HEBREW WORD STUDY – GLORY – KABOD  כבוד Kap Beth Vav Daleth

Psalms 115:1: “Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, [and] for thy truth’s sake.”

I remember when I was a seminary student I was reminded that I was to always respect the honor of the pastoral position.  You were made to feel like you were someone special.  You were ordained to be a minister of God, how special can that be?  You stood before a congregation of people who looked up to you for spiritual guidance and in return they gave you a nice salary, an office with a secretary and an immediate standing in the community.  They referred to you as reverend or pastor.  I was instructed to never let anyone just refer to me by my first name unless they were a very close friend.  After all, we must protect the dignity of the office. 

This was not only the demands of the person in that position but many in the church insisted that their pastor be given that honor and respect and would admonish their children if they happened to refer to their pastor as Johnny. “No, No, No, at least refer to him as Pastor John. You must not show such disrespect to your pastor.”  

For some reason something in my spirit rebelled against that.  I am ordained, I have a PhD, I was a pastor, a college teacher, I was a chaplain in a nursing home and wore many different hats.  Yet, I hated to be called pastor, chaplain, professor, reverend, or even doctor.  I mean a doctor is a guy who puts that cold thing on your chest and tells you to cough and gives you pills.  I am no doctor. Worse, many times when I finish speaking before an audience, sometimes they will stand and applaud.  I put my head down and walk off the stage.  

No, I am not modest, I am scared.  I am absolutely terrified that I may receive something that is not mine.  David calls that glory.  What is glory any ways?  Webster defines our English word glory as very great praise, honor or distinction bestowed by common consent. Is that what the Hebrew word for glory means?

The word in Hebrew that is used n Psalm 115:1 where we are to give all glory to the Lord is the word kabod.  It means from just our lexicons honor, splendor and glory.  Don’t you just love it when a source tells you that the meaning of a word like glory means glory. Further research on the Semitic root of this word we find it is rooted in the idea of a heaviness and in another layer of meaning it has the idea of making a connection.  

Ah, here is where I struggle when people want to offer thanks and praise for things I write or say. Believe it or not I do get a lot of emails from people telling me how wonderful I am for sharing such insights into the Word of God.  Don’t get me wrong I do appreciate their sentiments, I am only human after all I need encouragement to continue my work and knowing I have made a connection with others through my words — oh there is that word – connection. 

Do I really want people to connect with me or do I offer my words to help them connect with Jesus.  The most wonderful compliment I can get for my writings or speaking engagements is when people tell me. “Thanks to your words I have drawn closer to God, I have learned to love God deeper.”  There is a pretty fine line to receiving encouragement and praise. I admit I struggle with that line.

Last month we had the National Pastor’s Appreciation Day.  Thousands upon thousands of pastors receive very great praise, honor or distinction bestowed by common consent or in a word glory.  For many it was intended to be just encouragement. To know their labors were not all in vain, that God is really using them.  But there is a danger, a fine line when that encouragement crosses over into praise.  It is a tough one for leaders.  Some don’t care, they will soak it all in, especially if it includes a big bonus to buy a new car.  But many, if not most struggle as I do.

Bill Gaither had that problem. After one musical concert the audience stood and applauded and kept applauding and Bill and his wife Gloria kept thanking them when all of a sudden Bill Gaither felt a tug in his spirit.  “You do not well.”  He thought of Psalms 115:1 and realized the distinction between encouragement and glory.  The people were connecting with him and his wife and not God.  So, he immediately sat down at the piano and began to sing “Oh, How I love Jesus.”  Almost, immediately the audience recognized their error and began to sing along: “Oh, How I Love Jesus.”  The connection, the glory, then moved from Bill and Gloria Gaither to Jesus.

That evening Bill and Gloria Gaither sat at their piano and composed a song which would conclude their services to make sure the connection, the glory or kabod went to Jesus:

We want to thank you for your kindness,

We want to thank you for your love

We have been in heavenly places

Felt blessings from above

We’ve been sharing all the good things

The family can afford

Let’s us turn our praise to heaven 

And praise the Lord.

The title of their song is, of course, Let’s Just Praise the Lord.

I believe Bill and Gloria Gaither found the real balance between encouragement and glory kabod  in that little song.