Word Study: Hallelujah- Part 1
The word hallelujah means praise the Lord, or halal the Lord. We will discuss halal shortly, but I want to begin by pointing out that within the word hallelujah we see two names of God: El and Jah.
El means the strong one, speaking of God’s great power. It refers to God as almighty.
Jah, or Yahweh, tells of the Lord present who is a continual support and security.
Psalms 146 through 150 are often called the Hallelujah Psalms because they each begin and end with “Praise ye the Lord,” or Hallelujah. In all we do we should begin and end in praise to the Lord. Jews refer to the entire book of Psalms as Tehillim, or Praises.
Praise ye the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul. Psalm 146:1 (KJV)
Praise is the Hebrew word halal, which means to praise, celebrate, glory, sing praise, boast. Hallelujah is a universally understood word. Christians in all parts of the world know the word hallelujah regardless of their native tongue. Praise is a language of its own that we all can understand.
Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand; Psalm 149:6 (KJV)
We can speak or sing God’s Word; our praise can be the Word of God. “Two-edged sword in their hand” can be the song of the Lord (God singing over us). When we sing it, it becomes a sword in our hands to cut down the enemy.
Praise will take us higher than we’ve ever been before. I believe the highest praise we can give to God is hallelujah. When we sing, shout, or even whisper hallelujah we declare who God is, since two of His names are in the word. When we use the word hallelujah we declare the high praises of God where we do warfare and enforce Christ’s victory in our lives. God is declared and He makes Himself known in our praises, bringing us the victory and lifting us higher in His presence.
Stay tuned; tomorrow we will look at the New Testament counterpart of hallelujah.
