This is the second prayer in the prayer acronym, T.H.E. W.A.Y.
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H: Hallelujah! (Praise Yahweh!)
- "1 After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, "Hallelujah! Salvation, power, and glory belong to our God... 6 I heard something like the voice of a great multitude, and like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of mighty thunders, saying, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns!" (Revelation 19:1, 6)
Prayerful Observations:
Hallelujah means praise Yahweh. Hallelu means praise. Jah is short for Yahweh. In modern times Jah is pronounced as Yah. That's how Hallelujah means praise Yahweh. Yahweh is the personal name of God. Click here to learn about his name. Salvation, power, and glory belong to Yahweh. They come from him. He is almighty. He reigns! So, you can praise the God of the universe by saying and singing, Hallelujah!
The word "reigns" is a translation of the Greek word basileuo. If we trace the use of basileuo in the New Testament, we see different shades of the reigning of Christ. Grace reigns through Jesus Christ now (Romans 5:21). Christ reigns now until he has put all his enemies under his feet (1 Corinthians 15:25). The kingdoms of the world become the kingdoms of Christ at the sound of the seventh trumpet wherein he begins reigning those kingdoms on earth (Revelation 11:15-17). After the second coming, Christ will reign for the 1000 years of the Millennial Kingdom (Revelation 20:6) until the Great White Throne Judgement (Revelation 20:7-15). All authority was given to Christ before his ascension (Matthew 28:18). In the passage above from Revelation we see a future time when saints will proclaim, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns!", praising Yahweh when his earthly reign begins at Armageddon (Revelation 19:6-21).
They will say, "Hallelujah" because his will will be done on earth as it has been done in Heaven. But until that time, we can say, "Hallelujah", because his will will be done one earth in the future, as it is now done in Heaven (See the Lord's prayer in Matthew 6:6-13).
Now, let's look at a passage of praise from the Psalms in the Old Testament.
- "1 Praise Yah!
Praise Yahweh, my soul.
2 While I live, I will praise Yahweh.
I will sing praises to my God as long as I exist.
3 Don't put your trust in princes,
in a son of man in whom there is no help.
4 His spirit departs, and he returns to the earth.
In that very day, his thoughts perish.
5 Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help,
whose hope is in Yahweh, his God:
6 who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them;
who keeps truth forever;
7 who executes justice for the oppressed;
who gives food to the hungry.
Yahweh frees the prisoners.
8 Yahweh opens the eyes of the blind.
Yahweh raises up those who are bowed down.
Yahweh loves the righteous.
9 Yahweh preserves the foreigners.
He upholds the fatherless and widow,
but he turns the way of the wicked upside down.
10 Yahweh will reign forever;
your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise Yah!" (Psalm 146)
Prayerful Observations:
Yahweh is the personal name of God. If your version of the Bible reads LORD instead of Yahweh, the translators have chosen to replace God's personal name with the title LORD. This is probably explained in your Bible's introduction, preface or principles of translation. To learn more about this practice, click here.
This Psalm begins and ends with Hallelujah (verses 1 and 10). The above translation reads "praise Yahweh" and "praise Yah" in those two verses. But many translations read, "Hallelujah". That's because Hallelujah means praise Yahweh.
Now that you know what Hallelujah means, you can praise God by simply saying, Hallelujah! You can also add details to your praise from what you see in the above Psalm. Then you can add more details to your praise from your present life... from today! In the above Psalm, we see praise of Yahweh because in him is hope (5). He is also praised because he is creator (6), brings justice, food and freedom (7), vision, glory and love (8), protection and judgement (9) and will reign forever (10).
So, you can pray Psalm 146 to God. Read it to him. You can also add other praises from your life as you pray this Psalm to God!
To see all six prayers in the prayer acronym, THE WAY, click here.
To see nine different prayer acronyms, click here.