Praise [b]the Lord!
Praise God in His sanctuary;
Praise Him in His mighty [c]expanse.
2 Praise Him for His mighty deeds;
Praise Him according to His excellent greatness.
3 Praise Him with trumpet sound;
Praise Him with harp and lyre.
4 Praise Him with timbrel and dancing;
Praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe.
5 Praise Him with loud cymbals;
Praise Him with resounding cymbals.
6 Let everything that has breath praise [d]the Lord.
[e]Praise [f]the Lord!
The last five Psalms are the Praise Psalms, and this last chapter in the Book, culminates with PRAISING the LORD. ” According to the Jerusalem Talmud (Bikkurim 3:2), the celebrants bringing the first fruits to Jerusalem would recite Psalm 150 during their procession.”-{William Barrick}
Praise-“Hallelujah” consists of two words in Hebrew, the verb “Halal,” which means “to praise” and the noun Jah {Yah} a shortened form of Jehovah {Yahweh}, God’s covenant name, the “Self Existing One, “I Am that I Am”-{Exodus 3:14}
“Halal” -{Praise.} means “To Boast” as in Psalm 34:2″ My soul shall make its BOAST in the LORD.” “Halal” implies a genuine appreciation for the great actions or character of its object. So to praise is to Boast. More than half the uses of “Halal” and its various forms are found in the Book of Psalms, and that name is equivalent to “Praises!”
So to PRAISE the LORD, means to continually Boast, show genuine appreciation for the Greatness of His character, actions.
To do so we must know something about Him, and this we can through His Revelation of Himself in His Word, The Bible. The Holy Spirit as our Teacher opening our minds to understand the Scripture-{Read Luke 24:45} unveils God to us and His character and deeds… and incites our heart to praise, appreciate Boast and glory in Him!
“hālal = praise, boast (only in Piel, Pual and Hithpael). This root connotes being sincerely and deeply thankful for and/or satisfied in lauding a superior quality(ies) or great, great act(s) of the object…”-{TWOT}
The word, “halal” is associated with the the ministry of the Levites who praised God morning and night, “They are to stand every morning to thank and to praise the Lord, and likewise at evening,”-{1 Chron 23:30}. But this show of great appreciation, praise,boasting in the greatness of God and His deeds, focus on Him is also a call to all creation to join in
“Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
Praise Him in the heights!
Praise Him, all His angels;
Praise Him, all His hosts!
Praise Him, sun and moon;
Praise Him, all stars of light!
Praise Him, highest heavens,…” -{Psalm 148;1-4}.
And the Psalmist calls for them in the use of instruments to be used in celebration, appreciation, a crescendo of praise to the LORD- { Psalm 150:3-5} and also individually we join in, ” Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! “-{Psalm 146:1}. The focus is on God, His character and works and His Word gives us fuel to fill our hearts with truths to motivate, stimulate, ignite, great boasting, praise, appreciation to Him, our wondrous, glorious LORD. Let us begin to look at Him, look to Him and beginning a habit to find reason to praise Him continually.
“Let EVERYTHING that Has BREATH Praise the LORD.”-{Psalm 150:6}
He is Worthy of Praise – “I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. “- 2 sam 22:4
He is Greatly to be Praised – “For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods.” Ps 96:4
So we come with three essentials,
- Teachable and Submissive Heart – “Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.”-{Psalm 119:18}
- Spirit of God – As our Teacher
- Scriptures – as our Book to know the truth and guide us
Assignment
Can you pause and think of three truths about His character, such as He is Faithful, Holy, Good…. and praise Him for each? Can you pick three reasons from His Works that you can Praise Him for? Such as Creation, The Red Sea, The Cross… what three things can you add? And Praise Him before each one you think of
Can you pick three ways He has made Himself known to you in your life that is worthy for you to praise Him for? Ask the LORD to remind and help you.
If you have done the above assignments you have praised, boasted shown genuine appreciation tot he LORD and you have begin to focus on Him and obeying His command to continually have the attitude of praise to Him. Good job… keep going!
As you read your Bible look specifically and expectantly for reasons to praise Him!