Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

• ‘Arabic- Halla – appear on the horizon, shine’ 5 . When we sing Hallelujah to the Lord, he appears like the glorious dawn of a new day. ‘The root hll means, “praise, extol.” 6 Halla also means ‘sing joy- fully to someone, tahallala means, shout with joy. • Ugaritic- hll – shout • Syriac- hallel – praise • Akkadian- alalu , a laborers’ shout or song, elelu - jubilation, alalu - sing a song of joy, rejoice, shout. 7 These last five Psalms are like a fireworks display, filled with bursts of shining hallelujahs until Psalm 150, where there is a rapid, successive explosion of hallelujahs in the grand finale of praise. The ex- pression “Hallelujah” , is used 24 times in the Book of Psalms corresponding to the 24 elders who wor- ship in heaven, the 24 divisions of Levites who worshiped unceasingly in the Tent of David, the 24 hours of the day and the 24 keys of music God created for us to express our praise back to him.

Psalm 146

This is the last psalm where the author is writing in the 1st person, revealing his own thoughts; ‘ …I tell myself…I will praise…’ The rest of the psalms are instructions and reasons to praise the mighty God of Israel written in the second person where the poet is speaking of the Lord; “The Lord frees…”, “Let every created thing give praise to the Lord…” . Psalm 146 has many similarities with the preceding Psalm 145, ‘the same range of thought betrays one author.’ 8

146

145

v.2 “I will praise the Lord as long as I live” - v.7 “ …who gives…food to the hungry”-

v.2 “I will praise you forever” v.15 “you give them their food…”

v.8 “The Lord lifts the burdens…”-

v.14 “lifts up those bent beneath their loads”

This psalm is a remarkable prelude to the coming of Jesus the Messiah as he fulfills all the mirac- ulous statements of the song: “…gives food to the hungry…frees the prisoners…opens the eyes of the blind.” It is also a contrast between Adam, the son of man, who cannot help us and the Christ, ‘the God of Jacob’ who never fails us. It divides into three sections of thought:

I

PRAISE THE LORD - 1,2

Blessing the Lord Believing in the Lord Beauty of the Lord

II HOPE IS IN THE LORD - 3-9

III THE LORD WILL REIGN FOREVER - 10

I

PRAISE THE LORD - 1,2

Blessing the Lord

“Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, I tell myself. I will praise the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praises to my God even with my dying breath.” (1, 2)

The first “hallelujah” signals the brilliant praise that will stream to the end of the book. The next three praises are personal vows of the psalmist engaging his soul in exalting the Lord. “Praise the Lord, I tell myself;’ is also the beginning phrase of Psalms 103 and 104 reminding us that through the Holy Spirit’s strength, we have been given complete authority over our inner life. Merely attending a worship service does not mean that we have worshiped. We must make a personal effort to activate our hearts in praise to God. The second sentence, “I will praise the Lord as long as I live…” is the singers’ binding promise. ‘To praise God fills the whole of life. To praise God is even the very fulfillment of human existence.’ 9 Praising and glorifying God until our “dying breath” is the last and greatest act that a person can do be- fore embarking upon eternity.

II

HOPE IS IN THE LORD - 3-9

Believing in the Lord

“Don’t put your confidence in powerful people; there is no help for you there. When their breathing stops, they return to the earth, and in a moment all their plans come to an end.” (3, 4)

The (NKJV) translates the first phrase as; “Do not put your trust in princes, nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help.” (3) The ‘son of man’ is an allusion to ‘Adam’, who represents the flawed human nature that is so easily unfaithful. “When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race.” (Rom. 5:12)

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