Shabbat Shalom family,
Yes it is Shabbat again – praise our Mighty and wonderful Redeemer – יהוה of Hosts:
Yeshayahu/Isaiah 54:5 “For your Maker is your husband, יהוה of hosts is His Name, and the Set-apart One of Yisra’ĕl is your Redeemer. He is called the Elohim of all the earth.”
We serve and praise a Mighty Elohim and often due to the business of life, we may find ourselves in danger of forgetting who He is and why we serve, praise and bless His Mighty Name, and we need to continually be reminded that we are to be a praising people, aměn!
Tehillim/Psalm 19:14 “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing before You, O יהוה, my rock and my redeemer.”
I do not know about you, but there are times when I recognize that the words of my mouth and meditation of my heart has certainly not been pleasing before My Redeemer; and I need to remind myself amidst chaotic circumstances, as Iyoḇ did, that My Redeemer Lives!!! Often we can find ourselves in a place where we have settled into a cycle or routine that seems to just go through the motions and in the process forget our purpose and primary function – which is to serve, bless and praise our Mighty Redeemer! We may even find ourselves at times forgetting to recognise how precious it is to be able to gather as a family on the Appointed Times of our Maker, Husband and Redeemer, and sadly forget what His Sabbath is all about. Let me remind you that for us to be assembled together on His Shabbat is a huge blessing – one that we must never despise or neglect, and one way to do that is to constantly remind ourselves of what He has done for us, in Redeeming our lives from death. In a message tonight called, ‘FORGET NOT ALL HIS DEALINGS!’ I would like us to be reminded to do just that – to Not forget all His dealings – and in doing so, be reminded to not forget to be continually blessing His Most Set-Apart Name in all we say and do. Please turn with me to a wonderful Psalm of Dawiḏ – Tehillim/Psalm 103 (Read).
This is such a beautifully constructed song or hymn of praise for our Mighty Redeemer – יהוה of Hosts – the All-Compassionate One, as this is a clear song or celebration of deliverance.
A Psalm of joyous praise, in which Dawiḏ ascends from a thankful acknowledgment of the personal blessings upon his life, to a lively celebration of the gracious attributes of יהוה, which are worthy of praise, as he calls all creation to join in blessing the Mighty Creator and Redeemer, who shall reign over all.
When I read this psalm I cannot help but be stirred to praise, and tonight I want us to stop and consider the great dealings of our Redeemer – the dealings that we are not to forget – so that we shall never neglect to be blessing Him in every way and bringing esteem to His Mighty Name!
Dawiḏ begins with the clear call unto himself to be blessing יהוה with his all. The Hebrew word for ‘bless’ is בָּרַךְ baraḵ – Strong’s H1288 and means, ‘to abundantly bless’ and literally carries the meaning, ‘to kneel or bow down, to show respect, to bring a gift to another while kneeling out of respect’.
This word is used 6 times in this psalm (v1,2,20,21,22,22)and each time is written in the ‘piel active’ verb form which expresses an intensive or intentional action, and reminds us of how intense and intentional we are to be in blessing our Mighty Elohim. To bless יהוה can render the meaning of showing Him great affection and adoration, as well as the ability to praise and acknowledge His Word, His character and His deeds, as we yield in humble submission to His clear instructions for living set-apart lives. To bless יהוה is not simply a rendering of lip service, but rather it involves our ability to praise, exalt and adore Him – and this entails engaging our ‘all’ in loving Him as we guard His commands with great joy. Deḇarim makes it clear:
Deḇarim/Deuteronomy 6:5 “And you shall love יהוה your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your being, and with all your might.”
Dawiḏ reminds himself here in this song of praise, as we should too, that his entire being must bless יהוה. The Hebrew word for ‘being’ is נֶפֶשׁ nephesh – Strong’s H5315 which means, ‘a soul, living being, person, desire, passion, appetite, emotion’ – in other words it speaks of the ‘ whole being’ of a person – that is everything from the inside out – not just putting on an outward show but a blessing from deep within the entire being of who we are, and the Hebrew word translated as ‘within’ is קֶרֶב qereḇ – Strong’s H7130 which means, ‘inward part, faculty of thought and emotion’.
Dawiḏ’s inward dialogue with himself may seem strange, yet he is expressing his desire and willingness to bless and praise יהוה with his all; and we would do well to do this too and be continually reminded of this fact. When we come together and gather on His Shabbat, we should be so fired up with great joy as we can recount and share the joy of being able to bless and praise יהוה in all our dealings during the week. When our ability to bless Him is hindered on the Sabbath, then perhaps it is a reflection of what one’s week has been like as life’s business and hurdles may have caused us to forget His dealings with us – and when this happens it certainly shows when we are gathered together! How has your week been? Are you blessing יהוה with your all, despite the tough circumstances and trials you may have encountered?
