Need a Spiritual Boost? Hallelujah!

Have you ever had one of those Sunday mornings when going to church wasn’t at the top of your  Things-I-Want-To-Do list? I’ll admit to many of those throughout my lifetime. On some of them I gave in to that negative feeling and stayed home, doing my own mini- church—reading a devotional, listening to hymns and praise songs. Other times I completely indulged my secular side and carried on as if Sunday were any other day of the week. While I wasn’t struck by lightening or any other form of divine reckoning, I didn’t get the spiritual boost I needed to help me through the week. 

Yesterday was almost one of those Sunday mornings for me. The week had been busy. A couple of deadlines were looming. And, frankly,  I just wasn’t in the mood. But having no truly good reason or excuse to stay home, I decided to go—reluctantly and not with the greatest of attitudes.

As often happens when I make the right decision in spite of myself, God showed up in an unusual way. I’d recently finished my latest audiobook, so my default listen on my drive to church was K-LOVE (a religious music station). Not surprisingly, a song with a lot of hallelujah’s came on, reminding me of another book I’d just read—Eugene Peterson’s This Hallelujah Banquet. 

In the last chapter of his book, Peterson expounds on two words—hallelujah and amen. He explains that hallelujah is a Hebrew word meaning “praise God.” I kind of knew that, but Peterson’s further explanation was refreshingly new. “The word has lilt and exuberance to it. Its meaning is expressed in its sounds….There are happiness and delight in it. Praise is supported by the liquid, undulating sounds of the syllables.” These statements struck a resounding chord with a word nerd like me. I’d decided to make an effort to repeat hallelujah more often—especially at those “meh” times in my life.

Peterson goes on to explain the life-affirming meaning of amen. It means “yes!” It is “the basic, overwhelming, eternally fixed word of God to you . . .Yes, I love you. Yes, I accept you. Yes, I want you. And . . .  our best word back to God is yes. Amen.”

So the song on the radio made me think of hallelujah and hallelujah made me think of amen and by the time I arrived at church I was in a much more worshipful state. And God just kept on working. The opening hymn, “All Creatures of Our God and King,” contained no fewer than eighteen hallelujahs (if you sing all four stanzas). And then the congregation sang “Revive Us Again.” I’ve sung this jubilant old hymn many times, but this was the first time I truly noticed the second line of the chorus: “Hallelujah! Amen!”

There they were! Those two words that had so recently come to hold more meaning for me were being sung right together. And that’s not all. (This is beginning to sound like an infomercial.) The choir sang the offertory that ended with a resounding hallelujah. And then the congregation stood and sang “The Doxology” which, as you know, ends with yet another emphatic and sustained Ah-men. (I'll bet you’re singing this to yourself—if not out loud—right now.)

You’re probably saying, “Of course, there were a lot of hallelujahs and amens. It’s not that surprising. You were in church.” 

You’d be right. But the amazing thing wasn’t the repetition of the words. It was that I now heard them with new ears and new appreciation. And whereas I’d been a bit of a grouch earlier, I was now prepared to listen to the sermon and God’s message with a happier and more receptive heart. The words had turned my “meh” Sunday into a day of meaningful worship.

This week, I’m going to practice saying those two words a lot to see if they have such a positive effect on the rest of the days. I’m trusting they will. Hallelujah! Amen!