Good Morning Yamon Ki Yesepar and Nevim Arith Hayomin:

Psalms 47:6-7: “Sing praises to God, sing praises; Sing praises to our King, sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth, Sing ye praises with understanding.”

I don’t know if you noticed it or not, but apparently David is telling us to sing praises to God. In fact I would say he is a bit obsessed with praise.  I suppose praise is pretty important. Yesterday my study partner and I were studying our Greek vocabulary.  I flashed a word in front of her and she sounded it out. When I told her what it meant her eyes lit up and she suddenly became excited about the word.  The word was “praise.”

I have to admit that when I hear that English word  “praise” something inside me starts to stir. Sort of like saying chocolate  cake.   Certain words in our vocabulary can strike an emotional response.  Advertisers know this and practice it all the time.  In our day of thumbing through magazines or driving past billboards at 55 MPH, advertisers must find at least one word to catch out attention.

As a believer in Jesus Christ, if I see this one English word “praise” on a billboard, or in print, my mind instantly goes to the God I love.  Now wonder David kept repeating this word in the Psalms.   Sure it is poetry, but what is poetry but a gimmick to stir your emotions and David sure knew how to stir the emotions of people who love God.

But soft, there are many words in the Hebrew that are rendered as praise. There are at least seven words that are specifically rendered into English as praise.   You have Yadah which is simply to extend your hands over your heart (l like to practice this praise).   There is Towdah which is to extend your hands before God in surrender.  We do that with uplifted hands, you know – like “stick em up.” There is Halal which simply means praise of adoration and love and is spelled Hei, Lamed, Lamed.  The two lameds picture uplifted hands to God.  The Hei represents the presence of God.  I have also read where the Hei means to listen for that still small voice.   Halal has the idea of praising and listening for the voice of God.  There is Shabach which it to praise with a shout.  That is saying yippee and all that. There is also the word “Tehillah which the charismatics are very skilled at.  This is a jubilant praise of singing and clapping your hands, with a little swinging from the chandeliers.

Finally, we come to the word used in Psalms 47:6-7 and that is “zamar.”   Some interpret this as a praise coming from plucking a stringed instrument.  But David is saying to sing the plucking instruments.  I suppose we could say it is singing praises with a stringed instrument like singing along with a piano. Such a rendering would do my old Hebrew teachers proud.  However, I tend to look at Hebrew words esoterically which would cause Dr. Kalland, Dr. Goldberg and all my other Hebrew professors to throw salt in the air.  Yet, I have 4,000 years of Jewish tradition to back me up when I say that “zamar” which is spelled “Zayin, Mem, Resh” is defined as Zayin – a weapon, Mem – negative emotions as fear, sadness, depression etc. and Resh – self righteousness.   In other words zamar is a praise which is a weapon against fear, sadness, and self righteousness.  This is a praise which is done on a stringed instrument.

I have found that when I sit down at the piano, a stringed instrument (although now a days it is an electronic keyboard)  and I start to play songs of praise to God, my feelings of sadness, fear, or depression leave.  Even my smug “what a great Christian I am” feeling starts to melt into humility before the God I love.  No wonder David could not get enough of the word “zamar” in Psalms 47:6-7.