Hallelujah!

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Scripture

 Praise the LORD ! Praise the name of the LORD ! Praise him, you who serve the LORD!

~Psalm 135:1, NLT

Quote

Praising God should be our highest goal, greatest passion, grandest privledge and noblest activity.

~Steven Lawson

The first two Hebrew words in the Psalm are hä·lal’ and yä. When you put them together, you have hallelujah which simply means “Praise the LORD.” It reminds me of the time I asked an Italian a stupid question: I said, “How do you say pizza in Italy?” He said, “Pizza!” Very few words become universal but hallelujah, amen and pizza are universal in scope. In Judaism, the Priest and Levites lead the praise and worship. Jesus changed how we worship by making every believer a priest. Every believer has the privilege and responsibility to lead praise and worship. In Luke’s gospel, we have this commentary on Jesus triumphant entry into Jerusalem…

As he rode along, the crowds spread out their garments on the road ahead of him.  When he reached the place where the road started down the Mount of Olives, all of his followers began to shout and sing as they walked along, praising God for all the wonderful miracles they had seen. “Blessings on the King who comes in the name of the LORD ! Peace in heaven, and glory in highest heaven!” But some of the Pharisees among the crowd said, “Teacher, rebuke your followers for saying things like that!” He replied, “If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!” 
When Seth was a child, his favorite song was, “Aint No Rock Gonna Take My Place.” How can anyone with any spiritual life at all not praise Jesus. Perhaps you are thinking: “What should I praise Him for?” If you need help in this area, read Psalm 135 and you will find a list.
  1. Praise HIM for the opportunity to SERVE in His house [v.2]. We all have the privilege that once belonged only to the Levitical family. 
  2. Praise HIM for being good. [v.3]
  3. Praise HIM for His sovereign grace in choosing Jacob {an undeserving sinner}. [ v.4]
  4. Praise HIM for His excellent greatness. [v.5]
  5. Praise HIM for being the ALMIGHTY who does what He pleases. [v.6]

I want to praise the LORD today for His wisdom and His gifts of grace. Our heavenly Father gives us what we need and not what we want. So many times, what we want is not what we need. Our lust can get so out of control that we want things that are harmful to us but our good and gracious Father in heaven sees beyond our lust and He gives us what we need. The Jews wanted a Messiah that would save them from Rome. God gave them a Suffering Servant to save them from their sin. Which is the greater need, to be saved from a temporal despot or to be saved from the power of eternal destruction? The short-sighted Jews wanted a king with a little k to rule Israel but God in His infinite wisdom gave them a KING of kings: one who would rule the universe. God gave them abundantly more than they had the ability to request. Aren’t you glad that God is not limited by our puny request or our shallow minds.

I wanted a 4-wheel drive diesel that would pull a house trailer but Bill and I discussed what I wanted in relationship to what I needed. I wanted the looks of the Nissan. Toyota’s are good vehicles but they are ugly as sin. I had been praying for weeks about my need and now I have a truck that gets 23.5 miles per gallon which is what I need, the Nissan we had got about 15 MPG. So I want to praise the LORD for Bill and the truck that gets good gas mileage.  I also want to praise him for making Larry strong enough to do the stem cell. I few weeks ago, I wondered if he would make it but he has had a good month. Pray for him during these next three weeks of total isolation. I also want to praise the LORD for my pastor and president. My goal is to pray for both daily.

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