Praise the Lord - Part 9: Blessing the Blessed One

Well, today is likely the end of our teaching series on the subject of praise. And in this series of teachings, we are learning what true praise looks like, and also learned some powerful truths about it.
 
One of the main things I hope we’ve taken out of this study is how praise is not just to be something that we observe, but that it’s something that we all need to participate in. Yes, that includes during the song services we have here corporately, but also in our homes, in our automobiles, and everywhere for that matter. Church, our lives are meant to bring forth His praise – not just “some times” or “occasionally,” but as David said in Psalm 34:1 – at “all times” and “continuously!”
 
I also hope that we’ve learned how the Lord desires our praise to come from hearts that are full of gratitude & excitement for all that He is and He has done for us. This will result in a whole lot more “expressive, unreserved, and emotional” kind of action on our part, which will mirror a lot of what we see in the Hebrew idea of praise.
 
I plan to review the specifics of what we’ve learned already, but for now, let’s get right into how the Lord would have us to conclude this study …  
 
Baraking = Blessing
 
Let’s move on to the last Hebrew word for “praise” that I wanted to cover – one that leads us into the holy of holies – the Hebrew word barak (baw-rack).
 
This word barak means to "to bend the knees & kneel down, to bless God as an act of adoration." This word is actually translated to “bless” over 300 of the 338 times it’s used! Sometimes it is used to describe man being “blessed” by God, but it is also used as man “blessing” God.
 
Now, of course, this does not mean that God’s creation can “bless” God like He “blesses” us. He alone is the giver of every good & perfect gift and only He, as being the source of any & all blessings, can empower one to prosper. But there are verses (and we will look at some of them here shortly) that describe us “blessing God” and some that describe Him as the “blessed God.” So perhaps the terminology “blessed” (i.e. bless-ed) more accurately conveys God being blessed. We see barak used this way in Psalm 18:46 when David said, “Blessed be my Rock” or in Psalm 28:6, 31:21, 41:13, etc. when the psalmists said, “Blessed be the Lord.” So He is the “blessed One forever”! Which means what?
 
Well, I think a good way to answer that question is like so – When an individual was “barak’d” (i.e. blessed) by the Lord, how was that described? Well, a perfect example of this is found in Genesis chapter 12 when God told Abram how He would “bless” Him. He said in Genesis 12:1-3, “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
 
So when God told Abram that He would “barak” him, how did He describe this blessing? He said He would make him into a great nation. He said He would make his name great. He said that he would be a blessing. He said that those who blessed him would be blessed and those who cursed him would be cursed. And finally, he said that all the families of the earth shall be blessed through him. So when we consider this, what are we doing when we “bless” the Lord? We are declaring how great His kingdom is (i.e. make him into a great nation)! We are stating how great His name is (i.e. make his name great)! We are telling Him how much of a blessing He is (i.e. be a blessing)! We are inferring that everyone who praises Him will be blessed by Him and everyone who speaks against Him will be cursed (i.e. bless those who bless you & curse him who curses you)! And finally, we are declaring that everyone who is blessed, obtained that blessing through Him!
 
In other words, one of the ways that I am “blessing” the “blessed” One is by declaring how great His name and His kingdom are, how much of a “blessing” He has been to me personally, and how He is the source –  any & all “blessings” come through Him. This is a way of “barak’ing” the Lord, church!  
 
You see, this is an important part of understanding this Hebrew word for “praise” because when you study this concept of “blessing” in the Old Testament, you’ll realize that it’s done with words. Sure, one received the blessing of God when hands were laid on them, etc. But the primary way you see the blessing of God transferred was through words.
 
We see this in how God blessed His creation in Genesis when we are told that God “blessed” things like the fish, birds, and mankind, “saying …” In other words, the way the Lord blessed His creation was by speaking words like “Be fruitful and multiply.”
 
We also would see it in how the Patriarchs would bless their sons. They would speak words of life & blessing into them and this was how the blessing of God was transferred to the firstborn (or at least that was who it was intended for).
 
