December 26, 2022 – Monday
Hallelujah …
Psalm 113:1&9 NIV
1 Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, you his servants; praise the name of the Lord.
9 He settles the childless woman in her home as a happy mother of children. Praise the Lord.
Comments
Believe it or not Hallelujah is found two (maybe three) times in the two verses above. Before explaining how that is possible, let me share the following with you (found here): Hallelujah is found 24 times in the Old Testament, but only in the book of Psalms. It appears in 15 different Psalms, between 104-150, and in almost every case at the opening and/or closing of the Psalm. These passages are called the “Hallelujah Psalms.” In the Psalm 113 it is found at both the opening and the closing of the Psalm as shown above.
Hallelujah, also spelled alleluia, is a Hebrew liturgical expression, usually rendered in English as “praise the Lord.” Further, Britannica tells us: In ancient Judaism it was probably chanted as an antiphon [a short piece of religious text, most often derived from one of the Psalms, and set to music, usually in the form of a Gregorian chant] by the Levite choir. In the New Testament it appears only in Revelation 19, where it occurs four times. It was translated in the Septuagint (Jewish Greek version of the Jewish Bible made in the pre-Christian period) and became “alleluia” in the Vulgate (4th-century Christian Latin version). Early Christians adopted the expression in their worship services, and it appeared in Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, and some Protestant liturgies and in hymns.
But what does Hallelujah mean? Here we find, Hallelujah is an exclamation of worship or a call to praise transliterated from two Hebrew words (hālal – yāh) meaning “Praise ye the Lord” or “Praise Yahweh.” Many modern Bible versions render the phrase “Praise the Lord.” Further, Hallelujah is an exuberant expression of praise meaning “Praise Yahweh!”
If you go here or here you will find a number of versions of the Bible replacing Praise the Lord in verse one with Hallelujah! Some say Praise Yah, short for Praise Yahweh. It is the same for verse nine, here and here at the end of the verse.
Most verses have Hallelujah or Praise the Lord followed by an exclamation mark (!) indicating it is to be said or sang an exclamation of worship or a call to praise, not something said or sang quietly and somberly.
Bottom Line: Hallelujah is something to be stated or sang with excitement as a wonderful praise in recognition of who we are praising.
Prayer: Almighty God, Let us not be timid or afraid in our praises of You, but instead help us to shout or sing loudly our praises of You, Who gave us a wonderful path to salvation. – In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
RileyD, nwJ
Riley D. Driver – Pastor
Calvary Chapel of Dayton
in Beavercreek