21st of the 1st month 2015/2016
Shabbat Shalom all,
All praise and esteem belongs to יהוה our Elohim and we delight in bringing Him the joyous song of praise, aměn!
Qolasim/Colossians 3:16 “Let the Word of Messiah dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing with pleasure in your hearts to the Master in psalms and songs of praise and spiritual songs.”
Singing with pleasure in your hearts!!! How vital this is for us – as the Word of Messiah dwells in us richly we are to sing with great pleasure in our hearts – to Him our Master, Redeemer and King – and we are to be doing this with great joy as we sing in psalms and songs of praise and spiritual songs!!! Tonight I want us to be reminded of this vital call to sing with pleasure in our hearts to the Master! So I now echo this call to you all and charge you all to be a joy filled people who sing with pleasure in your hearts, as you raise a shout to our King in song. Tonight I would like us to worship and praise a little more. But first I would like to look at a couple of verses and words that remind us of our need to be a “singing, praising, worshipping and shouting with joy” kind of people. In this verse in Qolasim/Colossians, the Greek root word translated as pleasure is χάρις charis – Strong’s G5485 meaning, ‘grace, kindness, blessing, gift, favour’. In other words we are to be singing with ‘favour’ in our hearts – that is to say that we are to be singing with the loving-kindness and gift of His Word that now richly dwells in us, given to us as a precious gift through the shed Blood of our Messiah!
As we are in the midst of the week of Matzot/Unleavened Bread and actually entering into the last day of Matzot, we are reminded how, by His Blood, we are cleansed from all unrighteousness and sin, and at this time of year the words of Sha’ul to Titos speak loud and clear:
Titos/Titus 3:4-7 “But when the kindness and the love of Elohim our Saviour toward man appeared, 5 He saved us, not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to His compassion, through the washing of rebirth, and renewal by the Set-apart Spirit, 6 which He poured out on us richly through יהושע Messiah our Saviour, 7 that having been declared right by His favour we should become heirs according to the expectation of everlasting life.”
In Messiah, we have richly received a great renewal by the Set-Apart Spirit, causing us to have a sure expectation of everlasting life – and that is worth singing about and shouting with joy unto יהוה our Elohim!!!
We certainly enjoyed a great Pěsaḥ Meal together at the end of last Shabbat and in the clear call to be an alert and watchful people who are guarding His commands, we must never neglect the need to be doing that with joy – a joy that comes straight from the heart in recognition of all that He has done for us and continues to do in us as we work out our deliverance with fear and trembling, as He leads us in every step we take!!!
As I was meditating on the Word, seeking what I should be bringing to you tonight, I could not get away from the fact that we are to be a joyful people who are shouting with joy unto our King.
Tehillah/Psalm 66 is a great Psalm of praise, which can certainly stir in us the need to acknowledge and recognise how privileged we are as a people that can be gathered here in the Master’s presence on His Shabbat. After having eaten together at the Master’s Table at the end of last Shabbat, as we shared the Pěsaḥ Meal and a great night of watches, we recognise how great it is to be able to actually stand and declare our praise unto our Most High and Set-Apart King!!! In a brief message tonight called, “SHOUT WITH JOY AND SING WITH PLEASURE TO THE MASTER!”, I would like us to certainly do just that, but before we sing and praise and make a resounding shout of joy, please turn with me to Tehillah/Psalm 66 as we look briefly at this great song/melody of praise that should teach us to be a people who are able to sing with much pleasure in our hearts to our Great Redeemer and King, who became sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of Elohim. (Read).
This Tehillah/Psalm is a great declaration and praise of deliverance, and I cannot help but be moved to sing and shout with joy when I read and meditate upon this song and poem of praise!
While I usually cannot help myself looking deeply into root words and structures of passages and chapters, I did have to restrain myself in preparing for tonight, because if I did not I would have you hear all night dissecting this great poem…. Yet my attention was steered toward the need for us to do what the first verse tells us to… and that is to: “SHOUT WITH JOY”.
