Tag Archives: joy

Let all Creation Praise YHVH !

Feasts of YHVH, Peter's blogs, , , , , ,

every-created-thingI have often marveled at Psalm 148 that speaks about everything and everyone in Heaven and on the Earth praising the LORD [YHVH].  We know that our LORD God [Yehovah Elohim] created everything in the universe with His spoken Word.  We also know that the Living Word (Yeshua) was there at the beginning participating in every aspect of Creation (John 1:3).

It is not so amazing that people praise YHVH, since He created us to praise and glorify Him.  He says in Isaiah 43:7 when speaking about His people: “Everyone who is called by My name, whom I created for My glory…”.  In I Chronicles 16:29, David says in his song of praise to YHVH: “Give to the LORD the glory due His name…Worship the LORD in His holy splendor.”  The beautiful thing about glorifying God is that it brings the greatest joy to our hearts because that’s how YHVH created us.  C.S. Lewis once said: “In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy Him”.   All through Psalm 16, David talks about praising and glorifying God, and then in Verse 11 He says: “You show me the path of life, granting me the joy of Your presence and the pleasures of living with You forever”.

If we literally believe that “everything that has breath praises YHVH” (Psalm 150:6), then we can look around us and listen to all the voices of God’s creatures.  We are all familiar with the beautiful songs of the birds of the air.  There are also other less familiar voices that are beautifully expressed in the animal world.  Experts say that Fin whales can hear the bleeps of other fin whales from more than 500 miles away, and under the right conditions, Blue whales can hear each other from over 1,000 miles away!

Humpback whales are famous for singing songs that can last up to 30 minutes. They sing in rhyme, and the songs can be heard by other whales. The songs are passed along in the water so that an entire ocean may have all the humpback whales singing the exact same song at the same time—a kind of great whale choir.  How incredible is our God who created these amazing sea creatures, and how incredible is the sound of their praises sung to their Creator!

Any of us who have children (and we ourselves are children of our parents of course), know that when children praise and respect their parents, their relationship is strengthened and there is much greater joy and peace in the household.  In the same way, the right response from us toward God is praise because He deserves it.  When we show our love for YHVH by praising Him, we fulfill the purpose for which YHVH created us.  When we fulfill this purpose, we experience the greatest possible joy—God is pleased, our relationship with Him is enhanced, and He has received what He deserves.

What is even more incredible to me is that all of Creation is praising YHVH (from Psalm 148:1-8): “…His angels; His heavenly army (recall that Yeshua is the LORD of Heaven’s armies); the sun and the moon; all the shining stars (and scientists know that the stars “sing”); the highest heaven of the heavens; the waters above the heavens; the Earth; large sea creatures and the ocean depths; lightning and hail; snow and fog; strong winds that obey His commands; mountains and all hills; fruit trees and all cedars; wild and domestic animals; crawling animals and birds”.  Verse 13 sums up the whole Psalm by saying: “All creation, come praise the name of the Lord. Praise His name alone”.

Fortunately for us, YHVH’s command to praise Him and glorify His Name is not difficult to follow, for when we truly love Him, our praise will flow naturally from that love.  Start praising Him and rejoicing in His name today in this season of joy (Sukkot) and you will experience the greatest joy possible in His presence.

A Time for Joy

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shout-to-godScripture mentions joy many times and as we study the “joy” passages, we see many different facets or aspects.  What is joy?  According to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, there are a number of Hebrew and Greek words used for joy in Scripture.

The most often used word is Strong’s Hebrew 8057 , simchah, which means joy, gladness, mirth.  There are 95 occurrences of simchah or a variation used.  There is a lot of noisy and vigorous celebration associated with simchah.  Consider the following examples.

  1. Numbers 10:10 “Blow the trumpets in times of gladness, too, sounding them at your annual festivals and at the beginning of each month. And blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and peace offerings. The trumpets will remind the LORD your God of his covenant with you. I am the LORD your God.”
  2. 1 Sam 18:6 “When the victorious Israelite army was returning home after David had killed the Philistine, women from all the towns of Israel came out to meet King Saul. They sang and danced for joy with tambourines and cymbals.”
  3. 1 Kings 1:40 “And all the people followed Solomon into Jerusalem, playing flutes and shouting for joy. The celebration was so joyous and noisy that the earth shook with the sound.”

Joy is meant to fill us and overflow to others.  We see this in the two occurrences of Strong’s Hebrew 2304, chedvah.

  1. 1 Chron. 15:27 “Honor and majesty surround him; strength and joy fill his dwelling.”
  2. Nehemiah 8:10 “And Nehemiah continued, “Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!”

