Daily Dose of the Word of God - Psalm 150

Erin Pacheco, Director of Worship

Transcript

Erin Pacheco  0:06  

Welcome to Elmhurst CRC’s Daily Dose of the Word of God. Today is Friday, April 25 and Sunday is coming!  I’m Erin Pacheco.  It’s the season of Easter, and we have the blessed opportunity to respond to the reality of Jesus’ resurrection life. Today’s Bible reading is from Psalm 150. I’ll be reading from the Message.

Erin Pacheco 0:32  

Hallelujah! Praise God in his holy house of worship, praise him under the open skies; Praise him for his acts of power, praise him for his magnificent greatness; Praise with a blast on the trumpet, praise by strumming soft strings; Praise him with castanets and dance, praise him with banjo and flute; Praise him with cymbals and a big bass drum, praise him with fiddles and mandolin. Let every living, breathing creature praise God! Hallelujah!

Erin Pacheco 1:08  

Psalm 150 is the last psalm in the book of Psalms, and it’s a psalm of complete and unhindered praise. Praise happens in the temple – and out in the open! Praise happens as a response to God’s greatness and mighty acts. Praise is loud and jubilant. The vibe of the psalm is – grab whatever instrument you’ve got and join the chorus. If all you’ve got is your voice, great! Use that. Join the chorus of all creatures great and small. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!  If you’re alive, you can praise. Hallelujah!  The word “Hallelujah,” which has long marked the Church’s celebrations of Easter, is actually a Hebrew expression. In Hebrew, “hallelu” is a command to a group of people to praise, and “jah”  is short for Yahweh, the name of God. So “Hallelu-jah” simply means “Praise the Lord” — which is what you see in many English translations of Psalm 150.  In fast, the last five psalms in the book of Psalms all start with this word: Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! The Psalms, as a whole, are deeply honest about the ups and downs of human life. And the lows are really low. The hopelessness at times is real – as is the struggle to stay connected to God throughout it all.   Not unlike the events of Good Friday last week. But the Psalms, like the resurrection on Sunday morning — and like the whole story of scripture — lead us through the darkness towards jubilant songs of “Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!”

Erin Pacheco  3:10  

Let’s pray. God of resurrection, God of life and joy and jubilant song, we praise you for your power and greatness – and for the ways you, in Jesus, have revealed your love to us. May we be anchored in hope through every dark valley, knowing that you are leading us through to a place of praise. Hallelujah! Amen.