We can often get so caught up in the chaotic web of the worldly systems that we find ourselves living in the midst of, and often find ourselves getting so tangled up in the pressures of daily life as we know it, that we can tend to neglect this much needed task of shouting with joy to Elohim! As we all prepared ourselves in getting rid of leaven from our homes before Pěsaḥ and the Feast of Matzot, we are able to embrace this Feast with joy as we too take time to reflect on the powerful work of redemption that Messiah has done for us, and be challenged to carefully consider how our own individual lives are measuring up to His clear standard for set-apart living, when we look into the mirror of the Word!
This week of Matzot/Unleavened Bread ought to cause us to be challenged to not only be rid of leaven for a week, but also realise that by His resurrection power that now lives in us, we are to be fully enabled by His Word that richly dwells in us, to walk and live as He walked and lived and be done with sin!!! This is certainly a clear reason for us to shout with joy to Elohim, and sing out the splendour of His Name and make His praise esteemed!
The Hebrew word translated in verse 1 as “Shout with joy” is – הָרִיעוּ – ‘hariyau’ which comes from the primitive root word: רוּעַ rua – Strong’s H7321 which means, ‘to raise a shout, give a blast, battle cry, jubilant shouting, shout joyfully, shout in triumph’. It is written in the ‘hiphil’ tense which usually expresses the causative action of the ‘qal’ tense which is the most frequent verb tense. It is written in the plural and is clearly a call to raise a resounding great shout to all. It is also written in the ‘imperative’ which is expressive of a command, entreaty, or exhortation that is not to be avoided or evaded! In other words, this is a command and not a suggestion! One that all should be caused to adhere to! This Tehillah/Psalm has the title – לַמְנַצֵּחַ שִׁיר מִזְמוֹר – ‘lamnatsueyaḥ shiyr mizmor’ … “To the chief musician, a song, a psalm”, and this is a song or psalm or poem of praise, which is thought to have been a psalm that was written and sung after the exile by the returning captives, as a great declaration of praise to Elohim for their deliverance out of an oppressive bondage that they had been under due to their own rebellion and sin. This is therefore a very fitting song or poem for us to also be declaring, in our collective raising of a shout with joy for our deliverance from sin and death, especially as we consider this Great Feast of Pěsaḥ and Matzot that we have been celebrating this week!
What I found interesting with this word רוּעַ rua, is that while it is found 46 times in the Tanak (O.T.), it is found 12 times in Tehillim/Psalms and I want to quickly list those 12 verses from the Tehillim/Psalms that contain this verb, as it is very fitting in recognising the call for all the earth to raise a shout to Elohim, for the deliverance He has brought to all mankind, giving all a means to be grafted in to the 12 tribes of Yisra’ĕl, through the Blood of Messiah!
1 – Tehillah/Psalm 41:11 “By this I know that You did delight in me, because my enemy does not shout for joy over me.”
2 – Tehillah/Psalm 47:1 “Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to Elohim with a voice of singing!”
3 – Tehillah/Psalm 60:8 “Mo’aḇ is My wash-pot, over Eḏom I cast My shoe, Shout loud, O Philistia, because of Me.”
4 – Tehillah/Psalm 65:13 “The meadows are dressed in flocks, and valleys are covered with grain; they shout for joy and sing.”
5 – Tehillah/Psalm 66:1 “Shout with joy to Elohim, all the earth!”
6 – Tehillah/Psalm 81:1 “Shout for joy to Elohim our strength; raise a shout to the Elohim of Ya’aqoḇ.”
7 – Tehillah/Psalm 95:1 “Come, let us sing to יהוה! Let us raise a shout to the Rock of our deliverance.”
8 – Tehillah/Psalm 95:2 “Let us come before His face with thanksgiving; let us raise a shout to Him in song.”
9 – Tehillah/Psalm 98:4 “Raise a shout to יהוה, all the earth; break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.”
10 – Tehillah/Psalm 98:6 “With trumpets and the sound of a horn; raise a shout before יהוה, the Sovereign.”
11 – Tehillah/Psalm 100:1 “Raise a shout for יהוה, all the earth!”
