BLESSED be the Shem of Yahweh FOREVER – 7

Subject: Hallelujah!

Psalm 106:47-48
Deliver us, Yahweh our God, gather us from among the nations so we may praise Your Holy Name and rejoice in praising you. Blessed are you, Yahweh, God of Israel, from eternity to eternity; Let all the people say Amen! Hallelujah! (ISV)


Psalm 106 is a long Psalm about the disobedience and rebellion of the Israelites. 

• Their sins brought the judgment of God upon them. 
• When they cried out to God, God showed great mercies to deliver them for the sake of His covenant (Psalm 106:44-45). 
• The psalm concludes with hope for continual deliverance for God's people so that they can give thanks to God's Holy Shem (Psalm 106:47) and rejoice praising and blessing Yahweh God of Israel in all eternity (Psalm 106:48).

Only Yahweh God is good and His love endures forever, and this is why the psalmist begins and ends with this word "Hallelujah" in his prayer. (Psalm 106:1, 48)

The word “Hallelujah” is made up of 2 Hebrew words: 

1. הללו - halal 

2. יה - Yah 

• “Halal” is the root word meaning “to shine, to boast, to celebrate, to praise, or to commend.”

• "Hallelu" is the the second person plural imperative form of Halal, "You All Praise".

• "Yah" is the shortened form of the word “Yahweh”.

The Name of God "Yahweh" is actually embedded in the word "Hallelujah".

Hallelujah means "You All Praise Yahweh".


Next time, when we say Hallelujah, we must be mindful of what we are saying. 

Today, too many Christians use "Hallelujah" loosely without understanding its true meaning. "Hallelujah" is a one word prayer calling out to Yahweh God, to praise Him. It's a joyful praise to Yahweh, to boast in Yahweh God of His enduring love & mercies.


Please take note again that the long prayer of Psalm 106 ends with these important words: 

Blessed are You, Yahweh, God of Israel, from eternity to eternity. Let all the people say Amen. Hallelujah

BLESSED be the Shem of Yahweh FOREVER – 6

Subject: The living will bless Yahweh now and forever

Psalm 115:17-18 

The dead praise not Yahweh, neither any that go down into silence. 

But we will bless Yahweh now and forever. Praise Yahweh.

One thing that strikes us in the Psalms is that the Psalmists are constantly concerned to pray for God's Shem from beginning to end in their prayers. 

The beginning prayer of Psalm 115 opens with: “Not to us, Yahweh, not to us, to Your Name be the glory because of your love and faithfulness. ” 

God is full of compassion and faithfulness when He relates to us. 

Do we also give glory to God's Name when we experience God's goodness?

• The Psalmist exhorts the Israelites to trust in the One true God whose Name is Yahweh (Psa 115:9,10, 11) and not to bow down to idols that cannot speak, cannot hear, cannot see, and cannot walk. (Psa 115:4-8)

• Yes, we put our faith in Yahweh, the Living God. Yes, we bless and worship only the Living God, Yahweh.

At the end of the Psalm, it says that "the dead cannot praise Yahweh." Psalm 115:17.

• While we live today, we must praise and bless Yahweh for His love and faithfulness towards us, and give glory to His Name. 

• One day, when we die and enter into the grave, we cannot praise God. 

In the past few months, a total of 9 of my close friends, loved ones, and family members died one after another. When I went to their funerals, I am reminded of the times that we used to praise God together in worship. Now, the departed dead cannot praise God anymore. But such time is only temporary for God's children, because one day, we will all rise up again with a resurrected body; then on that day, we will praise and bless Yahweh again together.

1.  This is why the Psalmists always say that we can bless Yahweh now and FOREVER. 

2.  We have faith for a resurrected body to praise God in eternity also.

Please take note again that this prayer in Psalm 115 ends with this same important message: 

We will bless Yahweh now and forever.

