❖ Video
❖ Audio (Message)
Hallelujah
(Psalm 135)
Andy Nagahara
Today’s text, Psalm 135, is a somewhat longer psalm that begins and ends with “Hallelujah.” Many people, even those who have never read the Bible, may recognize the word “hallelujah” from the name of a song.
In Hebrew, the original language of the Old Testament, this word is a combination of two original words, “Hallel” (praise) and “Ya (Yahweh),” and means “Praise Yahweh.” However, most English Bibles do not use the word “Hallelujah” as it is, but instead translate it into English as “Praise the LORD.” Even in the NIV that we use, “Hallelujah” only appears four times in Revelation chapter 19, and in today’s passage it is translated into English as “Praise the LORD.”
As always, let’s take it a little at a time. Let’s read up to verse 7.
1. Praise him, you servants of the LORD (1-7)
1 Praise the LORD. Praise the name of the LORD; praise him, you servants of the LORD,
2 you who minister in the house of the LORD, in the courts of the house of our God.
3 Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; sing praise to his name, for that is pleasant.
4 For the LORD has chosen Jacob to be his own, Israel to be his treasured possession.
5 I know that the LORD is great, that our Lord is greater than all gods.
6 The LORD does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths.
7 He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth; he sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses.
This song is a praise song to God that was sung during the Jewish temple worship service at that time. The Christian faith, which involves believing in Jesus as Lord and following him, was born in Jewish society. The disciples who started the church were not rejecting Judaism in their faith, but rather believed that Jesus was the final piece in completing Judaism. Therefore, they continued to read the Old Testament, believing it to be the Bible, the Word of God. And , the ancestors of our church must have truly believed and sang this hymn as the song they should sing.
So we too can understand this without being caught up in the words Jacob and Israel, but rather that, “The Lord has chosen us for himself and has made us his own treasured possession.” We are servants of the Lord. The church is the house of the Lord, the house of God, and we are the ones who stand in its courts.
As you begin to walk with the Lord Jesus, you will come to know more and more of His goodness. The more we walk together, the more we realize just how great the Lord is. As verses 6 and 7 say, God is sovereign over all that surrounds us. However, God is not a ruthless ruler of people like earthly dictators. God is a God who loves us, not a God who torments us; a God who gives us life, not a God who kills us. There is only one Yahweh/Lord who is worthy of our Hallel/praise.
So let’s continue reading the text, verses 8-14.
2. God of the Bible only love Jews and Christians? (8-14)
8 He struck down the firstborn of Egypt, the firstborn of men and animals.
9 He sent his signs and wonders into your midst, O Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants.
10 He struck down many nations and killed mighty kings–
11 Sihon king of the Amorites, Og king of Bashan and all the kings of Canaan–
12 and he gave their land as an inheritance, an inheritance to his people Israel.
13 Your name, O LORD, endures forever, your renown, O LORD, through all generations.
14 For the LORD will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants.
When the early church began, the New Testament did not yet exist. The New Testament was compiled by the people of this early church. The Gospels are the written accounts of the oral tradition passed down by the Apostles, who were eyewitnesses to Jesus’ earthly ministry.
As mentioned earlier, the early church believed that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah of Judaism. However, Jesus himself did not fit within the sole religion of Judaism. Those who believed in Jesus also began to realize this, and compiled Jesus’ words and actions into the Gospels, the work of the Holy Spirit that was revealed to the early church into the Acts of the Apostles, the systematic organization of Jesus’ teachings and letters about the way the church should be in accordance with Jesus’ will, and the prophetic book of Revelation, all into one book, the New Testament.
The current set of 27 books of the New Testament was finalized in the 4th century. The Bible, both the Old and New Testaments, is not a finished book from the beginning that was discovered by someone through God’s revelation or that came down from heaven. This brings us to the very important question of in what sense the Bible is the “Word of God.”
Some people say that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God and therefore must be read literally as it is written, and that God is “a God who only loves Jews and Christians.” But according to Genesis, God is the God of all people, who created all things. Given its origins, the Bible is not word-for-word inerrant in that sense. It is the “Word of God” written in the language of people who could not avoid the influence of the culture of the time. We need to interpret and receive the Bible, which was written in the language of flawed people, as accurately as possible, based not on the surface meaning of the words but on the actions and words of Jesus.
