Tuesday, April 2, 2013

All of the Strong's H1524 verses

{ Quick Note: I had to keep the King James Version for these in order to show the Strong's reference numbers. If you want an easier version to read, simply google the verse reference } 

TOTAL: 10

Job 3:22 Which rejoice (8056) exceedingly (1524), [and] are glad (7797) , when they can find (4672) the grave (6913)?

Psa 43:4 Then will I go (935) unto the altar (4196) of God (430), unto God (410) my exceeding (8057) joy (1524): yea, upon the harp (3658) will I praise (3034) thee, O God (430) my God (430).

Psa 45:15 With gladness (8057) and rejoicing (1524) shall they be brought (2986) : they shall enter (935) into the king's (4428) palace (1964).

Psa 65:12 They drop (7491) [upon] the pastures (4999) of the wilderness (4057): and the little hills (1389) rejoice (1524) on every side (2296).

Pro 23:24 The father 1 of the righteous (6662) shall greatly (1524) rejoice (1523) : and he that begetteth (3205) a wise (2450) [child] shall have joy (8055) of him.

Isa 16:10 And gladness (8057) is taken away (622), and joy (1524) out of the plentiful field (3759); and in the vineyards (3754) there shall be no singing (7442) , neither shall there be shouting (7321): the treaders (1869) shall tread out (1869) no wine (3196) in [their] presses (3342); I have made [their vintage] shouting (1959) to cease (7673).

Jer 48:33 And joy (8057) and gladness (1524) is taken (622) from the plentiful field (3759), and from the land (776) of Moab (4124); and I have caused wine (3196) to fail (7673) from the winepresses (3342): none shall tread (1869) with shouting (1959); [their] shouting (1959) [shall be] no shouting (1959).

Dan 1:10 And the prince (8269) of the eunuchs (5631) said (559) unto Daniel (1840), I fear (3373) my lord (113) the king (4428), who hath appointed (4487) your meat (3978) and your drink (4960): for why should he see (7200) your faces (6440) worse liking (2196) than the children (3206) which [are] of your sort (1524)? then shall ye make [me] endanger (2325) my head (7218) to the king (4428).

Hsa 9:1 Rejoice (8055) not, O Israel (3478), for joy (1524), as [other] people (5971): for thou hast gone a whoring (2181) from thy God 430, thou hast loved (157) a reward (868) upon every cornfloor (1637) (1715).

Joe 1:16 Is not the meat (400) cut off (3772) before our eyes (5869), [yea], joy (8057) and gladness (1524) from the house (1004) of our God (430)?

http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?strongs=H1524

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Verse Twenty One: Proverbs 2:14

They take pleasure in doing wrong, and they enjoy the twisted ways of evil. Pro 2:14
19 of 44 of H1523

Wow. 
I have been staring and praying and staring some more at this for a while now. It's the second or third time I have come back to this entry, simply because all the sudden my little project went from being a poetic heart cry to a very real warning. And it throws me for a loop! What does that say about me? It's rather eye opening.... convicting... life isn't a blissful leap from one joyous moment to the next, joy isn't all about me and a feeling and joy certainly isn't reserved for the good things of this world. Otherwise the choice would be easy, wouldn't it? On the other side of that decision, to be a Christ follower, I know the reward, the worth, the value of walking with Him and that it truly outshines anything the world has to offer. I also remember the truth of my past, that there was a time that I took pleasure in doing wrong and enjoyed the ways of evil. For a time, in the moment, it was easy to do. I said, "No regrets!" and I believed it. 

We may be capable of experiencing joy when we indulge in evil, but its not the same joy we experience with Christ. We've seen the overpowering evidence of this through the testimonies in Psalms and all of the circumstances that joy can overcome and now in Proverbs we are given a new insight and perspective. It's almost like the difference between the right and left brain :) Proverbs approaches the matter from a different angle: Wisdom. 

Two verses stood out to me as I read Proverbs 2. Proverbs 2:10 (NLT) says, "For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will fill you with joy." Verse 21 and 22 says, "For only the godly will live in the land, and those with integrity will remain in it. But the wicked will be removed from the land, and the treacherous will be uprooted." 

