Hallelujah is the ringing tone of this psalm. In the beginning and the end when we read “Praise the Lord” or “Praise Jehovah,” it is literally the world “Hallelujah”. This psalm and the next traditionally is sung by the Jewish people before the Passover meal and then the next 4 psalms afterwards. These are all great praise and worship songs.
In his first letter to the Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul encourages us to “pray without ceasing,” and echoes the tone of this psalm as well:
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Do we praise God from sunup to sundown? It is not as though we have no reason to praise Him, we just simply forget. Several years ago, my wife and I added alarms to our phones as a reminder to take a “praise pause” and just stop for a moment and praise God for whatever we could think of for praising Him.
Sometimes, however, life is so hard that it is difficult to find something worth praising. What about the fact that you are alive right now and able to say and think “I don’t know what I can praise Him for?” Psalm 113 gives us a few examples of reasons to praise God:
He is the king above all kings,
He raises the poor from the dust, the needy from the garbage heap,
He restores the barren (which there were a few of in Jesus’ bloodline)
He is ruler over all the earth,
Surely, He has reason to be praised! Even if we don’t have an example in our own lives at this very moment to praise Him, we can see examples in others’ lives, can’t we? I mean, when life sucks, it kind of highlights the good, praiseworthy moments in the lives of those around us, doesn’t it? Why can’t we praise God for those things? For the ways He blesses others? After all, it isn’t just about us, it’s about His glory. His glory, love, goodness, and kindness is displayed in all our lives…not just “mine”.
Hallelujah!
