Friday, May 22, 2009

The Divine Woo-Hooooo!

For the Lord takes pleasure in His people;
He will beautify the humble with salvation.
(Psalm 149:4)
The Lord takes pleasure in His people. He is fully satisfied with us, takes delight in us, even enjoys us. See how great is His joy:
The Lord your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.
(Zephaniah 3:17)
The Hebrew word for the first “rejoice” in that verse is sus and speaks of ecstatic joy. The word for “gladness,” simcha, speaks of mirth and pleasure. The second “rejoice” is giyl and literally means to spin. The word for “singing” is rinnan, a high-pitched sound of jubilation — imagine God shouting Woo-hooooo! God takes such great pleasure and ecstasy in us that He sings and dances over us with whirling and twirling and jubilant shouts. That’s joy!

Who are His people, and how is it that we are pleasing to Him? They are the “humble.” The Hebrew word is anawim and refers to those who are lowly, poor and weak. They place no trust in themselves but look to God for their deliverance. They do not live proud and arrogant lives; they know they are fully dependent on Him. They are the ones Jesus speaks of in the Sermon of Heaven on Earth (a.k.a., Sermon on the Mount): “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5).

God delights greatly in those who believe His promise and trust in Him. These are the ones He beautifies, dignifies, with salvation — deliverance, healing and prosperity — with Jesus! (See The Fellowship of Drunken Glory)

If you are trusting in the Lord and believing His promises, He is ecstatic over you, rejoicing with singing and twirling for joy. Listen for His Woo-hooooo! and join in His revelry.

3 comments:

  1. Hey, Jeff! I love receiving your posts in my inbox. I have been remiss not to comment on your posts. Forgive me! I love studying the meanings of the Hebrew words. It gives the scriptures a greater such a greater depth than when we first read them. Thanks for your obedience to the Lord to write these posts. Blessings...Lynn

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  2. Anonymous3:48 PM

    I am glad I found your website and read this entry about God's Woo-hooooo! It bears witness with my spirit. I have been battling feelings of discouragement lately, since relocating to where I live now, far away from friends and family, and alone (with God) in a new community, job, home.

    I am doing my best to encourage myself in the Lord. I was reading about David earlier this morning, and also spoke to the spirit of discouragement and confessed aloud that the Lord is for me and is dancing over me with joy.

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  3. I'm glad you found this to be a help. I've written another article you might be interested in. It is called How to Encourage Yourself in the LORD.

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