This is What “Hallelujah” means! Part 2 – Courting the Presence of Almighty God!

In our last post on this subject, we looked at how the word “Hallelujah” was used mainly in the NT (New Testament) book of Revelation.

Now we are going to look at how it was used in the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), also called the Old Testament (Christian/Latin) division of basically the same text. [Note; as early as the 2nd-century the Bible as we have it today, became divided into the 2 different testaments, the Old and the New.] This was done mainly for ease of reading and referring to the different books. Dividing those which were written before the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of the LIVING GOD, the Messiah, from those which recorded the events afterwards.

As we begin to look at the word used for “Hallelujah” in the OT (Old Testament) we will notice something very interesting. It was always used in a manner in which they were to worship Almighty God. As a result, a lot of times it was used to invite the presence of God into their midst. Sometimes it was recorded after the presence of God had already been with them, like at the end of a psalm.

But one thing for sure, they were always inviting, or really “Courting the presence of God, the “One” Who loved them,” into their midst with these psalms.

The Hebrew word, H1984   (Strong) הָלַל, hâlal, pronounced = haw-lal’ . Is really two words put together in Hebrew, meaning Praise-Jah! *Or “praise ye Jehovah”! In English it is frequently rendered “Praise ye the LORD” or “Praise the Lord!” This praise to the Lord, stands at the beginning of ten of the psalms (106, 111–113, 135, 146–150), hence they are called “hallelujah psalms.” From its frequent occurrence we can clearly see this was a formula of praise.*

[*Easton, M. G. (1893). In Illustrated Bible Dictionary and Treasury of Biblical History, Biography, Geography, Doctrine, and Literature (p. 306). Harper & Brothers.]

**“Hallelujah,” according to ancient Hebrew tradition, was to be written as one word, except in Psalm 135:3. It occurs nowhere in the OT but in the Psalter, where it occurs a total of 23 times, and for the first time in Psalm 104:35. Each of Psalms 111 to 113 begins with “Hallelujah”; each of Psalms 115 to 117 ends with the word; and each of Psalms 146 to 150 begins and ends with it.**

**Elwell, W. A., & Comfort, P. W. (2001). In Tyndale Bible dictionary (p. 565). Tyndale House Publishers.

It is amazing how many times in my own life, when I began to “Praise the Lord!” That just simply singing the word “Hallelujah” over and over again softly in prayer or in praise to the Lord. That I could feel or know that He was right there with me.

This is because I was inviting, praying, and “Courting the Presence of Almighty God” to be right there with me in my time of worship.

Now with this being said, please note; there is no magic pill (so to speak) with God. However, when we draw near to Him, we will find out that He was always right there near to us and He was just waiting to be invited into our lives.

Even when a secular person sings the word “Hallelujah”, over and over again in a song, you will sometimes hear people say, “Wow!” “Your performance of that song really moved me!” Yet, what they don’t realize is that it stirs up their spirit on the inside of them, to want to be in the presence of God, even without them knowing it. They just feel moved by it and unless they actually seek to find Jesus, as Lord and Savior, that is as far as it goes at that time. But hopefully, that small seed will be able to grow at some point and they call out to God, for Him to bear witness with them.

Let’s take a look at one of the shorter psalms of praise to the Lord, Psalm 150, and see how they invited or courted the presence of God, who loves them into their life.

Psa 150:1  Praise the LORD! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens!

Psa 150:2  Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness!

Psa 150:3  Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp!

Psa 150:4  Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe!

Psa 150:5  Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals!

Psa 150:6  Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!

[Well, Praise the Lord, family! We have been busier than ever getting things done, so we can offer more ways to minister to you, our fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord. The news will be coming out in the near future. We can hardly wait to make our announcements. If you want to stay connected and in the loop, be sure you you sign up for our updates at the end of this post.]

#Hallelujah #PraiseTheLord #Courting #CourtingThePresenceOfGod #Praise #MagicPill #Psalm

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