Beginning and End

“For His lovingkindness is great toward us, and the truth of the LORD is everlasting.  Praise the LORD!” Psalm 117:2

Beginning and End

Praise the LORD – Psalm 117 opens with a command to praise.  Halelu.  It ends with the same resounding note.  A single word.  Haleluyah.  By adding the syllable “yah” the word adds God’s personal name, right from Exodus 3:14, the most important name ever uttered, the name so revered, so holy that the Jews stopped saying the name aloud thousands of years ago.  But here is its abbreviation, attached to the command to praise.  This is not praise for just anyone.  This is praise for one particular being; the God called by the name Yah.

Praise the Lord, says the Psalm in verse 1.  In the first verse, “Praise the LORD” actually contains the full divine name, but it would never have been read aloud.  Instead, the reader would substitute another word meaning “my Lord” (adonai). But in the second verse, the poet includes the divine name in the last word of the Psalm in a shortened form that could be read aloud.   Praise for the God whose name is personally known is the beginning and the end of the shortest Psalm.  And when it is all said and done, praise at the beginning and praise at the end is all that matters.

Each time we say “Hallelujah” we are speaking Hebrew praise for the God whose name has been revealed to us.  This is particular praise directed only to one particular person.  It is a way of saying out loud that my life is dependent upon, guided by, organized around and fulfilled in the God whose name I revere.  This is a word that orients my life toward His purposes.

It is a word for the beginning and end of the day.

It is a word for the beginning and end of my thoughts.

It is a word for the beginning and end of my actions.

It is a word for the beginning and end of my living.

Haleluyah! He is the God I will praise.