RR Psalm 68:5 Part 3

Shalom,

Psalm 68:5 Sing to God, sing praises to His Name. Prepare the road for Him who rides through the deserts, whose Name is Adonai—and rejoice before Him.

May I offer you my own amplified version of this verse?

Sing (Shiru) to Elohim (La’Lohim), sing praises (Zam’ru). Stop, the “Etnachta” (a cantorial note that instructs the singer to pause, like a grammatical comma) is found under the word for “sing praises.”  Then the Hebrew continues,… Lift up (from “Salal” meaning exalt, extol, literally “pile up,” or prize) His name.  It is His name that is exalted.  You know, exaltation to the One Who rides mounted through the dry, barren and deserted places (deserts).  “Ya” is His name. (V’ilzu) and rejoice (L’Fanav) before His face.

Isaiah had a similar vision (the Hebrew word choices echo one another).  In both, our subject verse and Isaiah 62, there are inclusions and invitations for the people to join in praise of and to God.  Isaiah adds clarity… Isaiah 62:10 Go through, go through the gates. Clear the way for the people! Build up, build up the highway! Remove the stones. Lift up a banner over the peoples. 11 Behold, Adonai has proclaimed to the end of the earth: Say to the Daughter of Zion, “Behold, your salvation comes! See, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him.”

In modern America, we tend to take highways for granted.  Not so in biblical times.  Remember this, the Bible is speaking about more than roads, but a “high” way that describes life in the kingdom of God.  Isaiah 35:8 A highway will be there—a roadway. It will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it. It is for the one who walks the way. Fools will not go astray.  

No wonder the earliest believers in Yeshua were called “followers of the way.”  That’s not just a title, but a description of the way of life to which every believer is called.  Once again, we turn to Isaiah, who prophesied the words fulfilled by John the Baptist, who himself promoted the arrival  of Yeshua.  Isaiah 40:3 A voice cries out in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of Adonai, Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”

This “highway” not only leads us to Yeshua, but the “way” is lead BY Yeshua.  Lead, follow, or get out of the way.  Shalom shalom.

Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Thu     22-Oct-2026              11th of Cheshvan, 5787
Ge 14:21-15:6            Jos 19              Ps 18               Mt 14              (1 Jn 4)