stephen R Harrison

The shortest Psalm and shortest chapter in the whole Bible packs a mega punch. You don’t have to always be long-winded to praise the Lord. The psalmist of Psalm 117 did it in three short sentences. These verses simply remind everyone everywhere to praise the Lord for His great love and faithfulness! The psalmist began and ended with “hallel” which means “praise the Lord”. A good practice that keeps me humble and thankful is to begin my morning and end my day with “praise the Lord”. I will often wake up and praise the Lord for Who He is by talking about His nature and character. He is wonderful, all-powerful, infinite, unchanging, all-knowing, loving, and so many other wonderful things. Reminding myself of these general characteristics of Who He is each morning keeps me focused on Him and on the lookout for these qualities to show up throughout my day in specific ways. At the end of my day, I end it with another “hallel” or “praise the Lord” and look back across the day at where His nature transpired into nurture. What He does flows out of Who He is. Praise the Lord bookends helps the content of my day be that much sweeter, rewarding, and purposeful.

The psalmist also said he would “extol” the Lord. The Hebrew word for “extol” is “shavah” and means “to brag or boast”. When you clearly see and experience Who He is and What He does you can’t help but tell others about Him! We must be a witnessing people. Worship leads to witness. When was the last time you told somebody about Jesus? If it has been awhile, you might check your “hallel” level. If you aren’t giving Him glory, you probably aren’t sharing His gospel. Let me ask you a question: what consumes your conversation? Is it politics? I know Christians who are passionate about politics that rarely mention Jesus. Is it sports? I know Christians who know every player and statistic but cannot tell you about the last time they spent time with Jesus. Is it your kids? I know people who’s lives are centered on their children but never experience the joy of being with the Father as His child. When was the last time your shavah flowed from your hallel?

The psalmist said all nations and peoples should praise and extol the Lord. This means every tribe, tongue, and nation should actively give God glory and spread His gospel. There’s nothing that unites nations and people groups like the glory of the Lord and the good news of the gospel! While the world is bent on trying to divide people groups and nations, the Lord wants to unite them into one Kingdom! His great love and enduring faithfulness is something that transcends ethnicity, race, culture, class, age, gender, occupation, and income! In fact, none of those factors have ever united anyone – they divide! They divide the rich from the poor, the white from the black, the old from the young, etc. The Lord makes two become one (Genesis 2:24; Ephesians 2:14-18). From one man He made all the nations (Acts 17:26). In Christ, there is not Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female because all are one in Christ (Galatians 3:28). We praise the Lord because He tears down dividing walls by restoring us to Himself. Praise the Lord! That leads to a united people telling others more about how wonderful He is! Extol the Lord! Praise the Lord!

Questions:

1. When was the last time you worshipped the Lord?
2. When was the last time you witnessed about the Lord?
3. Does your “shavah” flow from your “hallel”?

Prayer:
Lord, help me to praise You in the morning and the evening. May my day begin with You and end with You. Help everything in between be about extolling You. May my worship lead to witness. May You receive glory as I share Your gospel. May my shavah flow from my hallel. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.