sukkot | Missing Pieces

I 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.

Scripture 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.

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.”
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.”
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 Chron. 15:27 “Honor and majesty surround him; strength and joy fill his dwelling.”
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”.

Psalm 2:11 “Serve the Lord with reverent fear, and rejoice with trembling.”
Psalm 16:9 “No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety.”
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.

Matt 2:10 “When they saw the star, they were filled with joy!”
Luke 15:10 “In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.”
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!