This may sound like I’m talking about something unrelated to the passage we just read, but in fact, it is essential to a correct understanding of this passage. Before Jesus came into the world, most religions were tied to ethnic groups or nations. Judaism is no exception. If we do not keep in mind that the passage we have just read was written from the perspective of the Jews of that time, it would mean that “the God of the Bible is a God who loves only Jews and Christians.” This may sound like a laughing matter to those of you who are always trying to listen seriously to Jesus’ thoughts, but there are actually people in Japan who teach that “According to the Bible, which is God’s word, God does not permit the genocide of Jews or Christians, but does approve of the genocide of pagans and Philistines.” They teach that Christians should naturally support the Israeli government in the current conflict in the Gaza Strip. If you search on YouTube, you will find so many such YouTuber pastors that it is sad.
I believe that God loves people equally no matter what their nationality or religion, and will not tolerate anyone mistreating them. Therefore, I think verse 14 should be interpreted as, “God demands justice for all and has mercy on all, regardless of ethnicity or nationality.”
Let’s read verses 15-21.
3. Do not fear idols, but praise the Lord! (15-21)
15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.
16 They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but they cannot see;
17 they have ears, but cannot hear, nor is there breath in their mouths.
18 Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.
19 O house of Israel, praise the LORD; O house of Aaron, praise the LORD;
20 O house of Levi, praise the LORD; you who fear him, praise the LORD.
21 Praise be to the LORD from Zion, to him who dwells in Jerusalem. Praise the LORD.
The Bible is full of words warning against idolatry, the practice of worshipping something as a substitute for God, but here it warns against the fear of idols. For the people of that time, it was literally a fear of the idols they believed to be the source of power for the surrounding powerful nations.
Modern people do not make idols with their hands, but they have idols made with their hearts. If we don’t know God, the only option is to make idols. However, as it is written here, all idols are powerless.
When we are afraid of anything, we are afraid of the idols that have been created. Since we are with God who actually controls everything, there is nothing to fear. That is the reason why we say hallelujah!
Actually, when I first believed in Jesus, I had a hard time saying “Hallelujah.” Before becoming a pastor, I worked for a short time at a Christian publishing company, and among the pastors who frequented the company, there were some who would say “Hallelujah” as a greeting, and even if they met me in a crowd, they would also say “Hallelujah.” When I reply “Hello,” they say “Hallelujah” again, and they don’t let me go until I say “Hallelujah.” When I said “Hallelujah” in a low voice, being careful not to disturb those around me, I was told to say it louder.
In other words, my first impression of “Hallelujah” was that it was very carefree and pushy. There was a Jewish-Canadian poet and singer-songwriter named Leonard Cohen, who passed away eight years ago.
There are many songs titled “Hallelujah,” The photo in the weekly bulletin shows the opening of “Hallelujah” from Handel’s oratorio “Messiah,” written in his own handwriting. Aside from Handel’s “Hallelujah,” Cohen’s song “Hallelujah” is the best known and has been covered by many singers.
The Hallelujah sung there is neither carefree nor overbearing, but rather painful and weak. It is a Hallelujah that is squeezed out aloud, or murmured like a sigh, when, in the midst of one’s own sinfulness, powerlessness, and bad circumstances, one addresses to God who created oneself and who will surely do something about it.
The lyrics go like this.
“Love is not a victory march
It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah”
“It’s not somebody who’s seen the light
It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah”
The Hallelujah that comes from the mouth of David when he commits a great sin, or from the mouth of Samson when his hair is cut and he is rendered helpless (as Cohen imagines it), is actually more valuable than a Hallelujah sung with cheerfulness and joy. Cohen himself said the following:
“You look around and you see a world that cannot be made sense of you either raise your fists or you say hallelujah”
Even if I am powerless, foolish, sinful, or have nothing, it’s okay because I have you, so I entrust myself to you. It is not a “Hallelujah” to command someone else, but a “Hallelujah” to comfort and encourage oneself. Hallelujah!
(Prayer) God, we rejoice that You are now with each one of us, closer than anyone else.
Whatever the situation, we trust in You.
Although the future of the world seems to be heading towards destruction, we entrust everything to You, Almighty God.
We do not fear people, but sing Your praises and worship You.
Please guide our steps.
We pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Summary
We should say “Hallelujah” (Praise the Lord) at all times. That doesn’t mean we should act happy and content all the time. Rather, when there is nothing that can be done, help from others is unreliable, and the situation seems hopeless, and we have no choice but to leave it all to the Lord, uttering the Hallelujah as if calling out to ourselves with an attitude of entrusting everything to God, is the core of faith.
For Discussion
- What does “Hallelujah” mean?
- In what sense is the Bible “the Word of God”?