By the time of the Hallel; those who thought they were going to be bored and uninterested find themselves refilled with energy and feeling happy and thankful that that they came. We have all enjoyed our sacred moments in time with God! We feel the joy of knowing that we have kept this divine appointment.
A TIME FOR SINGING
After so much thankfulness in the last part of the Seder; we just want to sing! The Hallel is the time for singing.
Hallel is the time for singing songs, psalms and hymns. It is time for The Great Thanksgiving and what better way to give it than in songs of praise?
Psalm 136 is often used for the Hallel. Let’s look at those words:
Psalm 136
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
His love endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods.
His love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords:
His love endures forever.
4 to him who alone does great wonders,
His love endures forever.
5 who by his understanding made the heavens,
His love endures forever.
6 who spread out the earth upon the waters,
His love endures forever.
7 who made the great lights—
His love endures forever.
8 the sun to govern the day,
His love endures forever.
9 the moon and stars to govern the night;
His love endures forever.
HIS LOVE ENDURES FOREVER
10 to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt
His love endures forever.
11 and brought Israel out from among them
His love endures forever.
12 with a mighty hand and outstretched arm;
His love endures forever.
13 to him who divided the Red Sea asunder
His love endures forever.
14 and brought Israel through the midst of it,
His love endures forever.
15 but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea;
His love endures forever.
16 to him who led his people through the wilderness;
His love endures forever.
HIS LOVE ENDURES FOREVER
17 to him who struck down great kings,
His love endures forever.
18 and killed mighty kings—
His love endures forever.
19 Sihon king of the Amorites
His love endures forever.
20 and Og king of Bashan—
His love endures forever.
21 and gave their land as an inheritance,
His love endures forever.
22 an inheritance to his servant Israel.
His love endures forever.
23 He remembered us in our low estate
His love endures forever.
24 and freed us from our enemies.
His love endures forever.
25 He gives food to every creature.
His love endures forever.
26 Give thanks to the God of heaven.
His love endures forever.
THE STORY IN PSALMS AND PRAISE
In this Psalm the whole story is repeated one more time. We can never tell it enough. You can feel the joy in the knowing of the words. We all feel like we have journeyed to Egypt as slaves and left delivered and free people. Jesus made the spiritual side of this true all over again. He has delivered us from the bondage of sin and brought us eternal life.
DAYENU – IT WOULD HAVE BEEN ENOUGH
So we sing songs of thanks and praise. One very popular song is called “Dayenu.” It means “it would have been enough.” This happy song also repeats the whole story again, in the form of praises to God for all He did for us, moving step-by-step through the many Passover events; and we remember again with more thanksgivng songs.
It is fine to include your own songs of praise and thankfulness here too. I’ve often used the song called “10,000 Reasons,” which is so full of praise for God’s abundant deliverance. The Christian services have incorporated many hymns and beautiful contemporary songs.
Could anything be more beautiful?
We all give a joyful halleluiah!
Our evening has been wonderful and it is very close to time for us to close.
Just one more little part that we need to remember.