God is good & Jesus is risen
Praise God for everything. The Lord is good, & Jesus has risen! "Halleuiah!" :)
April 12, 2005
"Hallelujah"
Rachel Olsen
ETC Editor, Proverbs 31 Speaker Team Member
Key Verse:
Revelation 19:1, "After this I heard what sounded like the roar
of a great multitude in heaven shouting: "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory
and power belong to our God." (NIV)
Devotion:
When asked one night at the dinner table if he knew what
"hallelujah" means, my four-year-old son replied with a smile, "Yes, it means to go
to bed." While I tried to think how he arrived at this conclusion -
perhaps I'd sung him lullabies containing that word - my husband teasingly quipped,
"That is because Mommy shouts 'hallelujah' every night once you kids
are in bed!" We all laughed hysterically.
According to Nave's Topical Bible, "hallelujah" is "an
exclamatory expression of praise or adoration." It's kind of like shouting to God:
"All Right - Yippee - Way to Go - Hoo Ha - You're the Best!" You'll often
hear it spoken in the midst of favorable circumstances, like when something
desperately hoped for finally comes to pass.
God is just as deserving of our "hallelujahs," however, in our
difficult circumstances - while we are still hoping and waiting on the
breakthrough.
A certain musician discovered this during his despairing times.
Struggling to afford a small, shabby apartment in London, he often went
without food. One evening in 1741, he wandered the city streets all
night long, depressed. When he returned to his room he found an envelope on
the table from fellow composer Charles Jennens. Examining the pages, he
found them covered with words from Scripture.
He crawled into bed to sleep, but dreams would not come. The
words on the pages kept returning to his mind:
Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saith your God ... The people
that walked in darkness have seen a great light ... For unto us a Child is
born ... Glory to God in the highest ... Hallelujah!
He got up and went to his piano where music began to flow out of
his fingers. For three weeks straight, he composed feverishly. On the day
the work was finished, a friend came to visit. There sat the composer at
the piano, sheets of music strewn around him, with tears streaking down his
face. "I do believe I have seen all of Heaven before me, and the great
God Himself," he exclaimed. The composer was George Frederic Handel and the
composition was "Messiah," featuring the now world-famous "Hallelujah
Chorus."
No one is more deserving of a hallelujah chorus than our Messiah.
The Pharisees told Jesus to rebuke his disciples for exclaiming, "Blessed
is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in
the highest heaven!" Jesus replied, "I tell you, if they were to keep
silent, the stones would cry out!" (Luke 19:38-40, NIV). Friends, I pray that
the rocks around us never have cause to cry out because we are failing to
praise the Lord. In good times and bad, join in with the heavenly hosts
shouting "Hallelujah!" to the One to whom salvation, glory and power belong.
My prayer for today:
Lord, you are truly worthy of all my honor and praise. I praise
you for who you are - you are majestic, loving and true! I praise you for
what you've done - salvation, healing and blessing come from you alone! I
praise you for what you will do in the future - the enemy will be eternally
destroyed and a New Jerusalem will be established for your people!
Hallelujah!!
April 12, 2005
"Hallelujah"
Rachel Olsen
ETC Editor, Proverbs 31 Speaker Team Member
Key Verse:
Revelation 19:1, "After this I heard what sounded like the roar
of a great multitude in heaven shouting: "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory
and power belong to our God." (NIV)
Devotion:
When asked one night at the dinner table if he knew what
"hallelujah" means, my four-year-old son replied with a smile, "Yes, it means to go
to bed." While I tried to think how he arrived at this conclusion -
perhaps I'd sung him lullabies containing that word - my husband teasingly quipped,
"That is because Mommy shouts 'hallelujah' every night once you kids
are in bed!" We all laughed hysterically.
According to Nave's Topical Bible, "hallelujah" is "an
exclamatory expression of praise or adoration." It's kind of like shouting to God:
"All Right - Yippee - Way to Go - Hoo Ha - You're the Best!" You'll often
hear it spoken in the midst of favorable circumstances, like when something
desperately hoped for finally comes to pass.
God is just as deserving of our "hallelujahs," however, in our
difficult circumstances - while we are still hoping and waiting on the
breakthrough.
A certain musician discovered this during his despairing times.
Struggling to afford a small, shabby apartment in London, he often went
without food. One evening in 1741, he wandered the city streets all
night long, depressed. When he returned to his room he found an envelope on
the table from fellow composer Charles Jennens. Examining the pages, he
found them covered with words from Scripture.
He crawled into bed to sleep, but dreams would not come. The
words on the pages kept returning to his mind:
Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saith your God ... The people
that walked in darkness have seen a great light ... For unto us a Child is
born ... Glory to God in the highest ... Hallelujah!
He got up and went to his piano where music began to flow out of
his fingers. For three weeks straight, he composed feverishly. On the day
the work was finished, a friend came to visit. There sat the composer at
the piano, sheets of music strewn around him, with tears streaking down his
face. "I do believe I have seen all of Heaven before me, and the great
God Himself," he exclaimed. The composer was George Frederic Handel and the
composition was "Messiah," featuring the now world-famous "Hallelujah
Chorus."
No one is more deserving of a hallelujah chorus than our Messiah.
The Pharisees told Jesus to rebuke his disciples for exclaiming, "Blessed
is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in
the highest heaven!" Jesus replied, "I tell you, if they were to keep
silent, the stones would cry out!" (Luke 19:38-40, NIV). Friends, I pray that
the rocks around us never have cause to cry out because we are failing to
praise the Lord. In good times and bad, join in with the heavenly hosts
shouting "Hallelujah!" to the One to whom salvation, glory and power belong.
My prayer for today:
Lord, you are truly worthy of all my honor and praise. I praise
you for who you are - you are majestic, loving and true! I praise you for
what you've done - salvation, healing and blessing come from you alone! I
praise you for what you will do in the future - the enemy will be eternally
destroyed and a New Jerusalem will be established for your people!
Hallelujah!!