God Be Praised

Have you ever been to one of those really high energy churches, some might even call them charismatic? You might have heard a certain word shouted from the crowd. Or perhaps you have heard this same strange word said by a preacher while he or she has been reading scripture or preaching. The word we are talking about is HALLELUJAH!

This is a word that literally translates to "God Be Praised"! Wow. One word with such a powerful statement. One word that can be shouted during a time of great victory or even whispered in a time of struggle. Hallelujah! In our passage here we see this very word used four times in just these 10 verses. This passage is talking about how God has taken a great victory for His kingdom. And after this victory we see all His people start to shout, "Hallelujah"! What is also beautiful in this passage is that we see no one is above praising God. Even near the end in verse 10, John tries to praise the angel who came to deliver the message to him, and the angel responded by telling John to praise God, not him, for he is also a servant just as John was. Can you imagine that, something as powerful as an angel not being above this powerful statement. Hallelujah!

On the flip side there is also no one whose praise God doesn’t welcome. We see this in verse 5 where it says, “Praise our God, all you His servants both great and small.” Any person, no matter how small or unimportant they may feel, is allowed access to this great word. Hallelujah!

The beauty of praise is that it is unrestricted. There is no rule that says you can only do it when times are good or only when they are bad, nor a rule that says it's only for the rich or only for the poor. The only thing we see here is praise.

Praise because God will be victorious.

Praise because God is good.

Praise because God is God.

Hallelujah!

Go Deep

Take some time and look back on this passage. What do you think it would be like to be there hearing thousands upon thousands shouting and celebrating God’s victory?

In what ways do you shout "Hallelujah" to God in your daily life?

Be Bold

What steps can you take to remember to praise God in your life?

Memorize it

Then a voice came from the throne, saying:

“Praise our God,
all you his servants,
you who fear him,
both great and small!”

- Revelation 19:5