Hallelujah

I was thinking about an old song that I sang when I was young, it was a song where the word Hallelujah was repeated many times. Then other phrases would be added to the same tune and they would be sung. I have always liked the tune and the word, but I decided to do a little study about the word that is in so many songs; songs that are written by gospel, contemporary, pop, and rock artists. What does the word mean?

It is a two part Hebrew phrase that is made up of two words: hallelu and Yah. Its most simple translation is Praise Yah or Praise the Lord. As I looked deeper there were some things that caught my eye. Hallelu is a form of the word hallel which means more than just praise, it is a word that in Hebrew means joyous praise, a boast in God, or even to act madly or foolishly. So it is declarative and forceful praise toward God that is uninhibited by what is defined as civilized behavior.

There is an example of this in the Bible where David the king is leading a procession of people with the Ark of the Covenant to its new home in Jerusalem, and the Scripture says that David took off his royal robes and put on a linen ephod and was dancing around  praising God. His wife Michal despised this and said, "How the king distinguished himself in the eyes of the maids today taking off his royal clothing." David's response was that he would be even more undignified than that when worshipping the Lord, but with the maids he would be regarded as more dignified. This is the kind of worship that the Lord deserves. That kind that is strong and is not hindered by what people say or think.

The next word in the phrase is Yah. This is the word that in Hebrew is represented by the four consonant tetragrammaton YHWH. It is unknown just exactly how this is said, so the closest  equivalent is Yahweh. This is the name by which God introduced Himself to Moses when Moses approached the burning bush in the third chapter of Genesis. The most wonderful thing about this regarding the word hallelujah is that it is the personal name of God; His covenant name. He had not previously made His personal name known to anyone, the name that defined who He is in His essence. He had revealed himself to Abraham and his sons as God Almighty, which is El Shaddai (all sufficient one), which is El which means might strength or power, but is also a reference to "gods" in general; and Shaddai which has a meaning like sufficiency and nourishment. 
In the Old Testament other names were added to the end of the El in order to distinguish God from the pagan gods. For an example, other than the one listed above, when Hagar was dismissed from Sarah and she and Ishmael were in the wilderness and thirsty. She could not stand to see her son die so she set him away from her but nearby. Then God spoke to her, made promises about her son, and showed her water. Her response was to call God El Roi which means the God who sees me. This is the root word El which refers to gods in general along with a descriptive word which distinguishes Him from pagan gods as a god who sees. 

Now to Moses, He is revealing His name which He defines as I am who I am, or I will be who I will be. His personal name. This is the name also that is Jesus calls Himself when he is having a discussion with the Jewish leaders. In John 8, Jesus is talking to the Jewish leaders about his relationship to his father and they brought up Abraham and asked if He was greater than him. Jesus said that Abraham rejoiced to see his day, saw it and was glad. Then they said that Jesus was not fifty years old yet and yet he had seen Abraham? Jesus says in response, "before Abraham was I am". This "I am" is the same phrase as the YHWH or Yahweh mentioned earlier. So Jesus identifies Himself as God by using the personal name that God used to introduce Himself to Moses. 


So the next time you say the word Hallelujah, remember that it is a deep phrase that is packed with meaning, much more than what I have written here.

Keep Your Marriage: Die to Yourself

The other night I was listening to an interview with a man as he was repenting of the effects of impropriety between he and a woman in his staff while he was seeking divorce from his wife. The man that was interviewing him is also the one who is heading up the restoration process in his life. As I continued to listen I learned that he had divorced his wife and had married the woman that he had built the relationship with. The man who was interviewing said that he was "impressed with the maturity" of the woman that the other had committed adultery with, and that the staff at the church were all amazed at how the two seemed to be "made for each other".

I was distressed by the conclusions made by the interviewer and the agreement of the new couple sitting in front of him. It made me think, what about the man's ex-wife? What was she? Didn't God join the two of them together not to be separated by anyone? Didn't Jesus say that divorce was given as the response to a hardened heart, but at the beginning it was not the way? "He made them male and female and for that reason a man was to leave his father and mother and cling to his wife, and the two would be one flesh; therefore what God has joined together let no one separate." (Mark 10:5-9)

It was also interesting that "maturity" was not defined by actions done in denying ones self, taking up the cross, and following Jesus, but upon how they confessed their sin and carried themselves after being caught in a severe case of immaturity. It was not defined by the woman staying clear of the man who was having marriage problems, but by how she "supported him through such a time of testing". 

Being "made for each other" seems to be a phrase I hear a lot from people that are and have decided that the marriage to their current partner was a wrong choice or their partner isn't worshipping the ground they walk on so they aren't their "soul mate". The way I understand marriage from being in it through good times and hard times is that the person to whom God joins you is the one that will sharpen and hone so that after years the relationship resembles the headship of Jesus and the submission of the church, and the joy that reigns. 

Now I know that there are people who will think that I have no compassion or even room for the mate that will not reconcile, leaving the other to wonder in confusion and pain. I know that Jesus made provision for divorce in the case of adultery. In the case above we are not talking about seeking divorce as a result of adultery. Instead, this is about hard times and seemingly irreconcilable differences between a husband and wife. Then the man finds someone who "understands him" and instead of running away he stays in the presence of the woman as a worshipper and falls. 
Most of the people that I know who have gotten divorced recently have done what is described above. They can't find unity with each other. Some have gone to counselors even Christian counselors and still find no unity of purpose to pull them out of the trouble and discord that defines their married life. 