BLESSED be the Shem of Yahweh FOREVER – 5

Subject: Blessed be God's Glorious Name Forever

Psalm 72:18-19
Blessed be Yahweh God, the God of Israel, who only does wondrous things. And blessed be His glorious Name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen.

This is Solomon’s Psalm reflecting also David's prayer.

The Shem of God is important again, for in the Glorious Name, Yahweh, God acts and does wondrous things. 

What kind of wondrous things? 

• The context of Psalm 72 talks about wondrous things surrounding the Kingdom of God. 
• David and Solomon pray for the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God.

In comparison, our prayers are so feeble today because our prayers surround our little world - my family, my job, my kids, my studies, my feelings, my health, God granting me good weather....etc. It is not to say that we cannot pray for these things, but we need to expand our horizon and pray for these things within the context of advancing the Kingdom of God.


There is a progressive manifestation of God's Kingdom from the times of the OT to the new heaven and new earth in the future. 

• David and Solomon looked forward to the Messianic Kingdom. 
• Through the life of Christ in the NT, the Messianic Kingdom was brought near to us. 
• We are living in the Church age where we too have a part to advance God's Kingdom. 
• Let's pray the Lord's prayer: "Thy Kingdom come."

1.  The God of this Kingdom is Yahweh. 

2.  God desires to manifest His Kingdom through His Church today. 

3.  We have a mission. We need to bring back God's Name & Kingship into the Church, for through the Glorious Name of Yahweh, God reigns and reveals His glory in His Church.

Please take note again that this prayer in Psalm 72 ends with this important phrase: 

Blessed be His Glorious Name forever.

BLESSED be the Shem of Yahweh FOREVER – 4

Subject: All flesh will bless His Holy Shem forever.

Psalm 145:21
My mouth shall speak the praise of Yahweh:
And let all flesh bless His Holy Shem forever and ever.

These are the closing words of David’s prayer.

David longs for that day in the future when “all flesh” will bless God’s Holy Shem forever and ever. All flesh will bow and worship the only true God Yahweh, Amen.

Let’s also have this longing in our hearts when we pray.

Learn from David to call on God's Name everyday and bless His Name. 

We see David mentioning the Name of God and Yahweh's Name throughout the short prayer in Psalm 145.



Psalm145 

I will extol you, my God and King,
    and bless your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless you
    and praise your name forever and ever.
3 Great is Yahweh, and greatly to be praised,
    and his greatness is unsearchable.

4 One generation shall commend your works to another,
    and shall declare your mighty acts.
5 On the glorious splendor of your majesty,
    and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
6 They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,
    and I will declare your greatness.
7 They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness
    and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

8 Yahweh is gracious and merciful,
    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 Yahweh is good to all,
    and his mercy is over all that he has made.

10 All your works shall give thanks to you, O Yahweh,
    and all your saints shall bless you!
11 They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom
    and tell of your power,
12 to make known to the children of man your[b] mighty deeds,
    and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
    and your dominion endures throughout all generations.

14 Yahweh upholds all who are falling
    and raises up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look to you,
    and you give them their food in due season.
16 You open your hand;
    you satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17 Yahweh is righteous in all his ways
    and kind in all his works.
18 Yahweh is near to all who call on him,
    to all who call on him in truth.
19 He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;
    he also hears their cry and saves them.
20 Yahweh preserves all who love him,
    but all the wicked he will destroy.

21 My mouth will speak the praise of he Yahweh,
    and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

Name – 3X

Psalm 145:1   I will bless your Name forever and ever.
Psalm 145:2   I will praise your Name forever and ever.
Psalm 145:21  Let all flesh bless His Holy Name forever and ever


Yahweh – 9X

1. Psalm 145:1    Great is Yahweh, and greatly to be praised.

2. Psalm 145:8    Yahweh is gracious, and full of compassion;
3. Psalm 145:9    Yahweh is good to all.
4. Psalm 145:10  All thy works shall praise thee, O Yahweh.
5. Psalm 145:14  Yahweh upholds all that fall
6. Psalm 145:17  Yahweh is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.
7. Psalm 145:18  Yahweh is near to all them that call on him
8. Psalm 145:20  Yahweh preserves all them that love him: 
9. Psalm 145:21  My mouth shall speak the praise Yahweh

How sweet is the Name of Yahweh! 

