The hope of hallel
Are you still awake at the end of the seder when the Hallel (Psalm 113 to 118 with Psalm 136) is read?
We may be tempted to just read through it quickly, as part of our tradition. "Give thanks to the L-RD for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever." (Psalm 118:1) and "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone." (Psalm 118:22)
But what is the Hallel actually about?
It is worth waking up and paying attention, because great treasure is to be found in the Hallel – a message full of hope. You can find G-d's steadfast love personally.
How? Where? What is the hope of the Hallel?
The L-RD's forever-praiseworthy name
The Hallel starts by telling us G-d's name is praiseworthy forever! Why? Because while He is enthroned on high (the entire universe cannot contain His glory!), He is also the G-d who looks after people on earth.
He lifts up the needy from the ash heap and makes them sit with the princes of His people. (Psalm 113:1-9)
He is the G-d who took up royal residence among the people of Israel when He brought them up out of Egypt. The sea and the Jordan River fled before His presence. (Psalm 114:1-8)
He is the G-d who makes a way where there seems to be a dead end. He turns a barren woman into a joyous mother and a rock into a spring of water. (Psalm 113:9, 114:8)
That's His Name. This is who G-d is. Therefore, the Hallel is not only a remnant of the past; it also gives us hope for the future.
Hope for death defying blessing
"Not to us, O L-RD, not to us, but to Your name give glory…" Psalm 115 continues.
In other words: "Hope is not in us but in Your amazing greatness and grace O L-RD. L-RD, please glorify Your holy Name again, as You also did in the past."
And then, because G-d is not like the dead idols, there is a well-founded confidence He will do this:
"The L-RD has remembered us; He will bless us
He will bless the house of Israel
He will bless the house of Aaron;
He will bless those who fear the L-RD
both the great and the small." (Psalm 115:12-13)
And what blessing the psalm anticipates! Unlike the silent dead, we will praise the L-RD forever:
"The dead do not praise the L-RD,
nor do any who go down into silence.
But we will bless the L-RD
from this time forth and forever more." (Psalm 115:17-18)
This theme of death-defying blessing is picked up immediately in the next portion, Psalm 116. It is a psalm of thanksgiving. Someone praises G-d for deliverance from the snares and pangs of death. He will walk before the L-RD in the land of the living. He is ready to praise G-d in the house of the L-RD in the midst of Jerusalem. The L-RD does indeed save from death.
The Hallel is about G-d's steadfast love (chesed), His covenanted gracious loyalty to Israel. Psalm 117 and the beginning of Psalm 118 assure us His love and faithfulness endure forever.
That's already quite a message. But wait – there's more! This message doesn't come to us in a vacuum. It actually sparkles as a diamond of hope and promise against a black background.
Reassurance when things look bleak
The Hallel comes after Psalms full of laments and pleas for atonement and restoration because of the judgment of Israel's exile. (e.g., Psalm 74:1-10, Psalm 79, Psalm 80, Psalm 88.) It makes the Hallel not only an assurance of G-d's lovingkindness but also a re-assurance – one that is very much needed.
When the Psalms speak of G-d's steadfast love, there is a strong association with the house of David (Psalm 89:1-4). It especially guarantees G-d's promises to the dynasty of David, promises of worldwide rule and blessings (see Psalm 89:1-37, Psalm 72). Reality, however, provides a stark painful contrast. The Davidic kingship seems to be completely down and out and it all seems to end in death.
"…You have cast off and rejected;
you are full of wrath against your anointed."
…
"How long, O L-RD?
Will You hide Yourself forever?
How long will wrath burn like fire?
Remember how short my time is!
For what vanity You have created all the children of man!
What man can live and never see death?
Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol?
L-RD where is Your steadfast love of old,
which by Your faithfulness you swore to David?" (Psalm 89:38, 46-49)
Against this background the Hallel tells us: It is true, we can't save ourselves from death, but He can! Not to us, not to us O L-RD, but to your name we give glory!
