by Pastor Greg Brinson
Sometimes it’s really good to go back in time to remember where you’ve been and what you’ve learned along the way. Recently the Holy Spirit brought to my mind the simple lesson of “a is for apple, b is for ball and c is for cat, etc. Well I believe that he wanted to me to stop at the letter H not for hen but for some things that we all desperately need in our life – hope, help, honor, healing , humility and several others words.
H is also for hallelujah! Hallelujah (also spelled Alleluia) means “Praise the Lord” it is a compound word, from hallelu, meaning “to praise joyously,” and “Jah” a shortened form of the 4-letter Hebrew name for the Lord, YHWH, which is usually pronounced Yahweh.
Many folks think of the song written by Leonard Cohen in 1984 when they hear the word hallelujah. Others may think of the “Hallelujah Chorus” in Handel’s Messiah. When I hear the word hallelujah I think of hearing it declared in times of worship with other believers over the years.
Recently a dear friend said to me at church, “Preacher we need more hallelujah’s in this place!” I’ve thought about his statement several times since then and he is exactly right! We need to declare our praises to God more and more every day.
I want to encourage you to read Psalm 146 through Psalm 150. One thing you’ll notice is that each Psalm starts and ends with “Praise the Lord”. I believe that we would all do well to start and end our day by praising the Lord. We have so much to praise God for. Psalm 150:2 says, “Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness.” Just think of some of the amazing things that God has done in your life. His Word says, “He heals he brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”(Psalm 147:3)
I pray that our life will be a ‘hallelujah to the Lord. The Bible says “I will praise the Lord all my life: I will sing praise as long as I live.”(Psalm 146:2) The last verse of the last Psalm says “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.”(Psalm 150:6)
Praising God changes things and one of the greatest things it will change is you. So raise a hallelujah today and the days to come! Hallelujah!
