Hebrew Word Study – In Harmony – Natah – נָטָה  Nun Teth Cheth

Jeremiah 7:24: “But they harkened not nor inclined their ear.”  

So we worship God and we do a lot of talking and singing. We clap our hands, we shout, we dance and we get all joyful. Yet, I  have heard people say it was during worship that they really discovered an answer to prayer or some form of guidance from God. In charismatic circles it is not unusual for someone to give a prophecy or word for the Lord during or after a time of worship.  You see, worship is not just one way communication.  God is also trying to communicate with us.  During worship we need to harken or incline our ears to God.

Well, I get the part of  Jeremiah 7:24 about not harkening unto the Word of God which is the context here. But it is this matter of not inclining one’s ear that has me a bit baffled. This is to suggest that God is speaking to us and we are not inclining our ears to hear him. Maybe we are too busy shouting, praising, dancing and getting happy to listen. But still, I find few people who do not have moments of silence while in worship and they  are really inclining their ears to God. 

Hey, let me tell you, if God is speaking to me, I am inclining my ears to hear Him. My problem is that he does not speak to me audibly so I actually hear nothing. I mean how does He speak to us?  Does he speak audibly? There may be an occasion when He does, but it is not His standard way of speaking. I believe I audibly heard God’s voice two times in my life, each created a life changing event.  But for most of my time in worship I hear nothing audibly. Are we talking of a strong impression, a specific feeling or does God speak to us in events or just prophecy?  Many times during worship I feel a need to pray for someone. So I pray for them.  Is that God speaking to me?  Sometimes during worship I feel a need to pray for someone I never met. So I pray. I am not sure it is God speaking to me, but what I have to lose and besides a little chat time with God is quite refreshing and if I am impressed to pray for a total stranger, it might be my imagination but it is a good excuse to approach the throne. 

Sometimes in worship I actually see a picture in my mind of someone I never met and I feel a need to pray for that person. I do it which is a little more chat time with God.  To my amazement a month later or so I actually met this stranger I pictured in my mind who tells a story of the time he needed prayer. Is it God speaking to me or just mere coincidence?  Actually, I don’t care, God and  I had enjoyed a nice time of worship and I did pray for an actual person. You want to explain it away as my imagination, go right ahead, but I am just going to keep worshiping and inclining my ear to God, so to speak.  

Let’s take a look at this expression in the Hebrew. We find the word incline to be natach.   The word really has the idea of stretching out, it is used for the tightening of the bow strings on a bow to shoot an arrow or the tightening of the strings on a musical instrument. We call this tuning an instrument.  This involves tightening the strings of an instrument to get just the right tension so when the strings are struck they will be in tune or in harmony with all the other instruments. The word ear is ’azan which means ear, but it is also a word that is sometimes used for a musical instrument. 

Consider the fact that inclining one’s ear is a picture of tuning a musical instrument.  Could hearing the voice of God be illustrated with the tuning of instruments, or even the playing of musical instruments?  Some time ago I went to a Farmer’s Market in Oak Park. Off in one area were a group of amateur musicians playing various musical  instruments. They appeared to be just jamming, playing various musical riffs. There were guitars, banjos, an accordion, some sort of drum, a violin, a violin about six foot tall etc.  Yet they were all in harmony, all playing the same chords with the same rhythm.  When they came to a stopping point one of the members mentioned a favorite song, In the Sweet Bye and Bye only this was a different rhythm and melody. All appeared interested and encouraged her to play a few bars. As she did I noticed the others gradually picking up on the tune.  Some were quietly picking away at their instrument, some strumming a few chords, and after about a minute or two all were playing the melody as if they had rehearsed it for days.  As they got into it many were adding creative little runs or riffs.   In a way all were doing their own thing, but all the time they were keeping in tune and in time with each other. It was almost as if each could go solo and play their own version of the melody while the others played softly in the background as a backup.  They all were as one yet each with their own creative identity. It was as if they could anticipate each other’s moves and sounds. Yet, they all just sat back and played as if they were playing from some gut feeling.  I wondered if this is what a corporate worship is meant to be like. Everyone praised God in their own way and fashion, yet they were all in tune with each other. Sometimes the worship leader encourages everyone to lift their hands or to clap their hands. So that would just be the melody, the real music, the music 

I took a close look at Psalms 66:1: “To the chief musician, a Psalm, a song.”  In the Hebrew that is lamenatsecha sir mizemor. The word for chief musician is lamenatsecha which comes from the root word natsech is simply means a leader. Its origin lies within the Akkadian language for the victor of a fight. In the Assyrian army the leadership went to the guy who could beat any challenger. He would be the victor, the natsech. The word for Psalm is not your Hebrew word for Psalm but is the word mizemor which comes from the root word zamar which is the word for a threshing instrument or a pruning. The word for song, sir, is either a love song or a song of victory. Translators are not wrong to translate it as “To the chief musician a Psalm, a song” except we are not sure just how developed the music was in ancient Israel at the time of David. We know they had instruments and a choir, but did they really have a director who applied a mathematical formula and brought all the instruments and singers together?  Or were they just jamming, so to speak, like I saw at the Farmers Market where each individual was performing from their passion but in harmony with everyone else. For my money I would bet it was the latter.  Gifted musicians were performing from their heart, not from the direction of a leader. When one had a personal experience with God, a testimony, they would lead out and the others would join in playing as they felt from their heart, but yet in harmony with everyone else.  That would mean that I would not render lamenatsecha as chief musician but the victor in a struggle.  Hence I would render this as “To the victor in a struggle who has been pruned or threshed about – a song of victory.” 

I wondered if this is not what Jeremiah meant in inclining our ears to God.   We stay in tune with God and follow his rhythm and then whatever we do we do in accordance to that tune and rhythm, we can even create our own version of the tune so long as it stays in tune with God.  Hearing God’s voice and following God’s voice should be as free and flowing as following another musical instrument.  Could hearing God’s voice be just a matter of staying in tune with Him.

So what does this have to do with inclining one’s ear?  Simply this. Inclining your ear is getting in tune with God.  When you seek to be in harmony with God, you just play your own personal instrument of worship and it will be in harmony with God. Like those musicians at the Farmer’s Market. Once they brought themselves in tune with each they went off and did their own thing, they played just what came naturally to them while still being in tune and the result was something beautiful.  Incline your ear to God, bring yourself into harmony with Him and then do just what comes naturally in worship whatever you feel comfortable doing for the Lord and you will produce something beautiful.

Note: This study is chapter 7 in Chaim’s book Swimming In His Presence   A Hebrew Teacher Reflects on Praise and Worship.  This may be ordered off of Amazon at: 

Swimming In His Presence: A Hebrew Teacher Reflects On Worship & Praise: Bentorah, Chaim: 9781953247841: Amazon.com: Books

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