(Hallelu+Yah= Praise+God)
Did you ever think of how praising God and thanking Him are really the same thing? In one instance, we're looking to God and singing of how wonderful He is. In the other, we're telling Him WHY. We use both simultaneously, all the time.
Here's a fine example.
Psalm 147:
Hallelujah! (if David were a rhetorician, this would be his thesis.)
How good it is to sing praises to our God,
how pleasant and fitting to praise him! (Here's his argument.... it is good, pleasant, and--especiallly-- FITTING to praise Him.)
(but WHY?)
The LORD builds up Jerusalem;
he gathers the exiles of Israel.
Here's something amazing about God: His children never live out in the cold, away from other Christians and church support, because He gathers them in, builds them up. By way of personal testimony: My family has always been provided with a church. That's a cause for thanksgiving.
He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds. (theme emerges: God cares for His people, particularly, needy people)
God heals the brokenhearted. This hits home particularly well this year. My great-great-uncle Willard died on Tuesday at the age of 103, the Gamgee's grandfather died on Monday night. On Wednesday we went to the Oklahoma City Murrah Bombing Memorial, and looked at all the wreaths and pictures hung up along that fence. Some survivors of all these various tragedies can testify to this fact--God heals their broken hearts. That's a reason to thank Him.
He determines the number of the stars
and calls them each by name. (second theme emerges: God manages the affairs of a universe with meticulous care)
All God's stars are made-to-order. As for the boggling numerical statistics, I'm sure you've already heard them, but here's another way of thinking about stars: they're there for US! They burn trillions of miles into space, so we can look up in the sky and remember God's promise to Abraham in Genesis 15, so that we can have the joy of finding, studying, watching them as the Hand of God. God put them there for Himself as well--they stand as an everlasting testimony to His glory. And stars are a definite reason to thank Him, because they give us a way to see that glory.
Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
his understanding has no limit. (third theme emerges: God's strength and understanding stretch to the bounds of infinity.)
God is so great....
The LORD sustains the humble
but casts the wicked to the ground. (God cares for His people and hates their enemies. see the first theme reappear?)
God is so small... (that He's personally involved with the affairs of men.) The Psalm contrasts God's infinite intellectual and physical capacities with those whom He cares for. It's not like OUR stupendous intellect and physique will win His favor--like He looks down and says "Hey! That guy's pretty bright. I couldn't find a smarter, more powerful person in the whole world. I guess I'll help him out." In fact, He does quite the opposite, and with power greater than all the men of the world put together, He defends the weak against oppressors, and takes positive action against evil.
Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving;
make music to our God on the harp. (a response--thesis restatement no. 1!)
He covers the sky with clouds;
he supplies the earth with rain
and makes grass grow on the hills.
He provides food for the cattle
and for the young ravens when they call. (One could say (with certain stipulations about His relationship to the world), that God draws the bath, opens the blinds, and gets breakfast. Servant God! the second theme reappears...)
His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his delight in the legs of a man;
the LORD delights in those who fear him,
who put their hope in his unfailing love. (God doesn't rejoice to see His people strong and independent--He rejoices in those who seek His love and follow His ways...first theme reappears...)
Extol the LORD, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion, (thesis restatement no. 2...)
for he strengthens the bars of your gates
and blesses your people within you. (God's power is what makes Him such a great protector...)
What does it mean that God "strengthens the bars of your gates?" Is it completely figurative or not? In Israel's history, God literally shielded His people from oncoming enemies (when they repented and called to Him in faith). This physical protection had spiritual meaning--God protects your souls from the fiery darts of the enemy..
Today I tend to think it still has both spiritual and physical implications. God protects us from wolves in sheep's clothing, the false teachers that would spiritually ruin us. He also protects our churches in very practical ways. We still can hear instances where He miraculously provided a way of escape from flesh-and-blood monsters, and these stories have spiritual implications. (Peter Hammond has lots of these stories to tell--I have the tapes if you want to borrow them.) (Corrie Ten Boom...) (Psalm 2...)
He grants peace to your borders
and satisfies you with the finest of wheat. (provider...)
Thank God we get along with our neighbors!
He sends his command to the earth;
his word runs swiftly. (and here's the truth about His power, by the way... third theme reappears...)
He spreads the snow like wool
and scatters the frost like ashes.
He hurls down his hail like pebbles.
Who can withstand his icy blast?
God can do anything... (the neat thing about this example? many of us have actually experienced one of those terrifying hail storms!)
He sends his word and melts them;
he stirs up his breezes, and the waters flow.
and He can un-do anything... (of course, we take it for granted that the storm will eventually stop... but I can't ever once remember attributing peace after a storm to the hand of God. funny how that goes.)
He has revealed his word to Jacob,
his laws and decrees to Israel. (God loves us by revealing His will.)
He has done this for no other nation;
they do not know his laws. (this privilege is exceedingly precious...)
Hallelujah! (Rhetorical conclusion.)
