Grand Finale: Hallelujah!

We come today to the last in our introduction to each of the 5 Books or Units of the Psalter. This time a single psalm serves to introduce this exciting high point of the Psalms. As we shall see, this opening psalm calls us to praise God with thanksgiving for his great love for us, and the rest of the book rises to heights of corporate praise. Book V consists of 44 psalms, a couple of Davidic collections, a cumulative Torah/Messianic pair, and 3 sets of Hallelujah psalms (7, 3, and a climactic 5), ending with a glorious, Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!  [READ Ps. 107]

In high school there was a chorus we enjoyed singing based on the opening verses of this psalm.  Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, say so, say so. This psalm overflows with thanksgiving, joy, and exuberant gratitude for God’s saving love.  It starts off with 4 examples of how the people of God have suffered, called out to God in desperate need, and He has delivered.  If this was a class, we’d divide up into 4 groups, each to look at one of the examples of God’s deliverance and coming back to the group to share the specifics of each one: the calamity faced, the disparate plea to God, and the wonderful way God delivered them.  The latter part of the psalm summarizes and generalizes how the LORD is toward His people.  We will consider this in two parts: Examples of God’s Deliverances (4-32) 7 Lessons of God’s Love (33-43)