The Hallel re-assures, "G-d's steadfast love does endure forever."
If that's true, the story of the house of David can't be ended yet….
The Return of the King
Enter Psalm 118: Once again someone is speaking about G-d's salvation and about rescue from death. All nations surround him like bees. But in the name of the L-RD he is triumphant. It seems to be a victorious king. He is now entering the temple. A feast of thanksgiving is starting.
After the exile, and after the apparent downfall of the house of David there is again talk about victory! In this context the message of the Psalm is: "There will be a victorious king again." There must be, because the L-RD's steadfast love is forever.
That's at least how the Jewish people understood the words of the Psalm in the last days of the Second Temple.
"Hosia-na! Save us we pray, O L-RD! O L-RD, we pray, give us success. Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the L-RD" (Psalm 118:26)
Those are words full of expectation, welcoming the return of the King. They understood it was a promise of the Messiah.
A failed Messiah?
Forty years before the destruction of the Temple, as Passover approached, the people of Jerusalem welcomed someone with the words of Psalm 118: "Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the L-RD"; "Even the king of Israel" they added. [1]
They also attached the plea for G-d's salvation to him: "Hosanna to the son of David," they shouted aloud.[2] (Matthew 21:9)
He entered Jerusalem on a donkey in accordance with the words of the prophecy of Zechariah:
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold your king is coming to you; Righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zechariah 9:9)
Before the week was over, the man who was hailed as king cried out the words of another Psalm, "My G-d, My G-d why have you forsaken me" (Psalm 22). He was hanging on a brutal torture device, a Roman cross. The Roman soldiers indeed surrounded him like bees. But he doesn't seem to triumph over them.
What is this? A failed Messiah?
Is he completely defeated by the powers of the world, instead of conquering them?
Victory after all
What really happened was just like what the king said in the Psalm:
"The L-RD has disciplined me severely but has not given me over to death!" (Psalm 118:18)
Yes, it looks like he is given over to death, and He really does die on that cross. He goes down to Sheol But then, there is a great turnaround. He doesn't remain in the realm of death!
G-d does not let His Holy one, see corruption (Psalm 16:10). Death doesn't have the last word. On the third day the L-RD raises him up from the dead!
"The stone that the builders rejected, has become the cornerstone!" (Psalm 118:22)
Yes, he was rejected by the majority of the religious leadership (the builders). They handed him over to the Romans. But what seems to be a mark against him is actually a fulfillment of prophecy!
Yes, he completely entered into the utter humiliation that had come upon the house of David because of sin. But it didn't end there. Something remarkable is going on here.
"The L-RD has disciplined me severely," the king said. But what was that discipline actually? It was not a discipline for his own sins, it was the discipline for our sins:
"He was pierced for our transgressions
crushed for our iniquities
the discipline that gives us peace was upon him
and by his stripes there is healing for us!" (Isaiah 53:5)
Because of what he endured, what seems to be defeat actually becomes complete victory!
And more than merely ruling over this present world, he gifts us with life in the world to come. He said it himself: "I am the resurrection and the life who believes in Me though he die, yet shall he live!" (John 11:25)
He assures us that if we put our faith in him we will share in his victory over sin and death.
All who welcome this king share in his victory!
This king and you
You probably understand by now we are talking about Yeshua (Jesus) of Nazareth. We believe He is the ultimate davidic king. He is the utter confirmation of G-d's steadfast love and faithfulness to Israel. He is the One in whom the promised blessing of the Hallel is found.
When you get to know Him, the missing puzzle pieces of life fall into place. You will recognize that G-d's steadfast love endures forever indeed and that His gift of life is for you personally.
We would love to talk more with you about this. We wish you His shalom!
To investigate more about the identity of the Messiah see also: The promised redeemer
Footnotes:[1] John 12:13
[2] Matthew 21:9