THE HALLELUJAH WITNESS (Psalm 147)

We are in God’s “Hallelujah Chorus” at the end of the psalms. Now, we come to Psalm 147.

Verse 1: “Praise ye the Lord: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely.”

Verse 20: “He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the Lord.”

This is how the psalm begins and ends. It contrasts those who know the true God and those who do not. Israel is shown as a praising people that has Someone to praise, and these other nations are seen as those who do not know God.

Remember, Israel’s sole mission was to lift up a good God in a bad world. That is why God chose them. It wasn’t about just blessing one people group but blessing the entire world through that people group.

Some things never change. What do you think the people of God are supposed to do today? We are to be lifting up our good God in a bad world. If you are a Christian, you are to be promoting the goodness of our God.

God’s people have always been a praising people. Psalm 147 teaches us something about the hallelujah witness — the idea that praising God is a witness to a lost world.

Right now, I am afraid that most believers are talking more about how bad the world is than how good their God is. We are speaking more about our difficulties than His resources. It is time for God’s people to start praising Him again.

The Object of Our Praise

The Lord teaches us several things in Psalm 147. First is the object of our praise, which is always God Himself. He is the only One who is worthy. We see this three times here, including the first and last verse as well as verse 12: “Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion.”

We must never steal the glory from ourselves. The one thing God will not share with anyone is His glory, and we must never give it to anyone else. The Christian life is to be a Heavenward life, literally a life of praise that points everyone to God. Keep your eyes on the Lord and point everyone else to Him.

This is not something that is worked up. G. Campbell Morgan, one of my favorite authors, used to say, “Painted fire never burns.” This is the natural expression of a grateful heart. It is the fire burning us that says, “I am so glad to be a child of God. Praise the Lord.”

Extent of our Praise

This psalm also reveals the extent of our praise. What do we praise Him for? It might be a good idea for each of us to make a “hallelujah list” or a “praise ye the Lord list.” That is essentially what Psalm 147 was for the Psalmist.

Verses 2-3, 6: “The Lord doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel. He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds…The Lord lifteth up the meek: he casteth the wicked down to the ground.” The Psalmist was praising God for what He had done for himself and others.

Verses 13-14: “For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates; he hath blessed thy children within thee. He maketh peace in thy borders, and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat.” This was praise for what God had done in the past and the present.

This psalm praises God for what He does in Heaven and what He does on Earth. He is praised for His work as well as for His nature or who He is.

Verse 5: “Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.”

Even when things do not go the way you want them to, you can always go back to God’s nature. He is a great God.

One of the things that struck me about Psalm 147 is how much the Psalmist praised the Lord for His Word. Verse 15: “He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth: his word runneth very swiftly.”

Verses 18-19: “He sendeth out his word, and melteth them: he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow. He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel.”

If you need something to praise God for, open your Bible and start reading it. You are going to see God in there, and your heart will begin to well up with praise. You will start giving Him glory because you are getting a fresh glimpse of Him. You will be reminded of what the Lord has done in your life.

The extent of our praise is for everything God has done in our lives. If you read Psalm 147, you will see material as well as spiritual things, family things, personal things, things He has kept you from, and things He has given to you. It is the whole experience of life. Every part of life should make us remember that our God is good and He is worthy of our praise.

The Intent of our Praise

Now, we see the intent of our praise as we come full circle back to where we started. Remember, this is the hallelujah witness psalm. We are to lift God in this world.

The Bible says in Titus 2:10, “Not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.” We are to dress up and make beautiful the things that we believe. Nothing is so attractive as a happy Christian giving God praise.

Let me tell you what witnessing is. Simply put, it is praising God to someone else. It is sharing the good news of God with other people. It is a present-tense testimony and the most powerful way to point others to your Christ.

Let’s go back to verse 1. “Praise ye the Lord: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant, and praise is comely.” It is good for us, it is good for God, and it is good for others. It is so different from the harsh world in which we live. And not only is it pleasant, it is beautiful.

Is your life beautifying the truth of the gospel? When people see you, do they see a hallelujah witness?

Billy Bray was a man I enjoyed reading after and reading about. He was just an old drunk who came to know Jesus Christ as his personal Savior and was gloriously converted. His friends said, “You’ll be back to the liquor.”

He showed up at a bar one Friday night. “We knew you’d be back,” they said.

“No, I’m not here to drink,” he said. “I’m here to tell how you can be delivered from it.”

As he shared his testimony, they told him, “You’re mad.”

“No. I’m glad.”

Billy Bray was a man full of praise because he recognized just how much God had changed his life. He once said that as he walked across town when one foot hit the ground, it said, “Amen.” When the other foot landed, it said, “Glory to God.”

I like that. Every step he took and every part of his life was praise to God, who made a difference in time and eternity.

Let me challenge you to read Psalm 147 today. Set aside some time to just give God praise. He is worthy of it.

But go a step further. Share the truth of this psalm with someone else. Be to that person a hallelujah witness.

“Praise ye the Lord.”