Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.

PSALMS 150:4KJV
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Psalms 150:4 (KJV)

What does Psalms 150:4 mean?

Psalms 150:4 calls people to express praise to God through music and movement. The verse pictures a lively, physical response to God, with both percussion and melody taking part.

The speaker addresses a group, inviting them to join in. After the instruments named in verse 3, verse 4 adds a hand drum, dancing, strings, and a wind instrument to the picture.

The Hebrew behind Psalms 150:4

  • “timbrel” — תֹּף (tof): This word refers to a hand drum, often played by striking its stretched skin. It helps readers picture an instrument small enough to carry while celebrating.
  • “organs” — עוּגָב (ugav): This word is often understood to refer to a pipe or flute-like wind instrument. The KJV word “organs” should not be taken to mean the large keyboard instruments familiar today.

Why Psalms 150:4 matters

  • Praise in this verse involves more than singing. The words “timbrel and dance” picture rhythm and bodily movement as part of the celebration.
  • The verse brings different kinds of sound together. “Stringed instruments and organs” add strings and wind to the drumbeat, showing the breadth of the musical picture.

Where else these words appear

“instruments” Hebrew H4482 · used in 2 verses

  • Psalms 45:8 All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.

“organs” Hebrew H5748 · used in 4 verses

  • Genesis 4:21 And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ.
  • Job 21:12 They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.
  • Job 30:31 My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them that weep.

“dance” Hebrew H4234 · used in 6 verses

  • Psalms 30:11 Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;
  • Psalms 149:3 Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp.
  • Jeremiah 31:13 Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.

“timbrel” Hebrew H8596 · used in 16 verses

  • Genesis 31:27 Wherefore didst thou flee away secretly, and steal away from me; and didst not tell me, that I might have sent thee away with mirth, and with songs, with tabret, and with harp?
  • 2 Samuel 6:5 And David and all the house of Israel played before the LORD on all manner of instruments made of fir wood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals.
  • Isaiah 5:12 And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands.