Praise ye the Lord.
Hallelujah
I. The grandest resolution (verses 1, 2).
1. The author’s belief in the existence of his soul. When this conviction comes, the whole universe is transfigured, and God is brought down from the region of debate and speculation into the realm of consciousness as the Reality of realities.
2. His belief in the duty of his soul to worship. This is to have the whole soul transported with the sense of His immeasurable love and the transcendent loveliness of His character,--to have the soul following Him as the planets follow the sun, drawing from Him harmony of movement, radiance, and life. The words imply--
3. His conviction that he must rouse himself to the work. “O my soul.” No soul can worship unless it rouses. Man has the power of self-motion and self-resolve. We cannot be carried up the lofty heights of true devotion; we must climb the rugged slopes ourselves. Ten thousand voices from above are constantly saying to us, “Come up hither.”
II. The unreliability of mankind (verses 3, 4).
1. Men’s bodies are dying.
2. Men’s purposes are perishing. The great shores of destiny are crowded with the wrecks of purposes that have been broken, unfulfilled hopes, unrealized plans, etc. Wherefore, then, “put trust in princes” or in mankind? Sooner a house built on the sand, and in defiance of the laws of gravitation, to shelter you from the tempest, or the most fragile canoe to bear you in safety over the Atlantic billows.
III. The happiest condition (Psalms 146:5-9).
1. The “God of Jacob” is--
(1) All powerful.
(2) Absolutely truthful.
(3) Infinitely merciful.
2. Here, then, is an Object on which to rely, “Trust in Him who liveth for ever.”
IV. The wrongdoer’s destiny (verse 9). “The way of the wicked He turneth aside.”
1. From what? From all that can render their existence worth having,--from pure friendship, from peace of conscience, from pure loves, from bright and unquenchable hopes. “He turns them aside.”
2. How? Not by His will, not by the force of circumstances, not by the influence He exerts, no; but by their own free agency they turn themselves “upside down,” they go of their own accord on the broad way that leads to destruction. (David Thomas, D. D.)
“Hallelujah”
I am sorry to see that great word, Hallelujah, Hallelu-Jah, praise to Jah, Jehovah, become so hackneyed as it is, by talk about “Hallelujah lasses,” and Hallelujah--I know not what. The Jews will not even pronounce the word Jab, or write it; it seems a great pity that it should be thus draggled in the dirt by Gentiles. “Praise ye the Lord.” Whenever you make use of the word Hallelujah, let it be with the due reverence which should be given to that blessed name, for remember, “the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.” (C. H. Spurgeon.)
His last song
A touching story is told of an old Methodist, a singer of no mean order, who was afflicted with a cancer on his tongue. He went to a hospital for an operation, and there this pathetic incident occurred. Holding up his hand, he said, “Wait a bit, doctor; I have something to say to you.” The operator waited, and the patient continued, “When this is over, doctor, shall I ever sing again?” The doctor could not speak; there was a big lump in his own throat. He simply shook his head, while the tears streamed down the poor fellow’s face, and he trembled convulsively. The sick man then appealed to the doctor to lift him up, with which request the physician complied. He said, “I have had many a good time singing God’s praises, and you tell me, doctor, I can never sing any more after this. I have one song to sing, which will be the last. It will be a song of gratitude and praise to God as well.” Then, from the operator’s table, the poor man sang one of Dr. Watts’ hymns, so familiar to many:--
“I’ll praise my Maker while I’ve breath.”
(Sunday Circle.)