two places to shout “Hallelujah!”

Praise the LORD!

Praise God in his sanctuary;

praise him in his mighty heavens!

Psalm 150:1

By mentioning two places of praise, the very last of the Psalms invites us from it’s opening lines into a very personal, very powerful worship of the Lord. It leads us from two places of praise into a deeper awareness of the practice and purpose of praise.

Let’s begin at the places. This opening stanza tells us there are two of them. The first place is sort of a given: the place built for His worship, the temple. For every Jew, traveling to Jerusalem to worship on Mount Zion at God’s temple was a privilege and an obligation. Feasts and celebrations regularly required pilgrimages from all over Israel to assemble at the temple. Even Jesus Himself participated in these worship holidays. There the worship was festive, communal, and buoyed by family tradition! There was something spectacular and also very fulfilling about gathering in a large crowd to worship Yahweh. This is still very much the reason we do not forsake gathering on Sunday as Christians at a local church for worship. We need these experiences. They are vibrant and life-giving, but are not the only place of worship.

God is also worshiped in “His mighty heavens”. This is more than just a poetic reference to the direct presence of God in His heavenly throne room. It is a way to call us to worship God anywhere in His universe. There is no place in heaven or on earth where we cannot worship God. If we had the ability to be on the farthest edge of the most distant galaxy, there we would praise the King of Heaven! Praise is universal in its location. Any time, any place, anywhere… we are called into worship. This is more personal and individual. We cannot forsake corporate worship and neither should we shrink from personal worship under His heavens!

And what is the practice of praise we must do in either of these two places? It is simple: we shout out “Praise the Lord!” The opening three words of Psalm 150 in English translations are only one word in Hebrew: Hallelujah! And the exclamation point? Well it is written into that word! Hallelujahs are always loud and expressive! God’s praises should be joyful, loud, emotionally-packed, filled with our grateful wonder and joy! We do not mumble Yahweh’s name… ever. We should have hearts that shout out “God be praised!” in any experience, in any time, in every place, in every victory and in every deep loss, God is with us and we must praise Him! With His people gathered we shout: “Praise the Lord!” Under His heavens, perhaps alone, minuscule and humbled by the sheer magnificence and wonder of God’s person and works we shout: “Praise the Lord!”