Chapter 150

 150:3   Praise Him with harp and lyre

A statue of King David with is harp on Mount Zion

The final chapter of Sefer Tehillim invokes the image of an orchestra full of instruments to praise the Lord. King David, author of Psalms, had a deep love for music. The Talmud (Sanhedrin 16a) teaches that he kept his harp hung over his bed while he slept, and in the middle of the night, the wind blowing through his open window would make the strings stir. We can learn a valuable life lesson from this harp: The harder one plucks the harp’s strings, the sweeter its sound. According to the Talmud (Sanhedrin 107a), before his sin with Batsheva, King David asked Hashem to be tested and challenged like the forefathers had been because he knew that, like a harp, after confronting life’s challenges he would emerge a better person and closer to God. Though he initially failed the test, after he admitted his sin and repented, his relationship with Hashem was even stronger than it had been previously. David serves as a model for all of repentance and worship of God. By studying the precious passages of Sefer Tehillim, we too can overcome any of life’s challenges and achieve unmatched intimacy with Hashem.