One of our most well-known examples of this is in what is commonly known as “The Priestly Blessing.” It is found in Numbers chapter 6 …
 
In Numbers 6:22-27 we are told – “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ‘Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them: ‘The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.’ So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.”
 
So notice that the Lord told Moses to tell Aaron and his sons that “this is the way you shall bless (i.e. barak) the children of Israel. Say to them …” In other words, the way the priests were to “barak” the people was to speak this particular blessing over them.
 
So guess how you and I can “bless” the Lord? We could say something to Him of the same effect – “Lord, you have blessed me and kept me. Lord, you’ve made Your face to shine upon me, and you’ve been so gracious to me. Lord, you have lifted up Your countenance upon me and given me Your peace.”
 
Do you see what I’m doing here? I am praising the Lord! How? By blessing the blessed One! Amen!  
 
So yes, the blessing is voice activated. It is released through speaking words. Therefore, when we “bless” the Lord, what we are doing is, with our mouths, we are declaring good things about Him. Amen?
 
A good example of this is found in Luke 6:28 when Jesus taught how we should love our enemies: He said, “bless those who curse you …”
 
The New Testament word for “bless” is the Greek word eulogia, which literally means to “to speak well of.” It is actually transliterated as our English word “eulogy,” which is what we do at funerals when we speak good things about the deceased.
 
So Jesus was teaching us that when people “curse” us – they insult us, falsely accuse us, and simply speak negatively about us – we are to speak positively about them.
 
So this is the idea of blessing in both the Old & New Testaments – it is to speak good things about someone else and to “praise” them.
 
Bless the Lord!
 
Let me now show you a few places where barak is used in the Psalms:
 
One very well-known verse is Psalm 34:1 when David said, “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.”
 
So here we learn that David’s aim was to “bless the Lord” at all times! That means when times are good and when times are bad. That means when I feel like it and when I don’t feel like it. “At all times” means at all times, church!
 
So what am I going to do at all times? I am going to barak the Lord, which means I am going to declare how blessed He is and how blessed I am because of Him!
 
Do you know why I believe David chose to use the word barak over all the other praise words to describe what He was going to be doing at all times? It was because the concept of “blessing” is “at all times.” In other words, it doesn’t change & is consistent. No, being blessed is not something someone is one day and then they’re not on another. The blessing of the Lord is the same, yesterday, and forevermore!
 
So when David said he would bless the Lord at all times, it makes sense because we have a reason to bless the Lord at all times. He is always faithful! He does not change! We are always blessed! That doesn’t change! Therefore, we ought to be able to bless the Lord at all times!    
 
Another very popular section of Scriptures where this word barak is used is the 103rd Psalm. In fact, I believe this word is used six times in this Psalm! But the most familiar portion of this Psalm that contains barak is the first two verses. Let’s look at them …  
 
Psalm 103:1-2 says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits;”
 
So in these verses that we quote often in our church, since the word “bless” comes from the word barak, we know specifically what David was telling his soul to do, right? He was telling his soul, which like all of our souls, was inconsistent to say the least. Some days our soul might feel like praising God and rejoicing in Him, and some days it might feel like curling up in bed, shutting the blinds, and sucking its thumb.
 
But like we saw in Psalm 34:1, we are to “bless” the Lord at all times, so sometimes our soul might just need a little reminder that its time to “bless” God as an act of adoration, because He is worthy! Amen?  
 
Now I want to look at one more verse where this word barak is used, but is translated in a different way:
 
In Psalm 95:6 the psalmist says, “Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.”
 
The word “kneel” in this verse is the word barak, which if you noticed earlier, was a part of its definition.
 
So even though this word is translated “praise” a couple of times and “bless” an abundance of times, there is a strong implication of “worship” in this word – because when you study it out, you’ll find that kneeling & bowing down are associated with the idea of “worship.”   
 
In fact, notice at the beginning of this verse how the psalmist used the word for “worship” in conjunction with this idea of kneeling & bowing down before the Lord.
 
What is Worship?
 
