Psalms for Praise

The old saying, “Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me,” isn’t very true. Words can be powerful tools for either evil or good. It’s amazing how often certain words show up in Scripture that point to something we instantly recognize as godly. These may be words we use almost exclusively with worship. Words like: sanctify, devotional, righteous, and holy, are just a few. 

Paul sums up the proper attitude to have in worship, and in life for that matter, in 1 Corinthians 13:13, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” As he shares the three qualities that should be utmost in our lives, these words also reflect an attitude of praise that God longs to see in us. 

But there was a collection of Hebrew poems and songs that were made into five books that focus on lamentations and praises. It’s a book we typically know as Psalms. Oftentimes attributed to David even though only 73 actually bear his name, they all help us better know how to praise God. In fact, the first two chapters remind us that those who meditate on God’s words, His promises, and even His laws will be blessed. Therefore, those who take refuge in Him will find comfort during difficult times (songs of lament) as well as fuel for praise for all times. 

There are a few words that we see periodically throughout Psalms that may not be common words for us in our language, but they were quite impactful in the Hebrew culture. Two words I want to share with you are: Selah and Hallel. Selah’s meaning is not completely understood, but most scholars agree that it’s a word that describes taking a rest and meditating. This might be equivalent to a guitar solo in a song. But it serves as a reminder to slow down! 

The word Hallel means to praise, and we are more familiar with the command version of it, Hallelujah, which means "Praise the Lord!" In the book of Psalms, the last five Psalms (146-150) are designed to focus exclusively on praising God. However, at the end of each book there’s a common ending that serves as a reminder to praise God regardless of our circumstances, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen.” (Psalms 41:13, 72:18-19, 89:15, 106:48). 

It’s not always easy to be in the mindset to praise God, but having a constant meditation on His character and His promises will definitely help motivate us to reflect on His most precious Word that God ever gave us—Jesus!