“Praise the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with the tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute, praise him with the clash of cymbals praise him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.” - Psalm 150-
This psalm begins with an explosive and reverent shout! “Hallelujah” Hallel is the Hebrew word which means “praise.” And jah comes from the Hebrew 'Yah’, the shortened form of the divine name of God: Yahweh. Hallelujah literally means, “Praise the Lord.”
Praise God in his sanctuary! Certainly during these transformative days of distancing we can appreciate gathering in the house of the Lord. We gather to praise God, together, with hearts united with the breath He has placed in our lungs, in heart felt harmony. We do this together with holy intention and under divine direction; gathering as people of God in the place we call the church, the sanctuary. (Or in this case, the Outreach Center.)
Praise Him in His mighty heavens. The Message translation states it this way: “Praise him under the open skies.” Literally praise God anywhere and everywhere. Creation itself is a billboard, a living testament of God. Throughout scripture we are pointed to God’s creation as both evidence of His surpassing greatness and covenantal promises. Consider the rainbow placed as a sign of His covenantal promise. Psalm 104 is a symphony of praise sparked by the glory of God revealed in creation. I encourage you to read that Psalm and these passages.
Nehemiah 9:6 “You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heavens worship you.”
Acts 14:15 “Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and the sea and everything in them.”
Be intentional and directional with your praise. On Sunday we will gather to follow this excellent example found in Psalm 150 with loud instrument and raised voice. Consider how greater our expression of praise would be, and our hearts readied by the Spirit to hear the heart of God through the preached word of God, if we began that prelude of praise today. You have every reason to do so.
Praise God today and let’s raise the roof on Sunday with the overflow of our personal a week of praise. This certainly cannot be contained by the thin veneer of a facial mask. See you then, with a song in my heart!