Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Revelation 19:6-7
Nothing is more frustrating than to want to communicate with somebody, but you don’t speak the same language. It is true of marriage as well as the traveler who wishes he had learned French instead of playing sports.
I first encountered that frustration years ago. I had been invited to speak at a rather large church in Paris. Arriving at the church before the scheduled service, I was met with smiles and greetings in French which I really didn’t understand. Then I was directed to follow the greeter to the pastor’s office where more warm greetings were voiced which I also did not understand.
“Excuse me,” I said. “Do you speak English?” The pastor shook his head. “Parlez-vous Français?” he asked.
“No, I’m so sorry,” I said.
He smiled, and I smiled. Then we both looked at the floor, and then again, we looked at each other realizing that until an interpreter arrived, we just couldn’t communicate.
Then, remembering that the word hallelujah is a universal word, a Hebrew word, understood by all who love God’s Word, I looked at the pastor and warmly said, “Hallelujah!” And then, he understood.
“Hallelujah!” He responded.
Suddenly, two people who couldn’t speak each other’s language could communicate from the heart. And there was a warmth and an understanding that transcended the ability to communicate verbally when our hearts were knit together.
You know, friend, some words were coined for use only by God’s children, and that includes the word, hallelujah! Actually, the Hebrew word is a compound of two words hallal and jah. The first one means “to praise.” The second is the word for God, the same word which gives us the word Jehovah.
Simply put, the word means “praise be to God” or “praise the Lord.” This was the same word which captured the attention of George Frederick Handel, who wrote The Messiah. It’s one of the greatest of all masterpieces, known and loved the world over. “And He shall reign for ever and ever,” wrote Handel, and with the words crescendo, “Hallelujah, hallelujah.” It is no wonder that Handel, who had barricaded himself in his room and practically neither ate nor slept as he wrote, later told a friend, “It seemed as if heaven came down and filled my soul.”
It’s understandable that the world doesn’t grasp the meaning nor significance of the word hallelujah, for only those who have been redeemed can praise God for what He done in bringing salvation to humankind.
Actually, that word was not commonly used by the writers of Scripture. In the Old Testament it’s found only in the book of Psalms. The 111th and 112th psalms both begin with the word hallelujah, which is translated in English, “Praise the LORD.” The same word also begins and ends Psalm 146-150.
The word hallelujah is found in only one chapter of the New Testament, Revelation 19, where the redeemed of all ages are in the presence of God, and a great multitude from every nation and people unite their voices in a loud peal of thunder, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God” (Revelation 19:1-2). Then the multitude conclude by saying, “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns” (Revelation 19:6).
A final thought. The 107th Psalm admonishes, “Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he has redeemed from the hand of the enemy” (Psalm 107:2 KJV). There are two ways God’s children praise him—through worship and through our lives. May both respond, “Hallelujah to the King of kings and Lord of lords, who shall reign forever and ever!”
