“Praise the LORD, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD” (Psalm 117).
Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter in the Bible. It is only two verses long. But this short chapter contains some amazing truths about the purpose of life.
The Psalm opens with a call to worship – “Praise the LORD.” Praise the LORD is actually only one word in the Hebrew – hallelujah. When the Jews heard “Hallelujah,” they knew that they were being called and summoned to praise and worship God.
Notice that the English translations of the Bible write the word Lord in two ways. There are times when God is referred to as the Lord, and then there are times when God is referred to as the LORD. What’s the difference? The Hebrew language had two words/names/titles for God that are translated as Lord in the English.
- elohim – is always written as “Lord” in the English. This word can be translated as Lord, God, gods, ruler, goddess
- yhwh – is always written as “LORD” in the English. This name for God is both untranslatable and unutterable. It is the proper name God gives himself. The best we can do is to understand the name of God as “He who is.”
Next, we are told who is called to “Praise the LORD.” “All you peoples.” All ya’ll peoples. That pretty much covers every single human being who ever lived. All…ya’ll…peoples.
Finally, we are given the reason for praising God – “For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever.”
- We worship God because his love for us is great
- We worship God because his faithfulness endures forever
Spend some time this morning on those two qualities of God – God’s love for sinners and God’s amazing faithfulness toward repeat sinners.
When I ponder how God can love a repeat sinner like me, I can’t help but worship God.
The Psalm opened with a call to worship. And it ends with a call to worship – Hallelujah!
Praise the LORD!!!
Praxis: Faith in Action 