So let’s now look at this word which is the most common Hebrew word used to translate “worship” because I don’t believe one can separate the idea of praise & worship …
 
This is the word shachah (sha-ha) and it literally means “to bow down.” It is used almost exclusively to describe the bowing of one’s knee or head towards the object of their worship. In fact, this word was used in some places to describe one individual in the Old Testament bowing down towards another individual – meaning that they were, in essence, worshipping another person.
 
For example, Lot “worshiped” the strangers who came to Sodom – that is, he prostrated himself before them (Genesis 19:1). Abraham “bowed down” before the Hittites (Genesis 23:7). Jacob “bowed down” to the ground seven times as he approached his brother Esau (Genesis 33:3). Joseph’s brothers “bowed down” before him with their faces to the ground before he revealed himself to them (Genesis 42:6). Moses “worshiped” his father-in-law (Exodus 18:7). Abigail “worshiped” David by prostrating herself before him.
 
In all of these references, as well as many more like them, the terms “worshipped & bowed down” were derived from this Hebrew word shachah. Now in each of these instances, they were not worshipping the other individual in the sense that we think of “worshipping” but, nonetheless, these examples give us a clear description of what biblical worship is and what it does.
 
You see, in these people’s culture, they bowed down before those to whom they wanted to show respect and honor. In other words, they saw these other individuals as so worthy of their respect and love that they expressed that love through prostrating themselves before them. Therefore, the act of falling down is biblical worship and reveals the heart of the worshipper – respect and honor towards the one being worshipped.   
 
We still see this today in many cultures. For instance, in many Asian cultures, they bow to those whom they respect. In other places, it is customary to bow to those of higher rank.
 
Now it is important to note that simply bowing, getting on our knees, or even laying prostrate is not necessarily evidence that we are worshipping God. It is what is behind that physical action that counts. In other words, it is the heart behind the action that creates true worship. So one can bow and not be truly worshipping from God’s perspective. However, these outward actions, such as getting on our knees and bowing before the Lord, can certainly reveal the inner heart that is overflowing with respect and honor for God. 
 
Here’s an interesting point about “worship”: Our English word “worship” itself comes from two Old English words: weorth, which means "worth," and scipe or ship, which means something like shape or "quality." We can see the Old English word ship in modern words like friendship and sportsmanship – which describe the quality of being a friend, or the quality of being a good sport. So worth-ship is the quality of having worth or of being worthy. Therefore, when we worship God, we are acting as if God has worth and are telling Him that He is worthy. Therefore, worship means to declare worth, to attribute worth. And one of the responses of one who sees the “worth” that God is “worthy” of is to kneel or bow down like we see in the Hebrew words barak & shachah.
 
You see, church, while the emphasis in this series has been praise, it’s important to realize what praise leads us unto – and that is worship.
 
Do you recall how I’ve made the statement several times from Psalm 100:4 that we enter His gates with thanksgiving (i.e. todah), and into His courts with praise (i.e. tahilla)? Well, there is another part of the Tabernacle/Temple that is left to enter, and that is the Holy of Holies.
 
Let’s look at a couple of other verses where this word “worship” is used …
 
Psalm 132:7 says, “Let us go into His tabernacle; Let us worship at His footstool.”
 
So we already know how we are to go into His tabernacle. It’s with thanksgiving & praise. But notice how the psalmist says that we are to worship at His footstool. So this shows the aim. It’s to worship!
 
Psalm 138:2 says, “I will worship toward Your holy temple, and praise Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word above all Your name.”
 
So again, the worship is aimed towards His holy temple. But the good news now, saints, is that we are that temple! And now the dwelling place of God is in a born-again believer! Amen!
 
So how can we enter into the Holy of holies through worship? Well, that is because now, under this New & Better Covenant, you and I can enter into the place that the Old Testament saint had no right to enter. Now we can boldly enter the Holiest and where His presence dwells! Amen! And its thanksgiving & praise that leads us there.
 
Review
 
So let’s quickly recap what we’ve learned in this series:
 
We’ve seen that praise is the calling of every believer. Yes, for all of us who have been called out of darkness and into His marvelous light, we are chosen to declare the praises of Him (see First Peter 2:8). Therefore, praising God is not just something we are to observe; it’s what we are called to do! Yes, everyone is called to be a praiser.
 