Blessed be the Shem of Yahweh forever and ever.

BLESSED be the Shem of Yahweh FOREVER – 3

Subject: David blesses and praises God’s Shem forever and ever

Psalm 145:1-3

I will exalt you, my God the King;
I will bless Your Name forever and ever.
Everyday I will bless You.
And I will praise Your Name forever and ever.
Great is Yahweh, and greatly to be praised.

This is David’s prayer. 

This is what David does everyday in his devotion to God. 

He blesses God’s Name every day.

The Hebrew word for “bless” is בָרַךְ (Barak). 

• This Hebrew word is related to another Hebrew word for “knee” (berek). 
• To bless God has to do with worship, kneeling before God, bowing down before God expressing gratitude to Him and to His Name. 

Is this how we do our daily devotions?


David overflows with praises for God and His Name because he experiences Yahweh God like Moses. 

• The Shem of God is important, for in the Name, Yahweh, God chooses to reveal His Eternal Being and Character to us. 

• The more we learn to bless and praise the Shem of God, the more we come to personally know God’s character. 

Read through Psalm 145 and learn how David experiences God:

Yahweh is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. (Psa 145:8)

Yahweh is good to all; He has compassion on all He has made. (Psa 145:9)

Yahweh is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all He does. (Psa 145:13b)

Let us also join Moses and David to taste God’s graciousness, compassion, goodness and faithfulness today, everyday and forever.

BLESSED be the Shem of Yahweh FOREVER – 2

Subject:  Praise the Name of Yahweh

Psalm 113:1-3 

Praise Yahweh! Praise, O servants of Yahweh, praise the Shem of Yahweh! Blessed be the Shem of Yahweh from this time forth and forevermore! From the rising of the sun to its setting, the Shem of Yahweh is to be praised!

These words give us a glimpse of how Psalmists in the past bless the Shem of Yahweh. 

Take note of the repetition of 3 different words in these 3 short verses.

1. Praise    – 4X
2. Yahweh – 5X
3. Shem    – 3X

These words are not just peculiar in this Psalm, but they also have the most occurrences in the entire book of Psalm when compared to other OT books.

1. Praise    –   137x  in OT; 75x in Psalms
2. Yahweh – 6828x  in OT; 664x in Psalms
3. Shem    –    771x in OT; 115x in Psalms


Even the word ‘Bless’, Psalm also has the most occurrence.

Bless           – 288x in OT; 68x in Psalms

**I am also providing statistic graphs for you to see everything clearly in one flash. Please take a look at the 4 graphs also.**


These statistics reveal to us where the Psalmists put their emphasis when they pray.

Their prayers are very God orientated and Yahweh centered.

1. Call Yahweh
2. Bless the Shem of Yahweh
3. Praise the Shem of Yahweh

Where is our emphasis when we pray?

****************************************************************************

Word Statistics Graph 1 - "Praise" in Old Testament

Praise in Hebrew is: הִלֵּל (Halal) 
137x in OT
75x in Psalms

******************************************************************

Word Statistics Graph 2 - "Bless" in Old Testament

Bless in Hebrew is: בָרַךְ (Barak)
288x in OT
68x in Psalms

************************************************************

Word Statistics Graph 3 - "Yahweh" in Old Testament

Yahweh in Hebrew is: יהוה
6828x in OT
664x in Psalms

"Yahweh" appears most frequent in the book of Psalms, the book of prayer.

We too need to call out to God's Name "Yahweh" when we pray.

*************************************************

Word Statistics Graph 4 - "Name" in Old Testament

Name in Hebrew is: שֵם (SHEM)
771x in OT
115x in Psalms

In the graph, you also see that "Shem" occurs quite a lot in Genesis and Numbers. In both of these books, most of the time, "Shem" refers to human names and not God's Name.

