Praise the Lord
By Capazin Thornton
We were created to praise the Lord. And, as someone so aptly said, “When our praises go up, His glory comes down.”
In my book, High Call to Pray, I explore seven ways to express praise to the Lord as revealed in the Psalms. Today we will look at a familiar one. It is halal, the root of “Hallelujah.”
Praise the Lord
Halal means to make a jubilant sound. It is literally a command. “Everyone must praise Jah!”
Halal is a joyful, exuberant and triumphant expression of praise to the greatness of God and His glorious Name. Halal is also translated boast. “My soul shall make her boast in the Lord” and “In God we boast all the day long.” (Ps 34:2; Ps 44:8)
Halal is praise that can be spoken, sung, instrumental, and expressed through dance.
- Spoken
…Then the Levites…stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with voices loud and high. — 2 Chron 20:19
- Sung
Moreover King Hezekiah and the leaders commanded the Levites to sing praise to the Lord with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped. —2 Chron 29:30
- Instrumental:
Praise him with sound of the trumpet…with the psaltery and harp…with the timbrel and dance…with stringed instruments…with loud cymbals…with high sounding cymbals. — Ps 150:3
- Dance:
Dance is from a root meaning to twist or twirl. The Bible says, “Let them praise his name in the dance” (Ps 149:3).
Speaking, singing, playing instruments, and dancing under the inspiration and anointing of the Holy Spirit are dynamic ways to praise the Lord. Whether alone or in a corporate setting, the halal kind of praise is powerful.
When we praise the Lord, yokes are broken
When we wholeheartedly praise the Lord, powerful spiritual forces are released. Light, truth, and joy take over the atmosphere. Darkness flees. And yokes of oppression are broken off people’s lives.
When we praise the Lord, He rejoices over us
The coolest thing ever is that when we praise the Lord, the Lord rejoices over us!
The LORD your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you in His love. He will rejoice over you with singing. —Zeph 3:17
Praise the Lord!
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Do you have a praise report? Please feel free to post your comments.
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Capazin Thornton is Bible teacher, speaker, and writer in Orange County, California.
