The meaning of “exalt” in Hebrew is to lift, compliment, improve, praise or applaud. Psalms 118:16 says “ The right hand of Yahweh exalts! The right hand of Yahweh will never fail.” What is so important to understand is that God exalts His people even when we don’t deserve it. This is not something that He is required to do but rather He chooses to do it in His own kindness. I’ll be honest, before I studied this word I had no idea what it really meant. I was really just using the context clues but once I studied it I realized what I had been missing out on.
“So everyone, exalt the Lord our God facedown before His glory-throne, for He is great and holy.” -Psalm 99:5
People can get so caught up with the blessings of God and His power that they forget God is the one who deserves to be exalted! It is a beautiful sea to step out onto when we choose to exalt God. It is a place of humbling and true reverencing fear and awe of Him. Every single day we should wake up with a grateful heart. We should be waking up applauding Him because when the world changes and people lash out God never changes and His loves never fades.
When I was younger, I would sit in church watching people truly exalt God. They would have beautiful intimate moments with Him and the goosebumps seemed to spread throughout my whole body just by watching them. THIS… exalting God… cannot be something that is just half-hearted or faked; God knows the difference between someone who truly steps out on the water for Him and someone who goes and gets the life raft. The Bible says that we have the PRIVILEGE to worship God; so why do we take it for granted? There isn’t a day that goes by that we shouldn’t wake up smiling because it is a day that He blessed us with – a day where we were blessed with the opportunity of knowing Him and seeking Him more.
In life we can get distracted and exalt things that last but only for a moment – things that are fleeting. As it says in 1 Samuel 16:7, God doesn’t look at our outward appearance, He looks at our heart. So I plead with you, PLEASE exalt Him, jump for joy in His presence and applaud Him with His creation. In all that you do, let it be pleasing and acceptable in His eyes because He deserves that and so much more. In the Greek, standing ovation is translated into a permanent applause – THAT is what we should be giving Him.
So, what are you exalting?
By Ainsley Wilson
