The Power of Words: Halleluljah (Revisited)
Hallelujah.
It is not an easy word to begin a new year with.
Not here. Not now. Not with the world as it is.
And yet, Scripture does not reserve hallelujah for moments when life feels settled or safe. The word appears at the summit of a book that has already taken us through valleys of doubt and despair. That placement alone should make us pause.
This post revisits one of the most-read pieces on Hope-Challenged: “The Power of Words: Hallelujah.” Since first writing it, I’ve continued to reflect, study, and sit with this word — and I’ve come to see it less as a spontaneous outburst of joy and more as something far more deliberate.
Hallelujah is often spoken as an act of resistance. In a world where praising and acknowledging the God of creation is increasingly mocked, we need to intentionally encourage one another with a resounding Hallelujah now more than ever.
Why Hallelujah Is Not as Simple as It Sounds
Hallelujah is a familiar word — so familiar that we rarely stop to ask what we are actually saying. Years ago, I once heard it explained as meaning “praise the Lord a thousand times.” That explanation never sat right with me, and the deeper I looked, the more conflicting interpretations I found.
Rather than rehearse what hallelujah does not mean, I want to focus on what Scripture actually does with this word — because its placement, timing, and tone matter far more than we often realize.
Having spent time tracing its usage, I’ve come to believe that misunderstanding this word subtly weakens something vital: our ability to praise God when praise feels costly.
A Brief Look at the Word Itself
In English, hallelujah appears as a single word. In Hebrew, it is a command made of two parts:
Hallelu–Yah (הַלְלוּ־יָהּ)
- Hallelu comes from the verb lehallel — “to praise.” The ending makes it a plural imperative: All of you, praise!
- Yah is the shortened form of God’s holy name.
Together, hallelu-Yah is not a feeling or an exclamation. It is a command — a call from the speaker to the listener, and at times, from our own hearts to our weary souls: Give praise to the God of Creation.
This matters because Scripture uses this command very selectively.
Hallelu-Yah in the Psalms: Praise Spoken Into Pain
The phrase hallelu-Yah appears only in the Book of Psalms in the Old Testament — and its earliest expression may surprise us.
Its foundations are laid in Psalm 102, a psalm of deep lament. Psalm 102 never uses the full form “hallelu-Yah.” Instead, it speaks of a future people who will praise Yah (y’hallel Yah). The grammar is different, but the theological movement is the same: praise is spoken forward, before deliverance, anticipating the fuller command, hallelu-Yah, which appears 27 times in subsequent Psalms.
The psalmist cries out in anguish:
“LORD, hear my prayer; let my cry for help come before You. Do not hide Your face from me in my day of trouble. Listen closely to me; answer me quickly when I call.”
(Psalm 102:1-2 HCSB)*
Verses 3–11 describe physical weakness, isolation, and despair. Many of us recognize that voice. Trauma, grief, prolonged illness, and unanswered prayer all sound eerily similar. Thousands of years after it was written, this Psalm remains relevant to our modern reality.
Yet, in verse 18 (19 in Hebrew), something shifts. The afflicted writer looks beyond his own suffering and speaks of a future generation who will praise the Lord. This is not praise arising naturally from relief. It is praise commanded in advance of deliverance — grounded not in changed circumstances, but in trust in God’s faithfulness.
In Scripture, praise has always functioned as a weapon in spiritual conflict (see Joshua 6:16,20 and 2 Chronicles 20:21–22), but here, with y’hallel Yah and hallelu-Yah, Scripture turns praise itself into a clear verbal command—a spiritual battle cry.
Not a denial of pain.
Not a spiritual bypass.
But a decision to praise while the struggle is still unfolding.
Recently, I was praying for a friend who is quite ill, and perhaps the most challenging thing I did was to thank God for answering our prayer, before the answer came. And together, we said “Amen.”
Hallelujah in Revelation: Praise After the Victory Is Won
The New Testament uses the word hallelujah only once — in Revelation 19:1–6 — where it appears four times in rapid succession.
1 After this I heard something like the loud voice of a vast multitude in heaven, saying: Hallelujah! Salvation, glory, and power belong to our God, …
3 A second time they said:
Hallelujah! Her smoke ascends forever and ever!4 Then the 24 elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who is seated on the throne, saying: Amen! Hallelujah! …
6 Then I heard something like the voice of a vast multitude, like the sound of cascading waters, and like the rumbling of loud thunder, saying:
Hallelujah, because our Lord God, the Almighty, has begun to reign!
Here, the context is entirely different. Evil has been judged. Justice has prevailed. God’s reign is no longer contested. And a vast multitude in heaven erupts with a command that echoes through all of creation:
Hallelujah!
This is not defiant praise.
This is triumphant praise.
In the Psalms, hallelu-Yah is spoken into suffering.
In Revelation, hallelujah rings out after victory.
One is faith holding its ground.
The other is faith fulfilled.
Why This Matters for Us Now
Most of us find it easier to praise God when the outcome is clear — when the battle is over, and we can look back with relief. But Scripture invites us into something harder and braver.
It invites us to use hallelu-Yah as a word of holy resistance — a way of declaring that God remains on the throne even when the world feels unsteady, unjust, or frightening.
For those of us who find our hope challenged daily, hallelu-Yah becomes something we speak not because we feel victorious, but because we trust that God is faithful. We speak it to our hurting hearts and we speak it to a hurting world:
Praise Him anyway.
Praise Him while it still hurts.
Praise Him while the story is unfinished.
Victory is coming.
Hallelu-Yah.
A Note on Everyday Usage
Today, hallelujah appears everywhere — in music, conversation, and spontaneous relief when good news breaks through. Even those with no conscious faith find themselves saying it. And yet, whether we realize it or not, the word still carries its original weight:
All of you — give praise to the God of Creation.
Perhaps the next time we hear hallelujah spoken casually, we’ll gently respond, “You are right! Thank you for reminding me. I will trust and praise the God of Creation – He is still in charge.”
*Technical Note
For those of you who are interested, I do my Biblical research using Accordance Bible Software. I used the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia for my research. If you happen to start using Accordance because of something I shared, you can help support my research by letting them know.
On a Personal Note
Lord willing, I’ll be able to post more frequently on a variety of different topics. What has changed? I am officially working part-time. I’ve moved from a 40+ hour workweek to a 30-hour workweek. Furthermore, if all goes well, I’ll formally retire by the end of June.
In light of the theme of this post, I thought I’d share a few other praises with you: Despite the stressors of war for the past couple of years, God has brought me safely into a new year. He is blessing the Chinese Church in Haifa, and I continue to have the privilege of ministering there weekly. But perhaps the most exciting news is this: I have learned that there are more of you out there reading this blog than I realized. I had thought no one, except maybe some of my subscribers, was reading regularly. But I was wrong. It seems there are thousands of you out there who visit my site and spend time reading. I also learned that my most popular all-time post is “The Power of Words: Hallelujah.” This post was written with you in mind.
If you’d like to subscribe, I’d be glad to stay connected. But if you prefer not to, you know where to find the latest posts, and Lord-willing, they will be more regular. Do let me know if there is any particular topic you would like me to write about!
