Psalm 150 refers to...?

[Cat]

Psalm 150

Praise the Lord
Praise the Lord in his sanctuary,
praise him in his mighty firmament.
Praise him for his mighty deeds,
praise him for all his greatness.

Praise him with trumpet-blasts,
praise him with the harp and lyre,
praise him with timbrel and dance,
praise him with strings and pipes,
praise him with cymbals resounding,
praise him with cymbals of jubilation.

All that breathes, praise the Lord!

(boldface is mine)

To what does this Psalm refer? The Holy Mass? If not, why not?

What is “His Sanctuary”? Could it refer to a concert hall or nature? If it’s “nature,” then why is “His mighty firmament” mentioned separately? Or is it a “church”?

 

[Chatter163]

Being written in the old testament era, the psalm referred to the sanctuary of the temple, where the high priest offered the sacrifice. Obviously as Catholics, we also understand this in terms of the santuary where the Holy Sacrifice is offered.

 

[Sarabande]

Being written in the old testament era, the psalm referred to the sanctuary of the temple, where the high priest offered the sacrifice. Obviously as Catholics, we also understand this in terms of the santuary where the Holy Sacrifice is offered.

I agree with this. This didn’t originally refer to the Mass, as these were for the Jews. But we, as Catholics, take this to mean the sanctuary of His Church and I believe when we have mass.

Also “firmament” is a word for the heavens, not nature, which would explain the separation between His mighty Sanctuary (the temple or church on earth) and his mighty Firmament (the Kingdom in heaven).

 

[Daniel_Marsh]

sanctuary in psalms 150 refers to part of the sky known as the firmament, the next line is a parallel that redefines sancturary as the firmament to be exact.

 

[tomarin]

What is “His Sanctuary”? Could it refer to a concert hall or nature? If it’s “nature,” then why is “His mighty firmament” mentioned separately? Or is it a “church”?

it’s either the temple of jerusalem or more likely, the tabernacle, a tent of two layers (one of cloth, one of animal skin) in which the ark of the covenant was placed in the days when the israelites were nomadic. the temple of solomon was intended to be a tabernacle made of stone. it and later versions were thought of as “the footstool” of god on earth.

 

[Daniel_Marsh]

Parallelism in Hebrew Writing
crivoice.org/parallel.html

 

[tomarin]

Parallelism in Hebrew Writing
crivoice.org/parallel.html

here’s how Robert Alter translates the beginning of Psalm 150 in his new book, The Book of Psalms: A Translation with Commentary (W.W. Norton, 2007):

Hallelujah.
Praise God in His holy place,
praise Him in the vault of His power.
Praise Him for His mighty acts,
praise Him as befits His abounding greatness.
Praise Him with the ram-horn’s blast,
praise Him with the lute and the lyre.

and here’s what his footnote says:

There is a harmonious concordance between “the holy place” – the temple below and the heavens above – both conceived as sites of God’s habitation. (page 515).

 

[banjo]

From the New Catholic Version of the Psalms; St. Joseph Edition; Catholic Book Publishing Co; NJ…

“150:1 God is to be praised in his sanctuary on earth and his sanctuary in heaven (see Ps 8:3). The Church of the New Covenant has the mission to glorify God in the world, and her members must gather in the house of God in order to carry out this mission.”