Ps 98:8 Let the floods clap [their] hands: let the hills be joyful together.

Let me share with you something interesting as I read my Hebrew Bible sitting here by a stream flowing from the mountain. The word for floods in Hebrew is naharot which comes from the root word nahar which means a stream or river.  How the KJV got a flood out of that I do not know. I find no floods in the Catskills at this time but I do find a stream and this morning God and I parked the car by a parking area near a stream that runs along Highway 23A. Both Highway 23A and this stream pass through the heart of the Catskills. It appears this stream flows right from the mountain in the heart of the Catskills.  As I just close my Hebrew Bible for a moment, God and I  just sat and listened to the water running down stream.  It really did sound like it was clapping its hands as David describes in Psalms 98:8. It was like a joyful appreciative clapping of hands after a great performance. I felt something joyful about this stream as it passed over the many rocks.  The sun was beating down on the rocks and the water passed over them as if the waters were intended to be a constant cooling companion to the rocks. Of course right behind the stream stood the great Catskills mountains.

Many mountains are snow covered, some are just rocky and barren but the Catskills are covered with trees that are in full bloom.  It is late September and the leaves are all changing color to create a glorious colorful blanket that appears so soft and comfortable I told God I would just love to jump in the middle and roll around in it, then slid down this marvelous carpet  into the cool stream and just ride the rest of the way through life guided by the ebb and flow of the currents. I felt God sort of chuckle and say, “Bingo, isn’t that what I have been trying to get through your stubborn head all these years?”

The word for hills is harim which is really the word for mountain.  Somehow I get the idea that the KJV is trying to play down the glory of God.  This is not a flood or a hill, it is a gentle stream and a mountain, just as I am looking at right now.  The Catskills are a range of mountains and if you listen closely, that is if you listen with your heart, you will hear them rejoice together. The word rejoice in Hebrew here is the word ranan which literally means a ringing cry of joy.  Oh come on Lexicon, get with your Semitic roots already.  This word means more than that just a ringing cry of joy. Go back to its Canaanite origins and you find the word to describe bedouins who sit around a campfire at night singing a joyful song without any instruments. The word itself has been used to express a melodious sound or a series of sound that are in harmony with each other and in this context in harmony with God.  The word singing is often associated with ranan.  You could almost say it applies to an acappella chorus like Billy Joel’s song The Longest Time.  As I close my eyes and begin to listen with my heart I can almost hear the streams and mountains singing a beautiful acappella chorus. I picture God standing up, waving his arms as if leading a great orchestra or directing a choir singing a joyful song.

Many come to the mountains because of the fishing in the streams, some come to hunt and others come in the winter to ski. I have little interest in fishing, do not hunt and I am just getting too old to ski. But for me the mountains are there for something even greater, I find them there to teach me of the beauty, strength and faithfulness of God.

Here is what I find interesting and never noticed in my forty years of studying Classical Hebrew. The word for stream is spelled just like the word for mountain (har) only a Nun is added to the front of the word (nahar). The word for mountain is Hei and Resh, the word for stream is Nun, Hei and Resh. These two words are very closely related. The only difference between the two is that the word for stream has a Nun in front of it.  The Hei carries the meaning of Hinayni, which means here I am. It’s very spelling cries out to be noticed and to gain our attention and to listen to that still small voice.  The Resh urges us to move forward.  That still small voice coming from har (mountain) is whispering its message from God, “I am as formable as this mountain, I will always be there, and I have your back don’t’ be afraid to move forward.” .

The word for stream has the same message only with a Nun in front of it.  That Nun is encouraging us to break down walls of separation, don’t let anything stop you when God tells you to move forward.  This stream  appears to be gentle flowing from the mountain, just moving forward.  I feel as if it is telling me that like this stream my life is flowing from this mountain of God and all I need to do is hitch a ride, sit back  and enjoy this ride through life. In fact the Nun is the word for fish.  It is almost like God took the word mountain Har which esoterically means, “I am here, and with you don’t be afraid to move forward.”  Then the word stream adds the Nun meaning a fish which just flows along with the currents of the streams, feeding, relaxing and enjoying the ride.  So too if my life flows through the mountain of God, I will, like that fish, just flow with the stream of life, feeding relaxing and enjoying the ride, regardless of the obstacles, we just keeps moving with the flow of God, never needing to worry because like a great mountain, God is watching our backs.

As I just laid back and enjoyed the singing of the mountains and the clapping hands of the stream I listened to them tell me to pay attention to that still small voice of God and when He tells me to move forward, I should just flow with the life stream of God not letting any obstacle stand in my way, knowing that I am flowing from a Great mountain that has my back and  no one will challenge that mountain.