-September 23, 2023-
Good morning, happy Saturday,
“‘Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting!’ And all the people said, ‘Amen!’ and praised the Lord.”
(1 Chronicles 16:36).
We don’t hear it enough, we don’t say enough: the word amen. It means simply, “so be it. It is a very special word found 76 times in the Bible. It is a short. beautiful, and simple word that is packed with spiritual meaning, significance, and importance. It signifies that we agree with what has been said.
David spoke these words as recorded in 1 Chronicles 16:8-36 and delivered them to Asaph and his brethren to thank the Lord. The word amen comes in at the end of this passage, which is found also in Psalm 105:1-15. Throughout the Scriptures, the word amen is associated with praising God. There several times when a double amen is found, “amen and amen.” When something is repeated it has great meaning.
Hymns have been written on the word amen. I found in our hymnal the following titles: “Amen, Two-Fold Amen, Three-Fold Amen, Four-Fold Amen, and Seven-Fold Amen.” Now that is a lot of amens! The Lord is worthy and when we say amen it is a great blessing. Normally prayers end with amen.
At church it is good and appropriate to say amen out loud not only after someone has prayed, but also while a speaker is speaking from God’s Word. It shows we listening and tracking the speaker. It should be used when we agree with what we have heard and it touched our hearts. It can be overused, but most of the time is underutilized. Personally, I say amen a lot.
The hymn writer Joachim Neander wrote, “Praise to the Lord! O let all that is in me adore Him! All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before Him. Let the Amen sound from His people again: Gladly for aye we adore Him. Amen.” It is very appropriate to end this hymn with word amen.
I urge all God’s people to say amen, again and again. May we praise and thank the Lord together! Have a blessed day and may this wonderful word be found in our hearts and on our lips. If you haven’t said out loud before, try it this Sunday. Stay safe and healthy. Amen.
Let all the people say Amen!
Dean
Dean Allen's Daily Devotional 