The path of wisdom and righteousness brings joy, and yet we also see that evil can bring joy. So what's the difference? Why choose one over the other? I feel verses 21 and 22 hold the key when they describe the wicked being "removed from the land". In my experience, the joy that evil brought was short lived. I felt empty...just...void. I tried to do what gave me pleasure before and it left me lifeless. It was like being cut off, Joy was the land and I couldn't stay, because accessing it through wicked means couldn't only last for so long. Eventually, I'd be uprooted and unable to get back that way. Maybe this is why we jump from thing to thing when we don't have Christ. But the joy brought by wisdom to those who are truthful and whole (and the only way to be whole on every level is through the healing power of Jesus) THAT joy will reain and we will remain in it. Thank you, Lord!

Monday, June 18, 2012

Verse Twenty: Psalm 149:2

Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion be joyful in their King. Psa 149:2 KJV
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Ever wonder why God made you? I've wondered this too many times to count. And not usually in a positive way either, right? There is no joyful praising the Master Craftsman for His workmanship in you LOL No... If we are honest its more like, "What the hell were you thinking? Why the #&$@ am I here? I am so sick of feeling _____" I usually fill in the blank with "like and idiot" or "clueless" or "like a failure." (My husband is reading this going, "That's a lie! Don't think that!" haha! That's why I love you, baby) Don't get me wrong, I am not doing this everyday (ok...not anymore) but there are times of frustration when nothing is going the way you thought it would or think it should that you really question what the heck God was thinking when He made you, because you sure don't feel like you are accomplishing anything worth living for. 

Anyone else just think of It's a Wonderful Life? I <3 that movie. It's a good reminder. 

I guess this verse just really hit home for me today because it reminded me of how many times I have done the opposite and just how much I have learned about this in the past year.  

In order to rejoice in something, you have to accept it. Interesting word accept. I can think of so many times this word has been used as a portrayal of resistent resignation. (to" tolerate or submit to (something unpleasant or undesired)") But that is one usage out of many for accept. Others can be more positive like "regard favorably or with approval." My favorite, however, is the origin of the word:  
ORIGIN late Middle English: from Latin acceptare, frequentative of accipere ‘take something to oneself,’ from ad- ‘to’ + capere ‘take.’ 
"Take something to oneself."  

Is being made by God something that I can accept? That I can bring to my self?  Can I take who He made me, what talents He did or didn't give me and what that means? That's hard enough just accepting it, but this psalm isn't even saying "Accept what God made you and deal with it best you can." It's saying accept it and then be all excited about it! 


"I can't be all excited about it, there is nothing about me to be all excited about." Imaginary person then goes on to list all the reasons they suck (and by imaginary person I mean me in one of my depression spirals, so I'm not judging here). So whats the answer? Same psalm, different verse: 
Verse 4 For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.
The Lord takes pleasure in you! He probably knows what He's talkin' about, right? ;) All Knowing God verses Me, I think I'd bet on All Knowing God knowing what He's doing. If He thinks there is something to delight in then there must be something. OH! And interesting tid bit here, there original hebrew for the word "pleasure" in this verse includes "to be pleased with, be favourable to, accept favourably" Oooooo way to tie it in there, Lord... So lets see...

If God takes pleasure in me and accepts me....then that means there is something to take pleasure in and accept .... which means I'd be believing a lie if I believed otherwise... Which means I should go ahead and believe Him and accept myself as a creation God spent time on and made... And if I can do that, then life really starts to look up, I start to see me the way God sees me, see my life the way He does, and everything gets a lot more beautiful :) How awesome is that?? Thank you, Jesus! 

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Verse Nineteen: Psa 118:24


This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.  
Psa 118:24

19 of 44 of H1523


I feel silly even writing about this verse. It's self explanatory, isn't it? Maybe you've known it for so long its even easy to ignore. What's so important about the day being made by God, anyway?