In Psalms, most of the time, "Shem" refers to God's Name.

BLESSED be the Shem of Yahweh FOREVER – 1

Subject: "Shem" שֵם occurs most frequent in Psalms

The Hebrew word for “Name” is שֵם (SHEM)

In the Concordance (KJV), the word שֵם (SHEM) occurs 771X.

Can you guess which OT Book has the most frequency of “Shem”?

The Book of Psalms has the most frequency of this word and it occurs 115X. 

What does this insight tell us?


1. Psalm is a book of prayers. The Psalmists are indeed very concerned to pray for God’s Shem.

2. Remember, God’s Shem is also the first focal attention in our Lord Jesus' Prayer: “Hallowed be Thy Name”.

• When we pray, is it ever our concern to pray for God’s Shem? 

• Let’s make a breakthrough in our prayers. 

• From now on, let God’s Shem be our primary concern when we pray.

The OT saints truly take to heart the words of Exodus 3:15. 

In response to God's important revelation about His Everlasting Shem, they often pray: “BLESSED be the Shem of Yahweh FOREVER”.

• This week, we will devote our attention to this special phrase. 
• The Psalmists, prophets and servants of God use this phrase a lot in their prayers. 
• Their love for God is shown in not just blessing God in general terms, but blessing specifically the Name of Yahweh FOREVER.

Topic #5 : BLESSED be the Shem of Yahweh FOREVER

Topic #5  Blessed be the Shem of Yahweh FOREVER  - 25 Days Devotion


Here is a summary of the 7 subheadings:

This topic is longer than the other topics.  This only shows how we need to learn to BLESS Yahweh's Name Forever.

Click onto the following links for your devotions:

1.  Name "SHEM" שֵם  - Most Frequent in Psalms

2.  Praise the Name of Yahweh

3.  David Blesses God's Name FOREVER 

4.  All Flesh Will Bless His Holy Name FOREVER

5.  Blessed be God's Glorious Name FOREVER

6.  The Living will bless Yahweh Now and FOREVER

7.  Hallelujah!

8.  Ethan's Prayer

9.  David's Prayer in weakness

10.  David's Prayer before the ark

11. David's Prayer before he died

12.  Daniel blesses the Name of God FOREVER and FOREVER

13.  Ezra Blesses Yahweh, the Great God

14.  Levites Bless Yahweh's Glorious Name FOREVER

15.  Job  Blesses the Name of  Yahweh

16.  Calling on Yahweh who is worthy of praise

17.  Zechariah Blesses Yahweh God of Israel

18.  Paul Blesses God

19.  Yahweh God is blessed FOREVER

20.  Blessed be the "God" and Father of our "Lord" Jesus Christ

21.  "God" and "Father" of our Lord Jesus Christ

22.  The Creator who is "Blessed FOREVER" Amen!

23.  God who is overall be "Blessed FOREVER" Amen!

24.  To God be the glory FOREVER, Amen!

25.  To the ONLY wise God be glory FOREVER through Jesus Christ, Amen!


:)

This Is My Name FOREVER - 7

SUBJECT: Another Psalmist praying through Exodus 3:15

Psalm 102:12

But You, O Yahweh, abide forever
And Your Name to all generations.
(NASV)

Look at how the Psalmists take to heart the Word of Yahweh. 

Here is another Psalmist praying through God's words in Exodus 3:15.

Everywhere in the Psalms, the Psalmists call on God's everlasting Name and pray for God's Name to be remembered down through the generations. They truly love the SHEM of Yahweh.

Let us also love God and make it our habit to call on God's Name:

1. That Your Name, O Yahweh, abide forever.

2. That You Name, O Yahweh, be remembered through all generations.

• Today, let's invite our children to call on God's Everlasting Name together. 

• In this way, God's Everlasting Name will be treasured and remembered in our generation onto the next generation.

Amen and Amen.