12 – Tehillah/Psalm 108:9 “Mo’aḇ is My wash-pot, over Eḏom I cast My shoe, over Philistia I raise a shout.”
In these 12 verses we see the great call to raise a shout with joy unto the Rock of our Deliverance – יהושע Messiah, and what is made very clear here in these verses is that the call to shout, sing, clap our hands is to be done with joy!!!
I love the contrast between Tehillah/Psalm 60:8 where יהוה is ironically calling Philistia to shout aloud, and basically asking them if they actually think that they can shout in triumph over Him!!! Then in Tehillah/Psalm 108:9 we see how יהוה declares that He raises a shout over Philistia – for He is triumphant over our enemies; and as Tehillah/Psalm 41:11 declares – “because He delights in us, our enemies do not shout in triumph over us”!!! How awesome is that! Through His great work of deliverance for us, He raises a shout of triumph over them – and this is exactly what I am calling us to do tonight – to raise a shout with joy to the Elohim of our deliverance and do so with singing and songs of praise, with the clapping of hands and the sound of the horn – singing out the splendour of His Name, making His praise esteemed!!!
In verse 2 the word translated as ‘sing’ is – זַמְּרוּ – ‘zamru’ which is from the primitive root verb זָמַר zamar – Strong’s H2167 which means, ‘to make music (in praise of Elohim), sing praises’, and is written in the ‘piel’ tense which expresses and intensive and intentional action, teaching us that we are to sing with purpose and mean it!!! This is not a ‘going through the motions’ kind of singing, this is an intense action of making music with much concentration and intent! And this we are to do as we sing with great intensity the Splendour of the Name of our Great Redeemer and King! Once again this is written in the imperative plural, which clearly signifies for us the clear call for all of us to be giving it our all as we sing the splendour of His Name. The Hebrew word for ‘splendour’ is כָּבוֹד kaḇoḏ – Strong’s H3519 which means, ‘honour, esteem, reverence, splendid’, which comes from the root verb כָּבֵד kaḇeḏ – Strong’s H3513 which means, ‘to be heavy, weighty or burdensome, to give high esteem and respect and honour’, and is often translated as ‘praise’ that is to be given to יהוה!
All who are in His presence give esteem to Him, and give weight to the power of His voice, and so should we who claim to love Him, as we stay in our Good Shepherd and King, יהושע Messiah, and sing of the great splendour of His great Name, lifting up our voices with intensity unto Him. Praising Him for all that He has done and continues to do in and through us as we faithfully sojourn here until He returns!
We are to make His praise esteemed! The Hebrew word translated as ‘esteemed’ is also kaḇoḏ – Strong’s H3519, teaching us that we are not to take lightly our need to be shouting with joy and singing with pleasure unto our Master, but rather that we are to give weight and proper respect to the praise that is due to Him! This is something that so many often neglect to do, yet we can learn some vital lessons from Scripture of how crucial proper praise and esteem unto our Master can do, as we see proper praise being an important part of our ability to be walking in continual victory of our enemies!
The Hebrew word used in verse 2 for ‘praise’ is – תְּהִלָּתוֹ – ‘tehillathu’ and comes from the root word תְּהִלָּה tehillah Strong’s H8416 meaning, ‘praise, or a song of praise, psalm’, which comes from the root word הָלַל halal Strong’s H1984 which means, ‘to shine; to be boastful; to be clear; to make a show; to rave; be foolish; to celebrate; praise, cheer, brag or extol, i.e., extol the greatness or excellence of a person, object or event’.
How boastful are you in your esteemed praise of Elohim? Has your praise lost its shine and become dull due to impending pressures and entangling circumstances, or can you do what is being called for here and truly shout for joy and sing with pleasure in your hearts unto the Master? Or are there other things going on inside of you that is hindering your ability to praise and sing as you should?
As we consider the joy of this Tehillah that celebrates a great deliverance we must take careful heed and pay attention to the power of these words that should ignite and stir in us our ability to be a people who can raise a resounding shout of victory, making a boastful declaration of faith in our Mighty Elohim!
