Hallelujah

The word itself is an exited expression of praise to Almighty God. I sometimes get so overwhelmed that I am a believer and follower of the Risen Christ. Nothing but filth did I have to offer and disgusting was my prideful and self consuming life, but He sought me. Oh my, I cannot even approach explaining how I feel when I realize the completeness of His Person and the abject worthlessness of mine, but He sought me. I was nothing and acting as my own god and lord without a thought to Him, but He sought me.

I have been gifted with eternal life with all the surrounding features that can be imagined this side of heaven, a sinless existence without pain or sorrow, living in an indescribable dwelling place that is of course fit for a King, and He wanted me. In the natural my presence in such a place is infinitely incongruous and surely would stick out like a sore thumb, but He wanted me. The angels, the streets of gold, the Seraphim, the glorious throne, the gates of pearl, the robes of linen, the precious stones, the atmosphere of holiness, and He wanted me. All these things and a million others that cannot even be thought of, and then there is…Him.

And which attribute should I cull out from among the infinite list and with that worship Him? Grace? Mercy? Love? Joy? Life? Which can be separated from the rest? None, they are all interconnected and seamless in His exquisite Person. For all of them, each and all, I speak incomplete words of praise. I will never reach a point in eternity that says, "It is enough, you have fulfilled the vessel of praise". Each expression of praise will give birth to a million more, and each new room of worship will contain a million additional doors that lead to larger and more boundless oceans of deserving worship. It is without measure.

Where are you words that do justice to Him? Why does my mind grasp for any communication that is lofty enough to use for Him and yet I find them still shallow? Why can I imagine myself broken and bowing before Him and still I desire to find a deeper posture to reflect my inward worship? And when I open my mouth to sing forth His praise, why do I search for songs that are louder and softer, holier and more glorious, more expansive and yet more personal, and living expressions straight from a heart that has been changed by the Spirit of Grace?

And how do I see Him? I see Him in a grateful remembrance of one night in March of 1975 when I saw first Him with the eyes of faith. I see Him as an exquisite revelation of the One I had preached and heard preached for all my life but which words now do not even touch the hem of His majestic garment. I see Him in august authority and infinite power, all of which was distilled into and made operational through the redeeming love of Calvary and made perfect in death. I see Him as the personification of grace, the grace I received in my condition of utter unworthiness and was crowned with His inward presence as His eternal seal. I see Him as love, pure love, holy love, divine love, and as Solomon wrote, my love.

To speak in such personal terms seems so common and disrespectful and yet He taught us to call unto Him in endearing terms of both intimate love and Lordship, which are mixed by the Spirit Himself. So I search for a word to encapsulate all the spiritual emotions I feel about my Lord and Savior. If I had to chose just one word and I was allowed to speak only one word before Him, it might be…

Hallelujah !!!