At times we are to rejoice with vigor and even with reverent awe and trembling before our sovereign King, as we see in some of the 46 occurrences of Strong’s Hebrew gil and its variants.  The word gil can also mean “whirl” or “spin around”.

  1.  Psalm 2:11 “Serve the Lord with reverent fear, and rejoice with trembling.”
  2. Psalm 16:9  “No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice.  My body rests in safety.”
  3. Psalm 48:11 “Let the people on Mount Zion rejoice.      Let all the towns of Judah be glad because of your justice.”

The Greek word chara (Strong’s 5479) is used 59 times in the New Testament.

  1.  Matt 2:10  “When they saw the star, they were filled with joy!”
  2. Luke 15:10 “In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.”
  3. James 1:2  “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, …”

When are we to rejoice and be filled with joy?  When we recall the greatness of YHVH (Is. 12:6), in our love for one another (Philemon 1:7), before Yeshua returns (1 Pet. 1:8-9), when we are persecuted (James 1:2-3; Heb 12:2), when we hope and trust in YHVH (Rom 15:13, when we speak face-to-face (2 John 1:12) and when Yeshua returns (John 16:22).  In other words, we are to be joyful at all times and in all circumstances (Phil 4:4).

As we embark on Sukkot, we are commanded to rejoice and be filled with joy (Deut 16:14-15).  We remember YHVH with the Israelites as they wandered in the wilderness and we celebrate YHVH dwelling with us now through His Holy Spirit.  Yeshua has promised to never leave us or forsake us and He will return to us soon to reign over us.   Our Father’s glory will once again be present in Jerusalem.  We will see YHVH face to face (1 Cor 13:12).  We have much cause to rejoice.  Chag Sameach (from simchah) Sukkot!

Joy through Obedience

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well-watered-gardenIn a previous blog, I talked about God wanting to bless us with happiness, as He says in Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in YHVH, and He will give you the desires of your heart”.  What brings us the greatest joy on this Earth, though?  We know it is not “seeking after our own pleasure on His holy day” that YHVH speaks against in Psalm 58.  YHVH is speaking about His Shabbat, and He goes on to say in a positive way: “if you call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in the Lord; and I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the Lord has spoken”.

This is one of my favorite passages from all of Scripture, and one of the most amazing promises YHVH makes, to bless us to the highest degree possible!  Can we be truly blessed by YHVH if we are not following His instructions in the Torah?  Consider the example of the remnant of Israel who returned from Babylon: they were back in Israel for almost 100 years before they re-discovered the Torah scrolls and the people asked for them to be read.

In Nehemiah 8, when the people came together as one in the city center, they appealed to Ezra the scribe to read the Torah Scriptures to them.  When they heard the words of the Torah, they were convicted of their sins and they bowed their faces to the ground and began to mourn and weep.  It is obvious from their reactions that they did not just come to listen to the scrolls for entertainment or casual curiosity, but rather they wanted to know the truth of the Torah commands they had broken before the captivity.  They came to hear, listen and then obey what they heard.  This is the meaning of Sh’ma in connection with the greatest of the Torah commandments: “Hear oh Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is One” Deut 6:4.  We are to hear YHVH’s word, take it deep down into our hearts, and then act on it by obeying what He says.

Going back to the promise from Isaiah 58, YHVH says that if we obey and honor Him, He will cause us to ride on the high hills of the earth.  When YHVH first brought His children out of Egypt, He also said He would make them ride in the heights of the Earth (Deut 32:13).  We know from the other passages that He meant He would give them prosperity, fruitfulness, and blessings in the land.

In Habakkuk 3:18-19, the prophet says: “Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, and He will make me walk on His high hills”.  God describes Himself as one “Who treads the high places of the earth” (Amos 4:13).   YHVH created us in His image, and He wants us to keep growing closer to Him so that we can walk on His high hills and experience those same high places where He roams in both His earthly and heavenly realms.

YHVH’s thoughts and ways are higher than ours, but He has given us the ability to draw closer to Him through keeping His Torah and His appointed times (Sabbaths and feasts), coming into His presence more and more so that we can enjoy intimate fellowship with Him.  When we walk in our own paths and fail to follow YHVH’s guidance, we are like dry plants in a desert.  I would much rather be a “follower of the way”, keeping YHVH’s commands and enjoying His blessings to be “like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail” (Isa 58:11).  Give it a try – walk with YHVH and follow his instructions and the blessings of joy will flow through your life like a never-ending spring.