings in heaven on earth and in the world below will fall on their knees and will openly