BLOG

Acknowledging God through praise

Yesterday, during a zoom call, someone shared that one of the words translated acknowledge in the Old Testament is yada. This triggered an important insight that I want to share with you today.

The Hebrew word yada is the root word for yad (“hand”) and Yehudi (“Judah, praise”). Judah means praise, because it is connected to raising one’s hands in praising God. This much I learned many years ago. What I did not realize was that praising God also signified acknowledging God in the sense of recognizing His sovereignty in an act of surrender. Until now, I had never checked the Hebrew words for acknowledge.

But when the person stated that to acknowledge was from yada, I suddenly saw a whole new side of Romans 8:29, “whose praise is of God and not of men.” Here Paul was explaining God’s definition of a Jew (i.e., a Judean, or Judahite). He was using a play on words depicting a double and triple meaning of “praise.” Remember that Paul was writing in Greek but with a Hebrew mindset, so some of his subtleties are hidden to most readers—including me.

But first, let us turn to Genesis 29:35,

³⁵ And she conceived again and bore a son and said, “This time I will praise [yada] the LORD.” Therefore she named him Judah. Then she stopped bearing.

Because she praised the Lord for her newborn son, she named him Judah, “praise.” We could also translate this to mean, “This time I will acknowledge the Lord.” To acknowledge Him is to give Him praise. In this case it shows that “children are a gift of the Lord” (Psalm 127:3). Unbelievers do not normally acknowledge this but attribute children to just a natural process.

Genesis 49:8 says,

⁸ Judah, your brothers shall praise [yada] you; Your hand [yad] shall be on the neck of your enemies; Your father's sons shall bow down to you.

In this case, we see that Judah was to be given the dominion mandate (Genesis 49:10), and that his brothers were to acknowledge his sovereignty over them “until Shiloh comes.” Again, we see the double meaning: praise and acknowledge, built upon the word yad, “hand.”

Proverbs 3:6 says,

⁶ In all your ways acknowledge [yada] Him, and He will make your paths straight.

Here the NASB translates yada as “acknowledge,” but it could also be rendered as “praise,” because to acknowledge His dominion, rule, or sovereignty is fundamentally the way to praise Him.

In Jeremiah 3:13 the prophet pleads with Judah to repent, saying, “only acknowledge [yada] your iniquity and have transgressed against the Lord your God.” Obviously, this should not be translated “praise your iniquity.” It is, instead, an appeal for Judah to live up its name instead of worshiping other gods by acknowledging their sovereignty.

So let us return to Romans 2:28, 29, which shows how acknowledgement is a two-way street.

²⁸ For he is not a Jew [a member of the tribe or nation of Judah] who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. ²⁹ But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter and his praise [God’s acknowledgement of his citizenship] is not from men, but from God.

In other words, those who truly praise God and live up to the name Judah are those who have heart circumcision, not in the flesh but in the heart. These are the ones who acknowledge God by acknowledging the One who was sent to represent Him. Jesus is the Mediator of the New Covenant, whose sign is heart circumcision, even as fleshly circumcision was a sign of the Old Covenant.

Moses Himself wrote about heart circumcision in Deuteronomy 30:6,

⁶ Moreover the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.

Heart circumcision has always been the requirement, even during the time when fleshly circumcision was mandated. Both covenants have existed from the beginning, though not necessarily revealed as such. Most of the people did not understand this with any depth, so it is likely that most of them thought that their salvation and Kingdom citizenship was based on fleshly circumcision.

But the story of Elijah revealed the remnant of grace, whereby just 7,000 Israelites were “chosen” (as Paul says in Romans 11:7). The rest were “blinded” (KJV) or “hardened” (NASB). Those whose hearts are hardened cannot praise God, because they do not acknowledge the Son. 1 John 2:23 says,

²³ Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.

So let us praise God by acknowledging dominion rights of the Son of God, so that God may, in turn, acknowledge us as members of the tribe of Judah.