Our Response to God
Praising God
Last time, we discuss the Hebrew word yada and what that means. God wants to know us on an intimate level. To understand how we are to respond to this desire of his, we need to understand a fourth Hebrew word. The first letter is yud (י) which we last time identified as meaning a mighty hand, or arm. The second letter is dalet (ד) which we earlier identified as representing a door, usually of one’s heart, representing an opportunity. The third letter is he (ה) which has a pictograph of a window or someone with raised hands which indicates a revelation. These three letters spell the word yadah (יָדָה). These pictographs mean this word is associated with how God’s mighty hand through the door of our heart gives us a revelation. That revelation causes us to respond to him in praise.
The Hebrew word yada is what God wants from us. The pictographs are hand – door – eye and represent the idea of “know” which means an intimate connection with God. Yadah is how we are to respond to God. The pictographs are hand—door—window, or one looking up with raised hands, and represent the idea of praise which means a response of gratitude and love. The letters indicate they are related to each other as the first two letters of each word are identical. The ayin (or eye) of God looking into our hearts shows his wanting to know us at our very core and the he (or window or one with raised hands looking upward) expresses our response to him in giving praise. He desires closeness with us and wants us to respond to him in praise, the act of a joyful reunion.
To summarize the last few posts, we discovered that the Hebrew words khesed (covenantal love) and emeth (ultimate truth) are innate characteristics of God. He expresses these to us and wants us to express these traits to our fellow humans as well. Yet, in order to be able to do that requires us to have God working in our lives. Otherwise, our efforts will be in vain because these are not innate characteristics for us. We need the Holy Spirit in our lives to enable us to express these traits. The Bible tells us that in order to receive the Holy Spirit, we must accept Christ as our Savior. How? The apostle Paul states this in his epistle to Rome: If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved (Ro 10:9-10).
What God desires is yada, that is, an intimate connection between God and us. Once we accept Christ as our Savior, then this becomes a possibility, but is not guaranteed. What achieves this? Time. Just like having a best friend. You cannot maintain a close connection with your friend without spending time with him or her. The same is true with God as well. You must spend time with him to become close to him and have that intimate connection, that yada, he desires of us.
Once that yada has been established, our response will be yadah, i.e., a response of praise. Here are a few verses that indicate how we should respond to God in praise:
· I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever. (Ps 86:12).
· You are my God, and I will praise you; you are my God, and I will exalt you (Ps 118:28).
· Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord (Ps 150:6).
· Give thanks (praise) to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever (Ps 136:1).
· You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things and by your will they were created and have their being (Rv 4:11).
After all, if we think about it, God rescuing us from our sin and ensuring we have an eternal inheritance with him forever, what else could we do but offer him a sacrifice of praise (Hb 13:15).
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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens