Zamar

Considering that the word zamar focuses on praise in the form of music, I thought that I would be able to sit down and have a post about it in nothing flat. However, of all the words for praise thus far, this has been the most challenging for me. In fact, I’m still not sure the direction this post is actually going to go. So, let us start with the basic bones of it and we shall see what evolves from there.

Zamar (zaw-mar) translates to sing, sing praise, make music and to play a musical instrument. It is to make music accompanied by the voice, to celebrate in song and music. The root of zamar is the idea of striking with the fingers, or to touch the strings or parts of a musical instrument. This information comes from the Brown Driver Briggs Lexicon. Not surprising, the first verse that I looked up with zamar is from the book of Psalms, along with several others. This of course makes sense as we know that David, who penned so many of the psalms was not just a shepherd, giant killer, and king, but also a musician who played what we call a harp.

This brought me to looking up the word harp in Hebrew, and the version of harp that David is known for playing is called a kinnor. According to BDB is comes from an unused root meaning to twang. I looked up images and videos of the kinnor to be able to visualize and hear the instrument that David is so famous for playing and was blown away by its simplistic beauty and its haunting sound. This is the instrument that we find in the book of 1 Samuel.

[14] Now the Spirit of Adonai had left Sha’ul; instead, an evil spirit from Adonai would suddenly come over him. [15] Sha’ul’s servants said to him, “Do you notice that there’s an evil spirit from God that suddenly comes over you? [16] Let our lord now command your servants who are here with you to look for a man who knows how to play the lyre. Then, if the evil spirit from God comes over you, he will play; and it will do you good.” [17] Sha’ul said to his servants, “Find me a man who can play well, and bring him to me.” [18] One of the young men answered, “Here, I’ve seen one of the sons of Yishai the Beit-Lachmi who knows how to play. He’s a brave solider, he can fight, he chooses his words carefully and he’s pleasant looking. Besides, Adonai is with him.” [19] So Sha’ul sent messengers to Yishai saying, “Send me David your son, who is out with the sheep.” [20] Yishai took a donkey, loaded it with bread, a skin of wine and a kid, and sent them with David his son to Sha’ul. [21] David came to Sha’ul and presented himself to him. Sha’ul took a great liking to him and made him his armor bearer. [22] Sha’ul sent a message to Yishai: “Please let David stay in my service, because I’m pleased with him.” [23] So it was that whenever the [evil] spirit from God came over Sha’ul, David would take the lyre and play it, with the result that Sha’ul would find relief and feel better, as the evil spirit left him. 1 Samuel 16:14-23

It was not soon after this that David would find himself at odds with King Saul, to the point of hiding in caves as Saul sought to kill him time and time again. Many of the psalms were birthed out of David’s distress and cry for deliverance, and when after years of being on the run, after Saul’s death, Psalm 18 was penned, with the words of the Psalm being sung directly to the Lord, declaring His greatness. This song, 50 verses long is an incredible display of love and praise, and I can only imagine the music that it was set to on the kinnor.

While I am not going to share the Psalm in its entirety, I am going to share some of the verses that spoke to my heart as I was reading them

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[1] I love you, Adonai, my strength! 3[2] Adonai is my Rock, my fortress and deliverer, my God, my Rock in whom I find shelter, my shield, the power that saves me, my stronghold. 4[3] I call on Adonai, who is worthy of praise; and I am saved from my enemies.

Over the month of July, while my mom was in the hospital and in rehab, these are some of the very words I cried out to Adonai myself. I was in one of the weakest points of my life and He was and is my strength. He is my Rock and fortress, and he delivered me from the fear that had tried so hard to grip my heart. He truly became my shelter, shield, and stronghold, and I will continue to lift His name in praise for only He is worthy. I am saved from my enemy, the adversary, even when he tries his best to steal, kill, and destroy in my life. When I said yes to Yeshua, and accepted Him as Savior, I became safe from the enemy. The adversary was defeated on Calvary’s tree, so no matter what he does in this world, it doesn’t matter because I am saved by the Lamb of God and THAT is the true victory.

25[24] Hence Adonai repaid me for my uprightness, according to the purity of my hands in his view. 26[25] With the merciful, you are merciful; with a man who is sincere, you are sincere; 27[26] with the pure, you are pure; but with the crooked you are cunning. 28[27] People afflicted, you save; but haughty eyes you humble.

Something very striking stood out to me as I read these verses. My mind and heart went immediately to the book of Matthew and the Beatitudes.

With the merciful, you are merciful. - Psalms

How blessed are those who show mercy! For they will be shown mercy. – Matthew

With the pure, you are pure. – Psalms

How blessed are the pure in heart! For they shall see God. – Matthew

What a beautiful reflection with the mirroring of the words of David and Yeshua.

29[28] For you, Adonai, light my lamp; Adonai, my God, light up my darkness.

Where the previous verses made me think of words from Matthew, this verse immediately made me think of words penned by John.

[4] In Him was life, and the life was the light of mankind. [5] The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not suppressed it. [6] There was a man sent from God whose name was Yochanan. [7] He came to be a testimony, to bear witness concerning the light; so that through him, everyone might put his trust in God and be faithful to him. [8] He himself was not that light; no, he came to bear witness concerning the light. [9] This was the true light, which gives light to everyone entering the world.

We are called to be light in this dark world, and the only way that we can be that light, is when He lights up our lives, because He is the only true light. He lights my lamp, He lights up my darkness, and like John the Baptist, we are not THE Light, but a reflection of HIS light. As Yeshua said during the Sermon on the Mount, “You are light for the world. A town on a hill cannot be hidden. Likewise, when people light a lamp, they don’t cover it with a bowl but put it on a lampstand, so that they may see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16

36[35] You give me your shield, which is salvation, your right hand holds me up, your humility makes me great.

This verse is almost a foreshadowing about the armor of God in Paul's letter to Ephesus. While Paul lists the shield as faith, it is still a strong parallel in showing that our armor comes from Him. Our salvation comes from Him. Our faith comes from Him as faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God, and He is the Word, our sword. I love how the words of the Old Testament all point towards Yeshua.

50[49] So I give thanks to you, Adonai, among the nations; I sing praises to your name.

Here we find ourselves back at zamar. “I sing praises to your name.” There are times throughout the day that I will catch myself humming, singing, or even just thinking about a praise and worship song. There are moments that I can not help but put my fingers to the keyboard and sing and play a song of praise to the lover of my soul. While I may never pen anything as eloquent and poetic as David, and never play the kinnor, my heart does cry out as David’s did, with that longing to see and know the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. My heart longs to praise in spirit and truth, like Yeshua spoke of to the woman at the well. My heart seeks to honor Him with my tears, when they flow during prayer or praise like the woman who washed His feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. I want my heart to always be honest before Him. Just one thing have I asked of Adonai; only this will I seek: to live in the house of Adonai all the days of my life, to see the beauty of Adonai and visit his Temple. For he will conceal me in his shelter on the day of trouble, he will hide me in the folds of his tent, he will set me high on a rock. Then my head will be lifted up above my surrounding foes, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing, sing praises to Adonai. Psalm 27:4-6