Psalms 22:3 “But thou art holy, O thou that inhabits the praises of Israel.” KJV
Psalms 22:3 “You are enthroned as the Holy one, you are the praise of Israel.” NIV
Psalms 22:3: “But thou dwellest in the Holy place, the praise of Israel.” Douay
Psalms 22:3: “And thou art holy, Sitting – the praise of Israel.” Youngs
This passage, in its KJV form, is a favorite among those who seek a deeper worship of God. We hear it all the time during a worship service. As we feel the warm presence of God, someone is bound to say: The Lord inhabits the praise of His people. If I were to ask, I believe the majority of you could not tell me where that phrase is found in the Bible. Fewer still probably never even looked the verse up to make sure it is quoted right, fewer than that ever really study the verse. Tragically fewer still ever even looked into the depths of this verse for its real treasure.
I am convinced that with all our Bibles and Bible teachings in this nation with its massive media exposure Christian remain Biblically illiterate. The read books about the Bible but never really read the Bible. Generally most people are content to believe that if the preachers quotes it, it is in the Bible just as he quotes it and obviously this phrase that the Lord inhabits the praises of His people means that when we praise God, God steps into the middle of a praise session and like a sponge, He closes his eyes and soaks it all up and somehow this empowers Him or induces Him to perform miracles. At least that is how I always pictured it. Our praises our like fuel and as soon as God reaches a certain level of praise fuel He is off and running with the miracles.
We live in a day of mass communication. Before World War II the average person rarely traveled one hundred miles from the place he was born. Christian radio was in its infancy, there were few Christian books and few ever entered a Christian bookstore. There were no TVs, DVD’s, CD’s or Christian television. The sum of a person’s knowledge of the Bible was from their preacher’s Sunday morning sermon, Sunday School lessons and an occasional traveling evangelist. Today with the internet, Christian television, Christian radio and our mass communications Bible preachers and teachers are really scrambling to come up with something new and different. They are struggling to find something that people have not already heard. Someone happens to come up with this really catchy phrase, “The Lord inhabits the praises of His people” and suddenly it goes viral, songs are written about it, preachers repeat it on radio and television and before long they are repeating it from the pulpits and it quickly filters down into the likes of home Bible studies where someone is always saying “The Lord inhabits the praise of His people” as if they were cutting edge in this worship business. Soon everyone is talking about it but if you ask them where it is found in the Bible, they haven’t a clue. Most likely they heard it from someone who heard it from someone who heard it from someone and no one ever really opened their Bibles to study it out and as a result they just skim the surface of a very rich passage of Scripture and never find that chocolate filling.
As you can see from various translations, there is quite a dispute over the proper syntax of this verse. Does God inhabit the praise of His people or is He the praise of His people. Actually, our knowledge of Hebrew syntax has increased tremendously since the KJV was translated and you will find most your modern translations will carry the idea that it is not God who inhabits the praise of His people, but that He is the praise of His people. But, soft, of the million or so times I have heard this verse quoted, I have never heard it quoted correctly. It does not say His people it says Israel. This is important because it gives the context of this verse. David is in the midst of a great national crisis. He is calling out to God and the nations are laughing at him for trusting in God rather than in the arm of the flesh. Let’s also not loose sight of the fact that these passages are also prophetic of the coming of Jesus and Jesus is the praise of Israel (you will get the connection further down). Yet, let us also not loose sight of the fact that these passages have a special meaning for us individually as well. When David is saying that God sits or is enthroned in Israel it is a reference to the temple. The word sit is yesav which means to inhabit, settle, sit etc. In its Semitic root it is a picture of the place where a king would sit to delegate his power, will, knowledge and rule. The Bible is clear that God is omnipresent, He is everywhere, but Israel was the place where His Shekinah glory rested. Today, our bodies are the temple of God (I Corinthians 3:16). As believers who have received Jesus as our Saviour, God is always inhabiting our praise. He inhabits us when we don’t praise as well. He will never leave us nor forsake us.
Note carefully how this verse starts: The Lord is holy. You are familiar with that word kadesh for holy. It means to be separate, and sacred. Did you know it is also the word used for a sacred prostitute. That is one who is devoted to prostitution in honor of idols. Rahab was such a prostitute. She was dedicated to the idol so that men who had a sexual relationship with her hoped to win favor with that goddess. Hence if we see this passage as Messianic, a reference to Jesus, we have a picture of Jesus as kadesh. The one we are intimate with and in that intimacy we are drawn to the Father. And when Jesus dwells within us He becomes our praise. The word for praise here is halal which means to shine. When we say Hallelujah we are saying: “God shine in us. Let the world see you and not us.”
So we are back to square one. God does inhabit the praise of His people. But what that means is that the world sees God, his light, his power, in us.
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