With Arms high & Heart Abandoned
Psalm 95:1-2
Let Us Sing Songs of Praise
1 Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! 2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
It's hard to resist the sweet request of a child who wants to be held. As they lift their arms into the air your heart melts as you reach down to pick them up.
Lifting our arms and hands toward the sky exposes our midsection and leaves our bodies vulnerable in every way. It is a posture of complete surrender.
One of my daughters understood this well when she was little. During our church's worship service we would put her in the toddler nursery. The entrance door to the nursery was a half door, and as adults walked by she would stand by that door and reach up to people she knew.
"Hold me," she would say as her adoring eyes would plead with the person to lift her up and out of that nursery. Very few could resist, but the joke was on them. Once they lifted her up and out of the nursery she would make her whole body go limp. As she slipped through their arms and down to the floor the adult helplessly watched as the child ran down the hall with new found freedom!
Yes, a child lifting their arms in surrender is powerful.
If you have ever wondered why people raise their arms and hands in worship, surrender is the answer, and it's all rooted in thanksgiving and praise.
The Hebrew word used in Psalm 95:2 that tells us to "come into his presence with thanksgiving, let us make joyful noise to him with songs of praise" is Yadah. The meaning of the word doesn't make it powerful, the action does! The root word Yad means "hand" but when you add the suffix ah it turns the word into a process of extending or lifting hands in thanksgiving, praise, and confession.
Your action of Yadah (praise) becomes a Todah (thanks).
What does that mean?
Simply put, lifting your arms to the sky in praise and worship is your way of saying "Thank You" to the Lord without using words. In Psalm 50 (v. 14, 23) we are reminded twice that bringing a "sacrifice of praise" is honorable to the Lord. Lifting your arms and raising your voice in song becomes your way of exposing your body and offering it as a sacrifice in worship, and you literally become a child who reaches their hands to their Heavenly Father and says, "Thank you, Jesus. Hold me."
Wow!
Think about that the next time you are in a room full of worshippers. Don't worry what others may think of you, just get lost in the thankfulness and love you have for Jesus. It is a sincere form of sacrifice to stand before the Lord with arms high and heart abandoned. So the next time you have an opportunity to lift your hands in the assembly, do it! You never know, Jesus may just reach down and lift you up!
Josh Huisman is the senior pastor of Crosswalk Church in Brentwood, TN. If you would like to support this website and make it possible for this page to stay active and these devotions to reach a wider audience, CLICK HERE
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Thanks for taking the time to write these, Josh. I enjoyed this today!