Hallelujahs, Chris Rice

When did you last go out into the night to gaze at the stars? When was the last time you (using a blanket or lawn chair) looked into the night sky - your eyes taking in the ocean of twinkling stars too numerous to count ? It costs nothing and builds a bond with your children as you discuss the wonders displayed, seen over all the earth.

Like many children, I used to love to go outside at night and lie under the stars. I remember vividly, while on our farm, going out to watch the curtain-like aurora borealis in the north sky, green, red and orange or the band of Milky Way. The experience is unforgettable.

If I close my eyes, I can still see the constellations and stories scattered across the heavens. How many generations before us have also pondered this vast display? Did our Lord sleep beneath the sky He created with a Word? Did the shepherds in the field at the time of Jesus' birth watch the angels sing under these stars?

Psalms 19:1-4 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world."

This song is so visual. The creator of this video said, "The point was to use pictures in frames as a metaphor. Here Chris Rice is quantifying his praise to God in very large terms... he is framing his image of God in ways that won't fit a frame." That gives me goosebumps as I praise along with this!

Lyrics:

         F                G
A purple sky to close the day
F                    G
I wade the surf where dolphins play
F               Am
The taste of salt, the dance of waves
F          G        C
And my soul wells up with hallelujahs

F                        G
A lightning flash, my pounding heart
F                    G
A breaching whale, a shooting star
F                 Am
Give testimony that you are
F            G         C
And my soul wells up with hallelujahs

F                  G           C
Oh praise Him all His mighty works
F               C            F            G
There is no language where you can't be heard
Am        C          F
Your song goes out to all the Earth
C     Am     F      G       C
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah!

O cratered moon and sparrow's wings
O thunder's boom and Saturn's rings
Unveil our Father as you sing
And my soul wells up with hallelujahs

F               G           C
Oh praise Him all His mighty works
F                   C            F            G
There is no language where you can't be heard
Am        C          F
Your song goes out to all the Earth
C     Am     F      G       C
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah!


The pulse of life within my wrist
A fallen snow, a rising mist
There is no higher praise than this
And my soul wells up
O my soul wells up
Yes my soul wells up with hallelujahs

F G C

Oh praise Him all His mighty works
F              C            F            G
There is no language where you can't be heard
Am        C          F

Your song goes out to all the Earth

     C     Am     F      G       C
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah!

Am F G C

Oh, Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah!

Supporting Scriptures:

"Praise the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty." Psalm 104:1

"O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens...When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?

You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!" Psalm 8: 1, 3-9

"The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." Romans 1: 18-20