And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
Nehemiah 8:6 (ESV)
Last time we looked more fully at the men who stood beside Ezra on the left and how the people stood to their feet when the Scroll was opened. Today we see Ezra bless God and the people’s response.
Ezra blessed (barak – kneel, abundantly bless, congratulate, boast, persist in blessing) the LORD (Yhvh) the great (gadol -bitter, deep, greatest, marvelous, mighty, spacious, vast) God (Elohim).
And all the folk answered (anah – testify, sing, shout, announce, begin to speak, give account, bear witness), “Amen! Amen!” (amen – truth, from aman – believe, endure, faithful, establish, lasting, verified, sure, trustworthy, assurance) while lifting up (moal – lift, from alah – climb, ascend, arise) their hands (yad) and bowing (qadad – bow low) their heads and worshipped (shachah – bow self down, prostrate, weigh down) Yahweh with their faces (aph – nostril, anger) to the ground (erets – land, earth).
OR:
Ezra persisted in abundantly blessing Yahweh, the marvelous, mighty, spacious Creator God. And all the folk answered (testified, sang, shouted, bore witness), “Amen! Amen!” (Truth! Enduring faithfulness! Trustworthy assurance!), while lifting up their hands high and bowing their heads low, worshipping Yahweh with their faces to the ground.
Ah yes, persist in blessing. No matter what is going on around us or the turmoil within us, He is worthy. We do not have to wonder if He’s up there wringing his hands, falling asleep on the job, or just oblivious to evil. He is the almighty, all-marvelous, spacious Creator God. The One without Whom we’re all sunk, and we know it. No matter what cleansing He is doing in our nation, churches, cities, or selves, He remains worthy of persistent blessing. The only One Who is.
The beautiful thing in our scene from Scripture today was the gathered crowd represented a prepared group of people ready to hear from God with an intent to obey. And when the first thing out of Ezra’s mouth is boasting in the depth of Elohim, the people joined in to bear witness. They, too, testified to His greatness, shouted in agreement to the Truth that He is the only One of perfectly enduring faithfulness. Absolute trustworthy assurance. And as a people they are lost without Him.
Friends, as it becomes increasingly clear we, too, are lost without Him as a nation, what will our response be? Even if we disagree on the best way to fix certain problems, can we at least agree we are helpless on our own? And if our spaciously magnificent God has been showing us old ways must die, can we come together in the aftermath to move forward in the new? If I had all the answers I would gladly give them. But as more junk rises to the surface, and as hate and blame tire us all, we may have to sit in the broken before we are ready to know the next step. After all, acknowledging our helplessness is always step one to receiving help. And the Wonderful Counselor has not fallen asleep on the job.
Perhaps we need to take a cue from our group today. Let’s lift up what we know to be sure: our hands to He Who is faithful. And let’s bow low at what else is true: our heads as we all have fallen short of perfection. And with the anger, the heavy weight of sorrow, our whole selves prostrate to the ground, worship and wait.