“But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you.” Psalm 5:11
Hannah and Mary both begin their Holy-Spirit inspired prayers with two key word concepts:
· Exult – to rejoice
· Exalt – to lift up
“Then Hannah prayed and said, ‘My heart exults in the LORD; my horn [strength] is exalted in the LORD.’”
“And Mary said, ‘My soul exalts the LORD, and my spirit has rejoiced in God, my Savior.’”
As Hannah begins her prayer she is in a state of unbridled – one might say “intoxicating” – joy. She is overcome with what I would describe as the sense of the true reality of all God is and of all He is to us in those moments when we zone in and “get it.”
By “getting it,” I mean being conscious of and embracing in a given moment that God is, that He is all that matters in life, that He is taking care of even the most unimportant things in my life never mind the “big ones,” that He has known me from before I was born, created me on purpose for His own pleasure and glory, brought me to salvation by His choosing, has my future all figured out – even the day and the time and the circumstances surrounding my death – and that all I need do is believe all of the above by faith, follow His lead in my life by doing things His way – and so not becoming or remaining my own worst enemy – and, well, rejoice!
Who wouldn’t?
But it takes focus to truly rejoice. It takes knowing the TRUTH to truly rejoice. It takes laying aside the lies of this world, as found in the circumstances we live in and oftentimes in the people we are in company with from day to day in our social and work environments.
For the believer – those of us who have received the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross and His resurrection from the dead as payment for our sins and means of establishing a harmonious relationship with God in the first place – the only way to truly know the TRUTH is to drink in the Word of God through daily, prayerful, disciplined study.
This is because there are a lot of rumors out there regarding who God is and what He is like that are not based in anything that is real. He has taken care of that problem, too, by leaving us His inspired Word as His medium for telling us Himself in no uncertain terms what He is really like.
There is nothing that could happen to me today that could be better news or cause for rejoicing than actually apprehending the reality of who God is and knowing that I belong to Him. And because of who He is, I know that all problems will be ultimately solved, all injustice and evil will be righteously judged, and that He has promised to wipe away every tear from the eyes of those of us who, through faith, belong to Him, regardless of present sorrows.
In her prayer, Hannah exclaimed that rejoicing was her way of speaking boldly against her enemies!
Given that, this psalm, which I set to a simple melody many years ago, comes to my mind today. I recommend you read the entire Psalm, as you will be blessed, but here with regard to Hannah’s posture and one that can be ours:
“And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me.
And I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of JOY.
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD!” – Psalm 27:6
This day, let us make it a point to exult in the LORD, rejoicing for who He is and all that means to us in the here and now and for the future and, in so doing, exalt His holy name, as Mary did when she said in her prayer, “For the One who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name!” Luke 1:49
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