PRAISE YE THE LORD. (Part 2)
Psalm 146. Verses 5-9 read:
Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God: Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: Which keepeth truth for ever: Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: Which giveth food to the hungry. The LORD looseth the prisoners: The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind: The LORD raiseth them that are bowed down: The LORD loveth the righteous: The LORD preserveth the strangers; He relieveth the fatherless and widow: But the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.
Yesterday, we highlighted the fact that we praise God for his mighty acts. These acts often serve as avenues of help to men. Indeed, life must be a revolving cycle of God’s acts of intervention unto men and men’s celebration of the results of God’s acts. The celebratory aspect of praise is referred to as “hallel” in the Hebrew language. Hallel means to praise, celebrate, boast, or rave. It is out of hallel that we get the word hallelujah, which means praise the Lord.
There is always a reason for praise, and in today’s text, the psalmist touches on some of these reasons as follows:
- God is the maker of heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything in it. Without him, nothing exists.
- God keeps or upholds truth forever. This is what makes God dependable and trustworthy.
- God executes judgement for the oppressed. In other words, God is a great advocate who speaks for the voiceless to set them free.
- God gives food to the hungry. He is a great provider.
- The Lord loses the prisoners. He sets free those whose lives have been kept in confinement.
- The Lord opens blind eyes. He is the giver of the vision of life.
- The Lord raises those who are bowed down. He is the one who causes men to walk courageously upright in life.
- The Lord loves or has a strong bond of affection for the righteous.
- The Lord preserves strangers. Even in alien environments, God is able to keep men safe.
- He relieves or unburdens the fatherless and widows.
These are just a few of the many things seen or unseen that God does for which men must hallel him. The hallel celebration could sometimes be so intense that onlookers may misjudge it as undignified. 2 Samuel 6, verses 16, 20 – 23, narrates how David’s celebration before the Lord was despised by his wife, Michal, and the consequences that followed.
And as the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal Saul’s daughter looked through a window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart….. Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, How glorious was the king of Israel to day, who uncovered himself to day in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovereth himself! And David said unto Michal, It was before the LORD, which chose me before thy father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the LORD, over Israel: therefore will I play before the LORD. And I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be base in mine own sight: and of the maidservants which thou hast spoken of, of them shall I be had in honour. Therefore, Michal, the daughter of Saul, had no child unto the day of her death.
May we always find some reason to render hallel praise to God. Hallelujah.
SHALOM 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