February 19, 2012
"Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth
upon the heavens by his name
JAH, and rejoice before him." (Psalm 68:4)
The name JAH, by which this verse exhorts us to praise the
Lord, is a contracted form of Jehovah, or Yahweh, which is
the commonly used name of the self-existing, self-revealing
God, usually shown as LORD in English. When combined
with the Hebrew verb for "praise" (hallal), it becomes
"Hallelujah," meaning "Praise ye the LORD!"
It is no coincidence that this word, "Hallelujah," occurs
exactly 22 times in the book of Psalms, also known as the
book of the Praises of Israel, for there are exactly 22
letters in the Hebrew alphabet, the language which God
used to reveal His eternal word (119:89) to man. This
serves to remind us that the very purpose of human
languages is to praise the Lord who created us and has
died to redeem us.
The first occurrence in the psalms of "Hallelujah" is
translated as "Praise ye the LORD" and occurs right at
the very end of the great psalm extolling God’s creation,
the Flood, and providential care of the post-Flood
world (see 104:35).
It is noteworthy that the last ten occurrences of
"Hallelujah" are at the introduction and closing of each
of the last five psalms (146-150). These last five psalms
comprise a grand epilogue to the five books of the Psalms,
each of which ends with a glorious and eternal doxology
"praise" occurs more in the book of Psalms than in all the
rest of the Bible put together, so it is appropriate that its
conclusion should be on such a high note of praise. Finally,
the very last verse of the Psalms cries out: "Let every thing
that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD"
(150:6). Hallelujah!
HMM
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