Hallelujah or Halal Yahh?

What do people say when they are in the throes of worship? “Hallelujah” comes to mind.

Hallelujah is derived from two Hebrew words: halal and Yahh. Halal literally means praise and Yahh is a shortened version of Jehovah. Put them together and you have praise Jehovah or praise the LORD. Jehovah is translated LORD in most of our bibles. Aren’t you just blessed now that you know all that?

I love to hear people speak a “hallelujah” over a song or a message. They are literally speaking a word of whole-hearted praise to Jehovah, the great I AM! The very last Psalm (150) begins and ends with the phrase “Praise the LORD.” This Psalm is thought to be written to move the Levitical priests to perform their duties (M. Henry commentary); however, it should move us to whole-hearted praise. It should not take a stick of dynamite to persuade us to praise God. This Psalm gives us plenty of reasons to extol Him.

Psalm 150 pulls out all the stops when it comes to praising God! The phrase “Praise the LORD” is used no less than 13 times in this six-versed Psalm. It commands us to praise God in His sanctuary and in His firmament. The Psalmist tells us to praise Jehovah for two very great reasons: for His mighty deeds and His excellent greatness. He also tells us to praise Him with a multitude of instruments: the trumpet, harp, lyre, tambourine, stringed instruments, cymbals, and pipe! The Psalm ends with “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!” I love that this sentence ends with an exclamation point!

What a privilege it is to be able to say or sing hallelujah in our services, in our private worship, and in our songs. Every time you sing it or say it from this day forward, be aware that you are literally praising Jehovah! Utter it with the same intensity as the Psalmist did in this passage – HALLELUJAH!