Dawiḏ’s appeal to himself here to bless יהוה is coupled with the reminder of how he would be equipped to do that , and here in verse 2 he says… “and do not forget all His dealings” – וְאַל־תִּשְׁכְּחִי כָּל־גְּמוּלָיו – ‘v’al tishktiy kal g’mulayu’.
The Hebrew word for ‘forget’ is שָׁכַח shakaḥ – Strong’s H7911 and means, ‘forget, cease to care, ignore’, and the Hebrew word for ‘dealings’ is גְּמוּל gemul – Strong’s H1756 which means, ‘reward, benefit, recompense, dealing (of one’s hand)’, and comes from the root verb גָּמַל gamal – Strong’s H1580 which can give us the meaning of, ‘to deal fully or adequately with, deal out to, wean a child, ripen, bear ripe (almonds)’, and pictures for us a growing in maturity.
What Dawiḏ is saying here is clear – if we are to bless יהוה as we ought to, then we must not ignore or forget or cease to care about the dealing of יהוה’s Hand upon us – for He deals with us as His children and so in His dealings we are able to grow up and become mature!
We are clearly reminded in:
Deḇarim/Deuteronomy 8:11-14 “Be on guard, lest you forget יהוה your Elohim by not guarding His commands, and His right-rulings, and His laws which I command you today, 12 lest you eat and shall be satisfied, and build lovely houses and shall dwell in them, 13 and your herds and your flocks increase, and your silver and your gold are increased, and all that you have is increased, 14 that your heart then becomes lifted up, and you forget יהוה your Elohim who brought you out of the land of Mitsrayim, from the house of bondage”
The sad reality is that so often when things seem to be going well with people, they forget to not forget – which we are constantly to be on guard against! At the same time when things are tough, the ability to remember the dealings of Elohim are also often forgotten as panic can grip the heart and mind and put one into anxiety, and we are told in:
Yeshayahu/Isaiah 35:4 “Say to those with anxious heart, “Be strong, do not fear! See, your Elohim comes with vengeance, with the recompense of Elohim. He is coming to save you.”
Here the word recompense is the Hebrew word גְּמוּל gemul.
When we see verses like this we are reminded of how important community is, as it is vital to the life of the body to be encouraging one another every day, as we recall the dealings of Elohim!
The Hebrew word גָּמַל gamal is found in:
Tehillim/Psalm 13:6 “I sing to יהוה, because He has been good to me.”
Dawiḏ here declares that he will sing to יהוה because He has dealt bountifully or adequately with him, as he recognises the sufficiency he has in the dealings of יהוה upon his life.
While we are able to remember and recount His dealings with us and bless His Name, we are also clearly reminded in this psalm of the great loving-commitment and compassion of יהוה who has not rewarded us (גָּמַל gamal) according to our sins!!!
Yeshayahu/Isaiah 63:7 “Let me recount the kindnesses of יהוה and the praises of יהוה , according to all that יהוה has done for us, and the great goodness toward the house of Yisra’ĕl, which He has done for them according to His compassion, and according to His many kindnesses.”
We recount His goodness toward us and realise how good is His goodness when we have not received His ‘dealings’ for our sin.
What dealings then does Dawiḏ remind us to not forget? Verse 3-5 gives us 6 clear dealings that we ought not to forget, so that we are able to fully bless our Redeemer with all our being!
Let us look at and recount these dealings that He has done for us, as we see how this is perfectly constructed in showing us the progression of one dealing to the next:
1 – Forgives ALL our crookednesses!
The Hebrew word translated as ‘forgive’ is סָלַח salaḥ – Strong’s H5545 which means, ‘to forgive, pardon, spare’, and the Hebrew word translated as ‘crookednesses’ is עָוֹן avon – Strong’s H5771 meaning, ‘iniquity, guilt, punishment for iniquity, blame, perversity, depravity’, which comes from the root verb עָוָה avah – Strong’s H5753 which means, ‘to twist, bend, distort, make crooked, pervert’. The first thing Dawiḏ mentions here in the dealings of יהוה with us who fear Him, is that He pardons our guilt and spares us from the punishment of our perversion and distortions of the truth – now that is something to praise and bless our Elohim for!!!
He not only pardons us and spares us from punishment, He also:
2 – Heals ALL our diseases!
He is the Healer; and the Hebrew word used here for ‘heals’ is רָפָא rapha – Strong’s H7495 which means, ‘to heal, become fresh, purified’. The Hebrew word for ‘disease’ is תַּחֲלֻא taḥalu – Strong’s H8463 which means, ‘disease, sickness, pain’, and as we recognise that this word is used in Deḇarim/Deuteronomy 29:22 in the clear warning against those who turn their hearts away from יהוה and go after the mighty ones of the world and walk in the stubbornness of their own hearts, shall be separated for evil and see the effect of all the curses for disobedience bringing about diseases and plagues.
