Psalms 150 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Time Period
Written and collected over centuries, with the Psalms reaching their final five-book arrangement around 400 to 300 BC, after the return from exile in Babylon
Location
Jerusalem, centered on the rebuilt temple on Mount Zion, where the singers and instrumentalists of the temple staff led public worship
Audience
The worshipping community of Israel, especially the congregation gathered at the temple and the trained musicians who led them
Situation
This is the closing psalm of the entire book, a short burst of praise that names where to praise God, why to praise him, with what instruments, and finally who should praise him. It functions as the last note of a collection that began, back in Psalm 1, with a person quietly reading God's instruction.
Key Background
The book of Psalms is divided into five sections, and each one ends with a short blessing sentence called a doxology. Psalms 146 to 150 all open and close with the Hebrew word halelu-yah, meaning praise the LORD, so the whole final group serves as an extended doxology for the entire collection rather than just for book five. The instruments listed here, including the ram's horn trumpet, the harp and lyre, the hand drum, and the bronze cymbals, were the actual working equipment of temple worship, so the psalm is describing a real orchestra rather than an imaginary one.