Devotional Psalms 2:11

Good Morning Yamon Ki Yesepar;

Psalms 2:11: “Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling.

Do you realize there are over 16 words in the Hebrew for “rejoice” or “joy.”  How many words do we have in English for joy?   Whatever is important in a culture is reflected in the language.  Perhaps joy is just not important in our culture.

There are many different types of joy.  Just a sample of Hebrew joy:

Simchah  – The Joy of the Lord

Samach – Joy in performing religious ceremony

Samerch – Joy that shows outward expression

Suws – An inward feeling of joy, not expressed

Sachaq – Joy that comes from playing

Tsahal – Joy in the success of someone else.

Alats – Joy in victory

Chadah –  A re-joice.  A renewal of joy

Masows – Joy in being with friends or family

Ranah – Shouting for joy.

Gil – Joy expressed in spinning around in a circle

So which rejoice does David use in Psalms 2:11?  It is gil.  David seemed to love spinning around in a circle.  Actually, the word gil is also used for generations.  You know, generations have the idea of moving around in a circle.  Young becomes old and the old dies off the new young take over and they become old and the cycle continues. Perhaps David is saying we should approach old age with trembling? Maybe not.

The word trembling is bire’adah. For those in my classes it looks like we have another “ra” word here.  Which “ra’ are we talking about?   For those not in my classes, last week we looked at ten different words where the dual root  was “ra.”

The “ra” here is “ra’ad.”    This is a trembling with awe.  It is in a feminine form here and has the idea of trembling before something beautiful.   The sages suggest that this is a trembling when in the presence of something with awesome beauty.  It is so beautiful you actually begin to quake.  The best picture I can think of for this expression “rejoice with trembling” is the opening scene in the “Sound of Music” where you see Julie Andrews singing the opening score while spinning around on the top of the Austrian mountains. This is just as David must have done at times when he was a shepherd and would be off alone with his sheep.  He would be so taken with the beauty of God’s creation that he would just spin around in the midst of the beauty praising God.

Here’s my thought. David is speaking to kings and judges.  Leaders who have great responsibility.  Just as a pastor is a leader who has a responsibility to his or her congregation.  David is saying serve the Lord with fear, but also take some time off to go to the mountains alone and bask in the beauty of God’s creation and just spin around praising God.

You know, Julie Andrew’s character in the “Sound of Music” was always getting into trouble with convent as she would neglect her religious duties to go off to the mountains and “rejoice with trembling.”  Perhaps there are times you should neglect some of your religious duties to do the same.