Praise יהוה that He has healed us from the curses of disobedience as we lovingly remember His dealings and walk in and stay in Messiah, having been healed and cleansed by His Blood. Diseases mentioned in Scripture are the consequences of failing to obey the Covenant, and we have the assurance of healing from the One who heals, if we guard to do all He commands! He not only forgives and heals, He also:
3 – Redeems our life from destruction!
He is our Redeemer, and the Hebrew word for ‘redeem’ is גָּאַל ga’al – Strong’s H1350 meaning, ‘to redeem, act as kinsman, avenge, buy back, claim, redeemer, redeem from slavery, avenger of blood, rescue’. This word is also used to refer to our Redeemer in the form גֹּאֲלִי ga’ali meaning, ‘my Redeemer’ as in:
Iyoḇ/Job 19:25 “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and as the last shall rise over the dust”
He has bought us back from the grave; as we understand that the Hebrew word translated as ‘destruction’ is שַׁחַת shaḥath – Strong’s H7845 which means, ‘pit, ditch, grave’ and we see how Yonah cried out in recognition of how Elohim had redeemed him from the pit of destruction:
Yonah/Jonah 2:6 “I went down to the base of the mountains, the earth with its bars were behind me forever. But You brought up my life from the pit, O יהוה, my Elohim.”
It is only Elohim, our Redeemer, who is able to redeem us from the grave:
Tehillim/Psalm 49:7 “A brother does not redeem anyone at all, neither give to Elohim a ransom for him”
Tehillim/Psalm 49:15 “But Elohim does redeem my being from the power of the grave, for He does receive me. Selah.”
Forgiven, healed, redeemed and then:
4 – Crowned with loving-commitment and compassion!
Just when you may have thought that being forgiven, healed and redeemed from death was enough, we see that יהוה has set us apart as a royal nation of priests unto Him and crowned us! The Hebrew word translated here for ‘crown’ is עָטַר atar – Strong’s H5849 which means, ‘to surround, to crown’ and metaphorically speaks of honour and authority, and we see that this word is used as such as we see that grey hair (Mishlĕ/Proverbs 16:31), grandchildren (Mishlĕ/Proverbs 17:6), a capable wife (Mishlĕ/Proverbs 12:4)and wisdom (Mishlĕ/Proverbs 14:24) are considered to be a ‘crown’.
The Hebrew word used for ‘loving-commitment’ is חֶסֶד ḥesed – Strong’s H2617 and means, ‘goodness, kindness, deeds of devotion, faithfulness’, which we looked a little more closely at last week in a message reminding us to not let loving-commitment forsake us; and the Hebrew word translated as ‘compassion’ is רַחַם raḥam – Strong’s H7356 which means, ‘compassion, tender love, deep mercy’, and at its root it refers to a deep love (usually of a superior for an inferior) which is rooted in a natural bond. We see this being used here n this Psalm, in describing the deep love Elohim has on those who fear Him, being likened to the love of a father for his children as seen in verse 13.
יהוה does not just put a crown on our head – He literally surrounds us with His kindness and tender love. I wonder how many times we have forgotten this? Forgiven, healed, redeemed, and surrounded by His love!!! With all of this we that we are not to forget, we are quickly reminded how He:
5 – Satisfies us with good!
The Hebrew word used here for ‘satisfies’ is שָׂבַע saḇa – Strong’s H7646 meaning, ‘to be satisfied’, and a derivative of this word is שָׂבֵעַ saḇea – Strong’s H7649 which means, ‘satisfied, full, ripe’ and by implication can mean, ‘satisfied by nourishment’. The Hebrew word translated as ‘desires’ is עֲדִי adi – Strong’s H5716 and means, ‘ornaments’ or likened to the bridle in a horse’s mouth.
We know that יהוה satisfies our desires with good things and He satisfies His people with bread – which is symbolic of His Word that satisfies!
Tehillim/Psalm 132:15 “I greatly bless her provision, I satisfy her poor with bread.”
Tehillim/Psalm 147:14 “Who makes peace in your borders, He satisfies you with the finest wheat”
Tehillim/Psalm 22:26 “The meek ones do eat and are satisfied; let those who seek Him praise יהוה. Let your heart live forever!”
As we are reminded of His dealings with us, we cannot help but stop and praise Him for all He has done; and through all our toils and hardships that He had delivered us from, we remember how He has forgiven, healed, redeemed, crowned and satisfied us completely – and in doing all of this He:
6 – Renews our Youth!
