I love Psalm 33! Look at verses 1-3:
1 Rejoice in the Lord, O you [uncompromisingly] righteous [you upright in right standing with God]; for praise is becoming and appropriate for those who are upright [in heart]. 2 Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre; sing praises to Him with the harp of ten strings. 3 Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully [on the strings] with a loud and joyful sound.
Let's break this down a little bit by looking at some meanings for these Hebrew words! First of all we have "rejoice", which is the Hebrew word "ranan", and means: to be overcome, to cry out, to shout for joy, to give a ringing cry in joy and exultation, to cry ALOUD. A not from Vine's Expository Dictionary says this: Ranan is often used to express joy, exultation, which seems to demand loud singing, especially when it is praise to God. Needless to say, this is NOT about being quiet before the Lord! Nor is this part of being still and knowing that He is God! No, "ranan" is the RESULT of those things! If we are truly being still in His presence as He reveals Himself to us, then we WILL be 'crying out loud' in great joy over what we have discovered! A very good gauge for yourself to see whether or not you are spending enough quality time with Him! AMEN!
Then "prase" is the Hebrew word "yadah", which we have covered many times in this blog! It means to revere and worship, to acknowledge in reverence, to laud. Then we see that we are to see to the Lord with a new song, which is a song that comes up out of our Spirit-filled, reborn human spirit! A song between the Lord and each of us, individually! This is the Hebrew word "teruw`ah", which also means to clamor, and exclamation of Joy, a battle-cry, especially with trumpets! In case you haven't realized it yet, Heaven will most certainly NOT be a place of quietness, although there will be quiet places, but the praise of His people, recounting and rejoicing in His infinite greatness, love, mercy, loving-kindness, grace and mercy, for all of eternity, will indeed be filled with all glorious sounds! And WE are supposed to be 'practicing' that right here and right now! How well are YOU doing with this? Let's make it our determined purpose that Heaven will not be that drastic of a difference for us because we are doing our part now! AMEN! Here, to help you get used to the lively rejoicing going on right now in Heaven, is Hillsong UNITED with "Yours Forever"!
Shalom in Him!
