WHERE HALLELUJAH BEGINS (Psalm 146)

The last five psalms in the book of Psalms lead us to a great crescendo of praise. They have been referred to as “the hallelujah chorus” for obvious reasons.

Each one of them begins and ends the same way, with this phrase: “Praise ye the Lord.” That is what the word “hallelujah” literally means.

It is believed that these five psalms were written on the dedication of the second temple. It was a moment in the history of Israel in which there had been great answers to prayer, great blessing and great victory. So the response was not to praise men or to become self-satisfied but to “praise ye the Lord.”

Psalm 146, the first of the “hallelujah psalms,” is a fitting entrance to this section because it shows us where “hallelujah” begins. It takes us back to the foundation of our faith, to who God is. You can only praise a God you can trust, and Psalm 146 shows us that God.

Verses 1-2: “Praise ye the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul. While I live will I praise the Lord: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.”

Who Should Trust in the Lord

First of all, this passage tells us who should trust the Lord, and that is us. If you are alive today, you should trust the Lord. If you are breathing, it is because God has given you breath. He has given you life; your response to that should be to trust Him. That trust should last for the entirety of your life. Our trust and our thanks are connected to the God who has given us life.

The expression “O my soul” is found throughout the psalms, and it really articulates the heart of the psalmist — sincerely, personally, and wholeheartedly. It is the message of someone who will trust the Lord with his innermost being.

Who Should Not be Trusted

Verses 3-4 show who should not be trusted. “Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.”

Simply put, you cannot trust in men. This passage takes me back immediately to Psalm 118, the very center of our Bible, and the words found in verses 8-9: “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.” You cannot trust mortal men, even the best men. The mere fact that they have authority and opportunity does not guarantee that they will do the right thing.

Only God is always the same and is all-sufficient. In fact, verse 4 of Psalm 146 refers to the mortality of men. There comes a day when even the strongest, wisest men die, and at that point, their thoughts and plans cease. At that moment we are reminded that you cannot trust yourself or others, but you can trust Christ.

The expression “son of man” in verse 3 is significant because when you come to the New Testament, the Lord Jesus Christ’s favorite title for himself was the same except with a capital S. It is a revelation of the fact that you cannot trust human beings, but you can absolutely trust the God-man. You can trust Him with the deepest needs of your life.

The God Who Can Be Trusted

The rest of the psalm emphasizes who can be trusted. Verses 5-10 point us to the almighty God.

Verse 5: “Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God.” He used two titles here for God.

The first one, “God of Jacob,” is a reminder of His promises as well as man’s weakness. We all remember that Jacob was the schemer, the deceiver, the supplanter. Yet he was also the one who God made into Israel. Only God can do that. Aren’t you glad He associates His good name with ours? We are sinners like Jacob, weak and faltering. Yet He connects His name to our name.

The other title is “the Lord his God.” This is a reminder of how personal He is. He is my God. Is He yours?

I have marked in my Bible four key words in verse 5, all of which begin with the same letter.

HAPPY — you can have His joy.

HATH — you can have His presence.

HELP — you can have His strength.

HOPE — you can have His promise.

Those are powerful words. They bring us back to a God who can be trusted.

• “Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is” (verse 6). You can trust the God who created the world.
• “Which keepeth truth forever” (verse 6). You can trust the God of truth.
• “Which executeth judgment for the oppressed” (verse 7). He is the God of mercy.
• “Which giveth food to the hungry” (verse 7). He is the God of provision.
• “The Lord looseth the prisoners” (verse 7). He is the God of liberty.
• “The Lord openeth the eyes of the blind” (verse 8). He is the God who opens.
• “The Lord raiseth them that are bowed down” (verse 8). He is the God who lifts up.
• “The Lord loveth the righteous” (verse 8). He is the God of righteousness.
• “The Lord preserveth the strangers” (verse 9). He is the God of relief.
• “He relieveth the fatherless and widow” (verse 9). He is the God of tenderness.
• “But the way of the wicked he turneth upside down” (verse 9). He is the God of judgment.
• ”The Lord shall reign forever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations” (verse 10). He is the God of eternity.

Do you see this progression of truth? The psalmist went all the way back to creation in verse 6, and by verse 10, he had moved to the end of time and into eternity. We know we can trust a God who has always been and who always will be. He is “from everlasting to everlasting,” and we live in between. Throughout that time, God is with us, and He can be trusted.

In 420 AD, the Britons were facing a vicious enemy. Two commanders orchestrated their soldiers to shout three times at the top of their lungs, “Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.” It was so unusual and unexpected that the enemy became disoriented and frightened, fearing a secret weapon, and fled. That particular battle came to be called the “Alleluia Victory.” The idea is that there is power when you learn to praise God and you understand that He can be trusted.

Friend, cry out to the Lord. This is where victory begins. As the final words of Psalm 146 suggest, “Praise ye the Lord.”