This in itself is a powerful lesson of which we must never forget! The Hebrew word for ‘renew’ is חָדַשׁ ḥadash – Strong’s H2318 which means, ‘to renew, repair, restore, restored’, and this should make it very clear and plain in understanding that יהוה is saying that He would ‘renew, restore, repair’ His covenant with His Bride who broke it – and He would renew it is His own Blood! And in renewing His Covenant with us, we are renewed and restored to life – so much so that our ‘youth’ is renewed! The Hebrew word for ‘youth’ is נָעוּר na’ur – Strong’s H5271 which means, ‘youth, early life, childhood’, which is a participle of the word נַעַר na’ar – Strong’s H5288 which means, ‘lad, boy, youth attendant, child’.
Wow – our early life renewed!!! We can understand how some who have hit the 70’s can say that they feel so energised by the Truth and are like Kalěḇ who was 80 years old when he said… ‘give me that mountain!’.
Our youth is renewed like the eagle’s, and the eagle is known for its strength, size and longevity, as well as its yearly malting – which pictures renewal and refreshment and revival. Whenever we see this verse we are quickly reminded of:
Yeshayahu/Isaiah 40:31 “but those who wait on יהוה renew their strength, they raise up the wing like eagles, they run and are not weary, they walk and do not faint.”
The word used here in Yeshayahu for ‘renew’ is חָלַף ḥalaph – Strong’s H2498 which means, ‘to show newness, change for the better’. The message is clear – if we are not being continually renewed and refreshed and changing for the better then we are not waiting on Him in the way we should, and are in danger of becoming stale! His Word is alive and we are to be refreshed each day, keeping His presence fresh in us as we do not forget His dealings!
When I think of the imagery here of our youth being renewed I am quickly reminded of the words of Messiah in regards to how we ought to be:
Mattithyahu/Matthew 18:2-4 “And יהושע called a little child to Him, set him in their midst, 3 and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become as little children, you shall by no means enter into the reign of the heavens. 4 “Whoever then humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the reign of the heavens.”
We need to be like children – hungry for the truth, full of energy and able to be taught – if we are not then we may have forgotten His dealings with us!
These dealings are a powerful witness of how awesome, kind, patient and loving יהוה is toward us, His children, whom He loves, and disciplines when we need to be! The fact that He has not given us according to our deeds or rewarded us according to our crookednesses is more than enough to praise and bless Him –yet He has done and given us so much more. Tonight I simply want us to remember that and not forget it. Many of us have been through, and are still going through some very tough circumstances, yet we must not forget His dealings, so that we are able to be renewed like children and serve Him with gladness, aměn!
Dawiḏ makes it clear here that יהוה extends His loving-commitment to those who fear Him, which we have looked at some time ago, yet what we see in this psalm is that we see that those who fear יהוה – Guard His Covenant and Remember His orders – TO DO THEM!!! His love is so great we cannot measure it and we serve a Mighty and Awesome Elohim – how can we forget that! The reality is that sometimes we do forget and fall into the rut of bitterness, heartache, grumbling, fear and worry – when we need to remember His dealings and know that He surrounds us with His love and never leaves us.
His reign shall be established and He shall rule over all – what an awesome privilege to be an ambassador of that reign, right here right now. How do we keep fresh in our minds His dealings? By hating sin, confessing and repenting of sin and pursuing righteousness with our all as we live set-apart lives, able and ready to continually praise and bless Him.
It is time for us to make sure that we do not forget His dealings and bow down, worship and serve the Master in spirit and truth without compromise as we joyfully recount His dealings with us.
As we consider the joy of this psalm and the power of the wondrous dealings and love that has been shown to us may we never stop blessing our Redeemer!
I want to close with the words from Kěpha:
Kěpha Bět/2 Peter 1:2-11 “Favour and peace be increased to you in the knowledge of Elohim and of יהושע our Master, 3 as His Mighty-like power has given to us all we need for life and reverence, through the knowledge of Him who called us to esteem and uprightness. 4 Through these there have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, so that through these you might be partakers of the Mighty-like nature, having escaped from the corruption in the world, caused by lust. 5 And for this reason do your utmost to add to your belief uprightness, to uprightness knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control endurance, to endurance reverence, 7 to reverence brotherly affection, and to brotherly affection love. 8 For if these are in you and increase, they cause you to be neither inactive nor without fruit in the knowledge of our Master יהושע Messiah. 9 For he in whom these are not present is blind, being shortsighted, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his old sins. 10 For this reason, brothers, all the more do your utmost to make firm your calling and choosing, for if you are doing these matters you shall never stumble at all, 11 for in this way an entrance into the everlasting reign of our Master and Saviour יהושע Messiah shall be richly supplied to you.”
May our Redeemer and Set-Apart One of Yisra’ĕl, יהוה of Hosts, bless you and guard you; יהוה make His face shine upon you and show favour to you; יהוה lift up His face upon you and give you shalom!
Now bless יהוה – you His forgiven, healed, redeemed, crowned, satisfied and renewed set-apart, royal and chosen ones!
Aměn and Selah!