Stand Up and Bless the LORD - Nehemiah 9:5

In the book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah said, “Now in the twenty and fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sack-clothes, and earth upon them. And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers. And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the LORD their God one fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed, and worshiped the LORD their God. Then stood up upon the stairs, of the Levites, Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, and cried with a loud voice unto the LORD their God”, and in chapter nine and verse five of Nehemiah, Nehemiah shared about those said, “stand up and bless the LORD your God for ever and ever” where we read,

Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, Stand up and bless the LORD your God for ever and ever: and blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.

The verse reads, “Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, ...” Nehemiah began with the words, “then the Levites” which means “next the descendants of Levi whose name means joined to and were specially set aside by God for His service”, “Jeshua” or “he is saved”, “and Kadmiel” whose name means “God is the ancient one”, “and Bani” or “built”, “Hashabniah” whose name means “whom Jehovah regards”, “Sherebiah” or “Jehovah has scorched”, “Hodijah” which means “my majesty is Jehovah”, “Shebaniah” or “increased by Jehovah”, “and Pethahiah” whose name means “freed by Jehovah”, “said” or “uttered, declared and proclaimed” the following words. Nehemiah shared how the above named “Levites” declared the following words to the people of Israel who were assembled. 

The verse goes on to say, “... Stand up and bless the LORD your God for ever and ever: and blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.” Nehemiah continued with the words, “stand up” or “erect your own selves and arise to your feet” “and bless the LORD your God” which means “and adore, praise and salute Jehovah who is the existing One and the proper name for the One True God your, the people of Israel's, Supreme Deity” “for ever and ever” or “for long duration and futurity”: “and blessed be your glorious name” which means “and adored, praised and saluted exists your, Jehovah God's, abundant, dignified and splendorous fame, reputation and glory”, “which is exalted above all blessing” or “that is raised, lifted up and set on high” “and praise” which means “and adoration and laud”. Nehemiah shared how the “Levites” called upon the people of Israel who were assembled to rise to their feet and give adoration and praise to Jehovah God who was their Supreme Deity perpetually, and they declared Jehovah God's splendorous fame, reputation and glory to be lifted on high over every other praise, adoration and laudation. 

When we think through the words in this verse, we discover through Nehemiah that the “Levites” who were specially assigned to the service of Jehovah God called upon the people of Israel to rise to their feet and give honor and adoration to Him eternally. They also declared the splendorous fame, reputation and glory of Jehovah God to be adored, praised and saluted over every other name because His “name” is lifted higher than every other praised and adoration. God wants to reveal Himself to us through His Son Jesus who died upon the cross for the sins of all mankind, and because He was raised from the dead three days later, He is able to forgive the sins and grant everlasting life to everyone who puts their faith and trust in Him. God loves us, and our lives are blessed when we stand to our feet, give Him honor and praise and declare His name to be above every other name in the world. (See Philippians 2:9)

Next time Nehemiah says, “you, even you, are LORD alone”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".