So this is the issue. How does a marriage survive in an age when a person's right to be happy, in the immediate, blinds them to the great benefits found in vows kept through the best and the worst?   
It survives the same way that it always has. You die to yourself, take up your cross and follow Jesus. You seek the face of God who made your mate and you do what He tells you to do, whatever it is. No matter how strange and no matter how it is returned. The vows you made were to Him, therefore, you keep them; no matter the response. 
Now to those who are in the throws of divorce from a mate that tore things up and cheated, and they have left you with pain, confusion, and maybe even children who don't understand. Jesus is near to the brokenhearted and He binds up their wounds. You can seek the comfort of others, and you can even settle for it, but there is no one who comforts the hurting like Jesus. If you will call out to Him, He will hear you and He will help you. 

Oh, the joy of forgiveness

This morning I was worshipping God with other believers and a phrase in a song stuck out to me, it was, "oh the joy of forgiveness". As I was enjoying this phrase a story from the Bible came to my memory and I thought I would relate it here. 
Some of the rulers of the Jews came to test Jesus about the law to find a reason to accuse him of wrong; so they brought to him a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They said that they had caught her in the "very act", which makes me wonder where the guy was. After all the law said that both, the man and the woman, were to be stoned. 

They said to Jesus, "We have caught this woman in the act of adultery. In the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women, but what do you say?" 
Jesus stoops down and begins to write in the dirt, so they keep asking and pressing him to answer. 
He stands up and says, "He among you who is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." 
Then he stooped back down and began writing on the ground. 

When they heard that they began to leave one at a time beginning with the older ones, and he was left alone with the woman, where she was. 

In the eyes of the woman this could have been an even more frightening prospect. At this point Jesus was very well known for healing the sick, casting out demons, and there had even been some reports that he had raised people from the dead. He had been friendly to sinners, had fed thousands of people with a one person lunch, but had recently been confronting the leaders of the nation and been calling himself the son of God; making himself equal with God. He had even said that his Father (God) didn't judge anyone, because he had given all judgement over to the son. So that the right to judge mankind had been given to Jesus. Let's just suppose that this woman had heard that message, or that she had some friends that had heard; now she would have the added pressure of these words to her mind as she stood there before Jesus while the last of the younger men were leaving. 
What would he do? 
She watched as the last of the young men left and Jesus stood up. 
Then he spoke to her and said, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
She answered, "No one, Lord."
Then Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on do not sin."
What a wonderful Lord. 
The one who didn't have any sin and had the right to pass judgement on this woman refused to condemn her, forgave her sin, and told her to go with freedom from her sin. Soon Jesus would take the judgement and punishment for both her sin and that of mankind so that everyone could be free from condemnation and sin and forgiven to live life abundant with Jesus.
Later when Paul is writing to the Christians in Colosse, he says that Jesus "is the image of the invisible God" and that "In him the fullness of God was pleased to dwell." In other words, Jesus is God. 
If the question arises, "What would God have done in this situation with the woman caught in adultery?" 
Now you know. 
It's what Jesus did.


"Oh, the joy of forgiveness." 

Have Thine Own Way, Lord

“Have thine own way, Lord, have thine own way. 

You are the potter, I am the clay. 

Mould me and make me, after thy will. 

While I am waiting, yielded and still.”

The affect of these simple phrases can be varied. To one, the words fall off the tongue with familiarity without calling for action, response, or emotion. To another, the words evoke remembrances of sights, smells, maybe even a small stirring. 

To a third, it brings the faithful invitation of God, to believe what He believes and flow in the river of His making. In this river a person can find life, and that life will be abundant and full. It calls for a person to see beyond themselves into the realm of the presence of God, where His will is done in its fullness all of the time; without fail. The phrases call for choices that often lay beyond our experience by calling us to die to ourselves and live to God. 
To ask God to “have His own way” is to decide that our own doing is over. We are done with the familiar choices that call us to everyday life with its mundaneness and melancholy. Instead we are called to abundance, into that place where God is recognized as the King. To see God as the faithful orchestrator and director of our lives no matter how much time it takes or what it requires. God is the King and Lord and therefore He is to have His own way. 

Recognizing the reality of God’s rulership is difficult to see in a society where “personal rights and choices” are engrained so deeply that it seems that the full measure of God’s intended freedom is found in this world and nation. As long as the right person is in office, the right laws are being passed, and everyone is “safe”, we say that God is in control and things are being done according to His will. However, if the opposite is true, then the destruction of the country is immanent; which (according to them) is not the will of God. We are quick to judge God’s rulership when we see things going the opposite way that we want, without understanding that the Lord rules in the heavens. All authority in heaven and on earth was given to Jesus, therefore He rules. 

But, but, what about the babies being murdered, or the health care bill, or the overspending and corruption of the government? These things don’t change the realities of God, His rulership, or the purpose of His will on the earth. There are no stumbling blocks in His way. He does everything according to the counsel of His own will and nothing stops that. “The heart of the king is in the hands of the Lord, and He turns it wherever He wishes”. He will have mercy on whom He will have mercy, and He will harden the one whom He wishes to harden. 

Letting God have His own way is less about the letting, and more about the submitting. “Stop striving, and know that I am God, I will be exalted in the earth.” and again “As I live says the Lord, the knowledge of the glory of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.” To recognize that as maker, or potter in this case, He has full rights over His creation to do with it as He wills. If a person will submit to this moulding of his own free will. If he will lose to gain, then he will find life abundant and full.