In verse 3 we see a continuation of what proper praise does as the Psalmist declares to us that we should say to Elohim: “How awesome are your works!” Can you say that to Elohim? Can you honestly say to Him, “How awesome are your works!” We should be able to and in fact if we are a people who praise Him as we should, we should not only be declaring and proclaiming His great Name but also declaring to Him how great His works are! Are you able to say this to Him with proper confidence and conviction or do you find yourself struggling through some major battles and find it hard to express to Elohim how great His works are as you may feel that you have not or are not experiencing the greatness of His works? His deliverance that He has brought us and done according to His compassion is awesome and is something we are to remember and give thanks for and declare back to Him how awesome it is, for we could never be delivered if it were not for His awesome works!!!
The Hebrew word translated as ‘awesome’ is נּוֹרָא – ‘nora’ – which is from the root word יָרֵא yare – Strong’s H3372 which means, ‘to fear, be afraid, be in awe, show reverence and respect’, and written in the ‘niphal’ tense it can express the understanding of, ‘to be fearful, be feared, to cause astonishment and awe, to inspire reverence’. The Hebrew root word translated as ‘acts’ is מַעֲשֶׂה ma’aseh – Strong’s H4639 and means ‘a deed, work or acts, accomplishments’. His work of deliverance is ‘awesome’ and should cause in us a great astonishment and awe, inspiring proper reverence for His Name! What the Psalmist is declaring here could also be expressed as the following, “The great things you do cause my insides to tremble”! Do you tremble at the awesome works of Elohim?
So great and powerful are the works of Elohim that the whole world bows to Him and praises Him, and this we know shall happen as we see in Pilipiyim/Philippians 2:10-11 that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that יהושע Messiah is Master! The works of Elohim are so awesome and fear inspiring that even his enemies cringe and submit to Him. The Hebrew word translated as ‘pretends obedience’ is כָּחַשׁ kaḥash – Strong’s H3584 which we looked at last week and means, ‘to be untrue, to lie, deny, disown, fail, to act deceptively, cringe, disappoint’.
The use of this word describes defeated soldiers who are unwillingly paying homage to their victorious enemy! The enemy will have no choice but to submit and pay proper homage to the Almighty King. What the psalmist is making clear to us here in these verses is that through the greatness of the power of Elohim all the earth will bow and pay proper respect – and this in itself is something to ‘pause and think about’ – hence the ‘selah’ at the end of verse 4!
The Hebrew word סֶלָה selah – Strong’s H5542 means, ‘lift up, exalt’, and is used frequently in the Tehillim/Psalms as a technical musical term probably showing accentuation, pause, or interruption, and is often understood as meaning, ‘pause and think about’, or ‘stop for a moment and consider what has just been said’.
As we consider that all will bow and praise, why would we act deceptively now and not submit as we should, for it will be better for us if we can properly make His praise esteemed now and declare His mighty works now and do so with joy, singing with pleasure to our King!
The psalmist continues on and declares some of the mighty works of Elohim and how He causes our feet to be steadfast, as we stay in Him and allow His Word to prove, refine and discipline us, and because of this we are enabled and equipped to be the proper daily living offering that we ought to be, as we render our reasonable worship unto Elohim, a worship that is well pleasing to Him, as we live completely set-apart lives unto Him!
In verse 13 we see that the psalmist declares that he enters the House of Elohim with ascending offerings and completes his vows to יהוה! As we offer up our bodies as a daily living sacrifice – our set-apart, well pleasing and reasonable worship unto Elohim, we are able to enter into His House and complete our vows! The Hebrew word translated as ‘complete’ is the primitive root verb שָׁלֵם shalem – Strong’s H7999 which means, ‘to be complete or sound, rewarded, make full restitution’, from which we get the word שָׁלוֹם shalom – Strong’s H7965 – ‘wholeness, completeness, soundness, welfare, peace, health, prosperity, well-being, safety, protection’. The plural of this root word – is שְׁלָמִים ‘shelemim’, which is used to describe the ‘peace offerings’ in Wayyiqra/Leviticus 3.
