Praise: A Choral Reading of Psalm 150

Ensemble:       

• ONE and TWO (groups of speakers)
• THREE and FOUR (groups of movers)

ONE: Hallelujah!

TWO: Hallelujah!

ALL: Hallelujah!

ONE: Praise God in the holy temple;

       (THREE create a temple tableau.)                     

TWO: praise God in the mighty firmament.

(FOUR circle around the temple tableau, turn outward, and raise their arms to the sky.)

ONE: Praise God for mighty acts;

(One member of THREE steps forward and parts the circle of FOUR as if they are the Red Sea. The remaining members of THREE walk through the “dry ground.”)

TWO: praise God for exceeding greatness.

(FOUR take on various positions of being struck with awe and compelled to worship.)

ONE: Praise God with trumpet sound;

(THREE pretend to play trumpets while making trumpet noises with their mouths.)

TWO: praise God with lyre and harp.

       (FOUR pretend to play harps and lyres while the piano does a slide.)

ONE: Praise God with tambourine and dance;

       (THREE do various dance moves. A twirl. A leap. A skip.)

TWO: praise God with strings and pipe.

       (FOUR pretend to play flutes, recorders, etc. while whistling, if able.)

ONE: Praise God with resounding cymbals;

(THREE mime clashing symbols, complete with vocalized cymbal noises.)

TWO: praise God with loud clanging cymbals.

(FOUR clash their own imaginary symbols, trying to out-do THREE with their volume.

Some from FOUR continue to clang symbols. Others gradually join in with their own motions and sounds of praise until it becomes a worshipful cacophony—cymbals, trumpet, harp, dance, pipes, temple, firmament, mighty deeds, awe, etc. ONE and TWO speak scattered refrains of “Praise the Lord!” All members of THREE and FOUR that do not have an instrument also speak their own “Praise the Lord!” refrain.

Once it reaches full worshipful cacophony, one by one each member begins to slowly breathe in and out until they are breathing in unison as they continue their motions of worship.

When it is time, everyone freezes.)

ALL: Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Hallelujah!