I wasn't born cynical, a lot of life things came about and eventually it was easier to be cynical (notice that they didn't "make" me cynical. I chose it, even if it was out of a perceived need to protect my emotional self). It's become hard for me to just be all optimistic and sunshiny bear about life. Can't you just hear this verse being said by some disgustingly peppy morning person as you stare hazily at them through your coffee steam wishing for Friday? Makes you want to punch them in the face doesn't it? Yeah me too. But then that's not what God's Word is supposed to really trigger in us, so something is wrong here. My guess is it's my attitude ;)

"But," you protest, "I am having a bad day and I really don't care if the Lord made it. It doesn't matter either way, this straight up sucks." I know how you feel. I want to know why it should matter too. So lets explore that.

The word used for "made" (according to Strongs) could also be read as "to labour, to work about anything" and it gives the example of working with gold or silver. This is slightly more powerful. God labored over this day, like a craftsman labors over their work.

And He did this out of "goodness," we are told. Verse one says to "give thanks to the Lord for he is good and his mercy endures forever." Here's the interesting thing about that word good. Again looking at Strongs and the Gesenius Lexicon, we find more depth and complexity to the word that gets lost in translation. It isn't just "good" it's a bountiful, pure and precious goodness. The word mercy is complicated too. I think it's easy to think that mercy is somehow a negative. We get the mental image of a haughty God, seated at his throne watching us be beaten in judgement and then he holds up his hand just before the point of our death to halt the torture, showing us "mercy" in that we get to live. Not a happy image.  The reality is that, in this hebrew form, it's synonymous with lovingkindess, ardour, and desire. Mercy, it seems, is like a desire to correct or reproach another being from a place of fervent love. If this is sounding almost too close to a sort of manipulative emotional abuse ("I love you that's why I hurt you") remember that God is also purely good. He is incapable of abuse. He instructs and disciplines (verse 18). How else could we come from the situation actually singing His praises and declaring how wonderful He is?

So what about a bad day? Well, according to the rest of Psalm 118, when the world, man and nations come against you all you have to do is call on the Lord and He will set you free from it. Verse five, "Out of my distress I called on the LORD; the LORD answered me and set me free." and verse 14 "The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation."

For such a short verse I sure have gone on a lot :P So after ALL that what is the conclusion? Well this isn't just any day. This is a day the Lord fervently, ardently labored over and, because He is purely good He creates nothing but good things, we have reason to joyfully sing about it. Those good things can go bad, the world can attack us from all sides but even then the answer is the Lord; He will save us when we call and His freedom will get us singing! 

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Verse Seventeen & Eighteen: Psalm 97:1 & 8



Psa 97:1
The LORD is king! Let the earth rejoice! Let the farthest coastlands be glad. 

Psa 97:8
Jerusalem has heard and rejoiced, and all the towns of Judah are glad because of your justice, O LORD! 

17 and 18 of 44 of H1523

Well what do you know! Psalm 97 is very much a continuation of what we saw in Psalm 96.  Again, we have the combination of the earth and nature rejoicing and fearing the Lord as well as the proclamation that the lesser gods and idols have nothing on Him. 

Verse 7, "Those who worship idols are disgraced— all who brag about their worthless gods— for every god must bow to him."

Verse 9, "For you, O LORD, are supreme over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods." 

It's a good argument, really. Why bow to something like an idol rather than God when it's bowing to God? Even if you believe this thing to be greater than you, it seems we have a choice of giving our worship to one entity. Why put it on the lesser? 

In my little United States day to day life I don't really know anyone who worships idols like they did in those days. But the concepts of fear and worship go hand in hand. They both set something up higher than you. What you fear, you are also worshiping. And the word "fear" doesn't always mean terror, it is synonymous with revere as well. In our life we have idols, things we put our fear to, things we believe are too big for us. We expend anxiety and worry on these things, we fret about them and think more about them than Truth. Truth like: For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. (Phil 4:13). 

So much of what God's word has for us is for our betterment. I have heard it referred to as a rule book all my life. So many people believe this! But it's more like advice, the best advice you could ever get, and who would go against advice like that? When God commanded us not to put any other god before Him, do you think it was really just because He doesn't like competition? I have the feeling it's more likely that He knows how easily we put other things before Him and His truth. We completely forget that we "can do everything through Christ" and focus on the things we are afraid of. 

