Shabach: Great Going, God!
This Hebrew verb for praise, (pronounced shaw-bakh’), conveys praise by declaring the glory of God. It literally means “to congratulate.” Regarding worship it is also translated “to commend” or “to laud,” and many commentaries associate it with raising a shout. Similar to halal (a form of praise which boasts in the Lord and His accomplishments), shabach praise boldly declares truths about the Lord; however, shabach is unique in that its primary audience is God Himself rather than those around. Of the 11 times this word appears in the Bible, 7 uses are in the Psalms.
This form of praise has to do with one of the roles of God’s people. It’s a significant part of why we were created in the first place, our purpose. I Ch 16:35 states that a key reason for salvation and deliverance was to enable there to be a remnant to give thanks to the Lord and to shabach. But rather than being mindless commentators narrating the Lord’s every move, He created us to walk with Him in such close companionship that we witness firsthand the amazing things He is doing and we just cannot keep that incredible discovery to ourselves – it bursts out as we exclaim, “Wow! Look what You just did! That’s incredible!” Not an end in itself, this form of worship is a natural reaction from experiencing God. Ps 63:3 says, “Because Your loving kindness is better than life, My lips will shabach You.” We are witnesses who have personally tasted for ourselves and discovered that the Lord truly is good.
It’s no wonder that we are exhorted to shabach the Lord. Ps 117:1 instructs entire nations and people groups to do this as a group together. This command reappears in Ps 147:12 when the psalmist instructs God’s people (twice in the same verse!) to shabach the Lord. That we incorporate opportunity to express praise in this way during our worship times together is quite appropriate.
I also find it interesting that this form of worship incorporates a generational aspect. Ps 145:4 describes separate groups of people, divided by generation, each praising the Lord in this form of worship to declare God’s might acts. As I study culture, I see that every generation developes its own unique forms of expression which it finds meaningful. This verse pictures a multi-generational congregation in which each generation has experienced firsthand the Lord’s hand at work, and has opportunity to express it. Rather than being an instructional aid in which a form is passed on from one generation to the next, shabach provides an opportunity to build unity across our generations, while the form itself remains flexible. The focus is not on the form of expression, but rather on the content, which is the declaration of God’s mighty acts. This fantastic example exemplifies the kind of diversity within unity which our music teams try to facilitate here at WLCC by incorporating ancient, old, current, and new song styles into our unified service of worship.
Can I get a witness!