In fact, we learned that praising God is more like a profession, occupation, and vocation for us. So if you and I read in the Bible “Praise the Lord!”, what should our response be? It should be to praise the Lord, right? Yes, if the Scriptures say, “Hallelujah”, then I should stop what I’m doing and praise the Lord right then!
 
In fact, we ought to live our lives to praise the Lord like some live their lives devoted to their occupation. Praise should be our occupation, church!
 
And the “gospel” is this – like any full-time occupation, there are benefits to doing our job – which we learned are found in the 103rd Psalm when David described all of God’s benefits such as our salary, health/medical insurance, life insurance, dental insurance, etc. Yes, being about our Father’s business yields so many wonderful benefits, so it is in our best interest to walk in our calling. 
 
However, in order to partake of your employer’s benefits, you need to be a good employee, right? So we looked at some verses that describe what being a good employee looks like and learned from that how we can praise the Lord in a way that fully pleases our Master!
 
For example, we learned that being a good employee doesn’t just mean we show up and clock in to work. Likewise, we are not participating in the praise service just because we are here in the room when the song service is going on. No, doing our job well means we are participating in all the ways that the Lord reveals to us that we are to praise the Lord …
 
So we began looking at a bunch of the Hebrew words for praise that reveal to us what true praise is to the Lord. We looked at the following words:
 
Halal – The most popular praise word, being translated this way over 150 times in the Old Testament. In fact, it is part of the word you hear a lot in church, the word hallelujah, which simply means “Praise (i.e. halal) the Lord (i.e. Yahweh).” And this key word describes an expressive & excited side of praise in that it describes acting “clamorously foolish” in praise – which taught us how our praise might reflect more of the actions of a child than it does the lack of actions of an adult. So like I said, perhaps we have grown up too much when it comes to praising the Lord.
 
Todah – The next word we looked at describes the idea of thanksgiving, and we learned how important of a role that this praise of thanksgiving plays in us entering into the presence of the Lord and magnifying His name. But we also saw how thanksgiving is a great way to end our praise time because we are concluding our praise with the reminder of all of who He is, what He has done, and what He will do.
 
Yadah – We then learned how the lifting & extending of our hands is a valid form of praise in that the root word for todah describes this action. This led us into a few other words that describe us jumping (alaz), whirling around (karar), and dancing (mahol). So all of these joy-filled physical actions are a part of our job in praising the Lord.
 
Shabach – But we saw how praise is not just lifting our hands; it’s also lifting our voices. We saw how there are a lot of Old Testament verses and Hebrew words that describe us shouting and raising our volume beyond the normal level. And we learned that this is all because we will lift our voices for what we are excited about. We also saw that there were other words such as ranan, pasah, and rua that describe this crying aloud, breaking out, or shouting joyfully. So shouting & lifting our voices are a part of the life of praise.
 
Zamar – Then we learned last time of just how important praising God with instruments is because of the Hebrew words for praise that describe to “pluck the strings of an instrument” like a harp. So yes, not only can we praise God with our voices, but we can praise Him with the various instruments we have available to us, just as long as our heart is set on praising Him.
 
Tehillah – Then we saw how praise is also done with a song. In other words, while one can praise God just simply by talking about how great & awesome He is, we can also sing praises unto His name. So singing songs of praise unto God is a big part of staying full of joy and getting rid of the devil & all his effects.
 
Barak – And finally, we saw today how bending our knee, kneeling down, and blessing the Lord is another way that one praises God because worship is a big part of our Christian responsibility unto God. Yes, the apostle Paul teaches us that it is our “reasonable service” (Romans 12:1-2).
 
So I hope that everyone will continue to adopt all of these forms of praise into your life – yes, certainly during our praise services here at church, but also in your everyday life. Praise is a calling, saints! Let’s continue to “Praise the Lord” in our lives by not just observing it; but by doing it! Amen!