The earth can see how glorious God is. It does not war with Him as it does with the other mythological gods. Its a testimony of simple faith and seeing the truth all around us. 

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Verse Sixteen: Psalm 96:11, What's So Important About A Joyous Earth?

Let the heavens be glad, and the earth rejoice! Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise! Psa 96:11 NLT

16 of 44 of H1523

This psalm reminds me of something I read recently about ancient beliefs. The Hebrew were actually quite unique compared to other religions, especially the ones surrounding them, because they condemned the practice nature worship. Well, the prophets condemned it and tried to get the people to follow suite. It was a unique and new "mythology" in the world for there to be a single God who exists beyond nature, not bound by its forces. The Hebrew were surrounded by temptation to worship as other cultures did. But consider how the Babylonian gods operated:
"Where the Babylonian gods were engaged in an ongoing battle against the forces of chaos, and needed the rituals of the New Year festival to restore their energies, Yahweh can simply rest on the seventh day, his work complete." (from Eliade, Myths, Dreams, and Mysteries) 
Those gods didn't have power over nature, they were trying to beat it into submission! Meanwhile, they need rituals to power back up after this exhausting matchup. But then you have Yahweh. Much of Psalm 96 emphasizes this relationship of God to nature, as well as how this sets Him not only apart from the idol gods but higher than them. Knowing this gave me a deeper understanding of what makes a psalm like this important. Vs. 4 says "Great is the LORD! He is most worthy of praise! He is to be feared above all gods." We all know the commandment to not have any gods before God, but this psalm could be considered a point for the argument.  If you're wondering why God is greater and you should worship Him instead, consider the fact that nature doesn't try to kick His butt, it worships Him because He made it. 

V. 1  "Sing a new song to the LORD! Let the whole earth sing to the LORD!"

Vs. 5 "The gods of other nations are mere idols, but the LORD made the heavens!"

Vs. 9 "Worship the LORD in all his holy splendor. Let all the earth tremble before him."

Vs. 11 "Let the heavens be glad, and the earth rejoice! Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise!"

Vs. 12 "Let the fields and their crops burst out with joy! Let the trees of the forest rustle with praise (before the Lord)"

Nature knows its Lord Creator and in what direction its praises should go. And yet in Genesis we are told that man was given authority over it. I don't want to sound to too hippie, but it seems to me we could learn a lesson or two about the proper approach to authority over nature when we compare the Babylonian idol gods methods to that of Yahweh. Trying to dominate "the forces of chaos" wasn't getting them anything but tired.  We shouldn't be taking that route. We should be looking to emulate the Creator, He who knows His creation inside out. This makes Him the ultimate provider of their needs, a caring tender of the earth. It responds gloriously to Him and is it any wonder why? It's praising Him for the same reasons we often do, because we felt the depth of His love through the way He provided and cared for us, showing us just how well He knows our needs. It's rather beautiful, don't you think?

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Verse Fifteen: Psalm 89:16


They rejoice all day long in your wonderful reputation. 
They exult in your righteousness. Psa 89:16 NLT


15 of 44 of H1523

Ok, a couple of things. First, is it weird that when I read this Psalm I can tell its not David? It says the author is Ethan the Ezrahite and no offense to Ethan here but I find him far more confusing. I am sure this psalm is just above my level of study or something. That still doesn't change the fact that I don't know why it goes from praising God because he is mighty and awesome, on into telling the story of David's anointing and how God will never lift it everything is glorious and will be glorious forever to saying BUT HE HAS LIFTED IT! Everything is awful!! David is abandoned and when is God going to bless Him again?? How long will he hide his face blah blah blah. And then the last line a total 180 to "Praise the LORD forever! Amen and amen!" What?? Talk about swinging from one extremem to another. Make up your mind, man!  There is no middle ground with him or something.

So...with that said... I am confessing I have nothing more to say on this verse because I find the psalm so frickin confusing... I suppose I will say this though... In the end no matter if you are being blessed or feel the Lord has taken that blessing and left you exposed to the world and all its attacks, we don't know enough about everything to not say, as Ethan here does, "Praise the LORD forever! Amen and amen!" No matter what, the Lord is worthy of praise.