Psalter Hymnal (Gray) ‎#146

146. Praise the LORD! Sing Hallelujah!

1 Praise the LORD! Sing hallelujah!
Come, our great Redeemer praise.
I will sing the glorious praises
of my God through all my days.
Put no confidence in princes,
nor on human help depend.
They shall die, to dust returning;
all their thoughts and plans shall end.

2 Happy is the one who chooses
Jacob's God to be his aid.
They are blest whose hope of blessing
on the LORD their God is stayed.
Heaven and earth the LORD created,
seas and all that they contain.
He delivers from oppression;
righteousness he will maintain.

3 Food he daily gives the hungry,
sets the mourning prisoner free,
raises those bowed down with anguish,
makes the sightless eyes to see.
God our Savior loves the righteous,
and the stranger he befriends,
helps the orphan and the widow,
judgment on the wicked sends.

4 Praise the LORD! Sing hallelujah!
Come, our great Redeemer praise.
I will sing the glorious praises
of my God through all my days.
Over all God reigns forever;
through all ages he is King.
Unto him, your God, O Zion,
joyful hallelujahs sing.

Text Information

• First Line: Praise the LORD! Sing hallelujah!
• Title: Praise the LORD! Sing Hallelujah!
• Meter: 87 87 D
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1987
• Scripture:
  Psalm 146
• Topic: Biblical Names & Places: Jacob; Epiphany & Ministry of Christ; Funerals; King, God/Christ as; Marriage; Praise & Adoration; Trust in God; Songs for Children: Psalms; Advent; Alleluias; Creation; Grace; Joy; Mercy; Opening of Worship; Poverty; Prayer; Providence; Redemption; Refuge
• Source: Psalter, 1887, alt.

Tune Information

• Name: RIPLEY
• Composer: Lowell Mason (1839)
• Meter: 87 87 D
• Key: D Major

Text Information:

Praise to God for his unfailing help, and an exhortation to rely on God alone.

Scripture References:
st. 1 = vv. 1-4
st. 2 = vv. 5-7a
st. 3 = vv. 7b-9
st. 4 = vv. 1-2, 10

Psalm 146 begins and ends as a hymn of praise. But the main body of the psalm exhorts God's people to put their trust wholly in the LORD. Human beings, whatever standing they may have in the world, are but frail mortals (st. 1); God is the almighty Creator of heaven and earth. Blessed are those who rely upon this Creator God, who delivers the oppressed (st. 2), provides for the needy, and protects the weak. The LORD loves the righteous (st. 3) and reigns as Zion's God forever; let his name be praised (st. 4). The versification of Psalm 146 is altered from that in The Book of Psalms (1871), a text-only psalter that was later published with music in 1887.

Liturgical Use:
Beginning of worship; Advent; whenever the church focuses on God's saving grace as exemplified in Christ's miracles.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook

Tune Information:

RIPLEY, composed in 1839, comes from the prolific pen of Lowell Mason (PHH 96), the great American promoter and publisher of school, choral, and congregational music. The tune title, assigned later, presumably honors George Ripley (1802-1889), the famous New York literary critic and transcendentalist. RIPLEY is a classically shaped rounded bar form (AABA) in which the third line provides the contrast and climax to the other lines. It is an energetic tune that calls for jubilant singing in parts and, on festive occasions, the use of brass (probably in E-flat major).

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook