HEBREW WORD STUDY – SING – ‘ASHIRAH  אשירה Aleph Shin Yod Resh Hei

Psalms 89:16: “I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever, with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.”

“O, this is the poison of deep grief; it springs all from her father’s death. O Gertrude, Gertrude. When sorrows come, they come not single spies but in battalions.”  Shakespeare, Hamlet  Act IV, Scene V.

This Psalm was written by Ethan the Ezrahite.  Bible scholars say this is the same Ethan mentioned in  I Kings 4:31 who was one of the wisest men who lived next to Solomon.   He was a sage who spent his life trying to know and understand God.  He lived during the time of Solomon and into the time of King Rehoboam. When King Rehoboam assumes the throne, Egypt came through and raided the land of all its wealth.  I could almost hear Ethan the Ezrahite use the words of Shakespeare here: “O, this is the poison of deep grief; it springs all from the death of our King Solomon.  O Israel, O Israel, when sorrows come, they come not single spies but in battalions.”

Even in all his wisdom, Ethan the Ezrahite could not understand how God could allow such suffering to enter the land so quickly.  He speaks of the promises of God and the goodness of the king.  He wonders how he is not to question whether or not God broke His promises.   Yet, he comes to realize that God’s promises were conditional and Israel broke the conditions.

I am quite impressed with Ethan the Ezrahite in the way he opens up this Psalm where he really let’s loose on God. Despite his questions and doubts, he affirms at the very beginning that we will sing of mercies of the Lord forever and make know His faithfulness.  He’s not trying to butter God up, as I fear many of us do, myself included,  he is only reaffirming here that he still believes in the lovingkindness and faithfulness of God.

I have to admit when I voice my complaints to God, I don’t usually start off with singing of his loving kindness and faithfulness.   I need to learn something here from Ethan the Ezrahite.

Note his first words are: “I will sing.”   The word in the Hebrew for this singing is ashirah from the root word sur.  I was surprised to see this was not in a Hiphal form but a simple qal imperfect form.   No one is forcing him or making him sing, he is doing it naturally, not only naturally, but note that the Hei at the end is a paragogic Hei.    I don’t sing very well, in fact, I have been known to clear a room very quickly with my singing.  Yet, when some song leader says: “let’s heist this number,” well, I feel like coming on with it.   Now some people sing by ear, some by notes, I sing by letter, “Open your mouth and let ‘er fly.”   This is the singing of Ethan the Ezrathite, he is singing from way down in the very depths of his soul.  He knows the loving-kindness of God is real, he may not see it, he may have no evidence of it, in fact, all evidence points against it, but he still believes it and belts out a song proclaiming it. The word sing that is used here is sur which is also the same word used for having dominion over.  I believe Ethan the Ezrahite was singing of the loving-kindness of God to establish dominion over any thoughts that God might not be faithful and have enduring lovingkindness.  It is also used to describe the idea of going around.  This is not just a song he sings once but is continually singing.

Ever feel like sorrows come not in single spies but in battalions into your life?   Ever question God’s loving-kindness?  Every wonder if He has forgotten His faithfulness in your life?   You are in good company because one of the wisest sages that ever lived had the same questions, but he knew in his heart that the lovingkindness of God would never cease and that God was faithful and when those doubts came he just sang of the lovingkindness of God with his whole heart.

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