The Peace offering speaks of our fellowship. Now that we have been atoned for and share in the Meal offering of Pěsaḥ, remembering our Messiah, we are now able to draw near to Elohim for now we have peace with Him!
Romiyim/Romans 5:1 “Therefore, having been declared right by belief, we have peace with Elohim through our Master יהושע Messiah”
This offering represents our intimacy with Messiah and with one another as a body being knit together by Him, and our ability to complete our vow to Him has been made possible by His great work of deliverance over our lives!
The psalmist expresses his joy in the deliverance that Elohim has worked as he calls for all that fear Elohim to come and hear what Elohim has done for him! He expresses his joy that by the work of deliverance his prayers could be answered and that by his submission to the Master he can express a true praise in blessing the Master and Elohim of our deliverance as he recognises that His loving-commitment endures forever!
How are you doing in your ability in being a proper daily living offering, living out a compromise free set-apart life as your proper well pleasing and reasonable worship unto our Master and Elohim? Are you able to complete your vow of commitment to Him and are you able to faithfully declare and relate what He has done for you as you hold fast to the witness of the Master, יהושע Messiah, and endure and overcome in Him? The ability to do this every day begins with a proper acknowledgment and a proper praise of His Name and His great works. As we sojourn here we also recognise that the enemy will do all to come against the true set-apart ones of the Most High and fight against the remnant seed, that is, as Ḥazon/Revelation 12:17 tells us, those guarding the commands of Elohim and possessing the witness of יהושע Messiah.
In a time where our worship is clearly identified in how we live our daily lives and whether or not we guard the commands of Elohim and hold fast to the witness of Messiah, we are told in Ḥazon/Revelation 14 that those who receive the mark of the beast on their hand or forehead will drink of the cup of the wrath of Elohim. Shemoth/Exodus 13 tells us twice that the feast of Pěsaḥ and Matzot shall be a sign on our hand and forehead, which shows us how we are to endure by guarding the commands of Elohim and the belief of Messiah, the Passover Lamb.
Ḥazon/Revelation 14:12 “Here is the endurance of the set-apart ones, here are those guarding the commands of Elohim and the belief of יהושע.”
Tonight I want us to be reminded and encouraged to be a people who are guarding the commands of Elohim and guarding the belief of יהושע Messiah, walking as He walked, guarding His Sabbaths, Feast and all His commands, being marked by Him with the ability to endure and be overcomers in Him!
Without His work of deliverance over our lives this would not be possible for us, and so tonight as we enter into the last day of the Feast of Matzot/Unleavened Bread I want us to be reminded of His great work over our lives and be able to boldly declare how awesome His works are, and raise a great shout unto our King!
On 1st day we will be coming together and celebrating the waving of the sheaf of the first fruits and begin our commanded count to 50, which in itself teaches us to be a people who daily count the cost of following our Master and Elohim and recognise the need to endure until our deliverance is made complete. For He who has begun a good work in you shall perfect it until the day of יהושע Messiah! What makes it possible to endure with joy and thanksgiving is our ability to shout with joy and sing with pleasure to the Master, and sing of the splendour of His Name and declare to Him how awesome, or rather awe inspiring are His works! We have much to give thanks for and much to raise a joyous shout for!
May this word tonight stir in you the need to be a joy-filled praising people of Elohim, a people that can relate what He has done for you, as seen in your steadfast obedience to His commands, done so with joy and pleasure in your hearts!
“SHOUT WITH JOY AND SING WITH PLEASURE TO THE MASTER!”
Are you able to do just that! Let us make His Name great together in the assembly and shout with joy and sing of the splendour of His great Name – singing with pleasure in our hearts to our Master! Let us together – shout, sing and make His praise esteemed!!! . . . let us rise up and sing….. (for those reading these notes… take time now to praise with joy and raise a great shout to our great Master and Elohim!)
יהוה bless you and guard you; יהוה make His face shine upon you and show favour to you; יהוה lift up His face to and give you shalom!