Habakkuk: How Do We Praise Our Majestic God?

God came from Teman,
and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah
His splendor covered the heavens,
and the earth was full of his praise.

Habakkuk 3:3

After announcing God’s arrival, Habakkuk describes God’s awesomeness percolating across the universe using a set of parallel statements.

Splendor

First, he says that God’s splendor (הוֹד, hod) covers the heavens/skies. Hod is also translated as majesty, glory, or honor. The Psalms (among other places) use it to describe God.

O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory (hod) above the heavens.

Psalm 8:1

“Splendor (hod) and majesty are before him” (Psalm 96:6). God’s “majesty (hod) is above earth and heaven” (Psalm 148:13).

When used to describe people, it typically describes a king. “And the LORD made Solomon very great in the sight of all Israel and bestowed on him such royal majesty (hod) as had not been on any king before him in Israel” (1 Chronicles 29:25). Moses passed on his hod to Joshua: “You [Moses] shall invest him [Joshua] with some of your authority (hod), that all the congregation of the people of Israel may obey” (Numbers 27:20).

The word also describes warhorses (Job 39:20, Zechariah 10:3) and a healthy olive tree (Hosea 14:6).

Praise

Praise (תְּהִלָּה, tehillah) of God fills the earth. Its verbal root (halal) means to praise. This should sound familiar because it’s part of the word Hallelujah, which comes from Hebrew, meaning “praise the Lord” (jah/yah being a shortened form of God’s name). Despite how we use it, this is a command, not praise itself. This is what people should do toward God: acknowledge appreciation for what he has done and who he is and ascribe how great he is. We should praise him because he is worthy of praise.

Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods?
Who is like you, majestic in holiness,
awesome in glorious (tehillah) deeds, doing wonders?

Exodus 15:11

Praising God is the most common theme among the Psalms. People praise him in all walks of life, whether good or bad. “Every day I will bless you / and praise (halal) your name forever and ever” (Psalm 145:2). This theme is so pervasive that the Hebrew title for the book is Tehillim (Praises).

While God is the most deserving of praise, it is right to praise other people, too. A husband should praise his wife (Proverbs 31:28). Cities can be praised (Jeremiah 49:25 – translated as “famous city” in ESV and “city of renown” in NIV).

To Ponder…

We must make effort every day to thank and praise our majestic Lord.

I want to pass on a challenge I received years ago: list three things every day that you are thankful for. Be specific and don’t repeat each day. Write them down each day. They don’t need to be anything grandiose. It could be as simple as sipping a warm cup of tea on a cold morning. Take time to thank and praise the Lord every day.

Let them praise (halal) the name of the LORD,
for his name alone is exalted;
his majesty (hod) is above earth and heaven.
He has raised up a horn for his people,
praise (tehillah) for all his saints,
for the people of Israel who are near to him.
Praise the LORD! (Halelu-yah)

Psalm 148:13-14
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