An Article of Faith

Untold millions – yes, by now billions – of people have used the words “Hallelujah! Amen!” to express aspects of their faith. Let’s examine their Old Testament roots.
Hallelujah is a command from the Hebrew verb halal which means praise. By far the most common use of the verb is to praise the Lord. The hallelu – part of the word is not only a command, but the form is plural in Hebrew. This suggests congregational praise. Thus, the Book of Psalms contains about a third of these uses because the Psalms constitute the praises of Israel as well as the New Testament church of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 5:19-21).
The praise of God is extremely important. It should not be seen a chore but rather a delight to God’s people:
“Let the godly sing for joy to the LORD; it is fitting for the pure to praise Him” (Psalm 33:1 NLT).
In fact, all of creation should join in His praise:
“The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display His craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make Him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world” (Psalm 19:1-4a NLT).
Ancient Israel praised the Lord with music, choirs, congregational singing, and dance:
“Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in His mighty heaven! Praise Him for His mighty works; praise His unequaled greatness! Praise Him with a blast of the ram’s horn; praise Him with the lyre and harp! Praise Him with the tambourine and dancing; praise Him with strings and flutes! Praise Him with a clash of cymbals; praise Him with loud clanging cymbals. Let everything that breathes sing praises to the LORD! Praise the LORD” (Psalm 150:1-6 NLT)!
Likewise we associate the word “Amen” as the last word of a prayer or a choral anthem in agreement with what someone has prayed or sang. Even unbelievers use the word to show agreement for views they support. All of this fits with the ancient Hebrew verb aman which means “confirm, support, be established, believe.”
In one form of the Hebrew verb used in Genesis 15:6, “And Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD counted him as righteous because of his faith,” it may be paraphrased, “Abram said ‘Amen’ to God, and He justified him.” While not a literal rendering, it does express the truth of justification by faith: “For the Scriptures tell us, ‘Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith’ ” (Romans 4:3 NLT).
The popular word amen is derived from the Hebrew verb aman. It means “verily, truly, assuredly.” Sometimes it is transliterated from the Hebrew as amen. The Christian usage at the end of prayers and hymns has good Old Testament precedent. The five books of Psalms all end in amens (see Psalm 41:13, 72:19, 89:52, 106:48), and the last psalm (150) is itself an “amen” to the whole book.
A literal rendering of Jesus’ words in John 5:24 would read, “Amen, amen, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.”
“Hallelujah! Amen!”

Jessie J. Charpentier Sr. is pastor of Jenkins Memorial Baptist Church in St. Martinville.