A teacher I have enjoyed over the years had a video called, “Worship Like a Man.” Being curious, I listened to it. He did a great job stressing the importance of worship but failed to explain what male-driven worship looks like. Sometimes, intelligent people forget we are not in their heads, which I think was the case here.
Years later, I was listening an episode of The Deep End w/Taylor Welch called How to earn the trust of God. At 1:02:32, while traveling from Denver to Texas, intense agitation and frustration fell upon Welch the moment he reached a specific terminal. He realized this was not his personality or a natural physical reaction (such as being hungry or tired), but rather his spirit reacting to a dominant atmosphere or principality (Ephesians 6:12, Daniel 10:13, Daniel 10:20, Ephesians 2:1-2) occupying that specific geographic region. Instead of continuing to analyze the situation with logic or “fighting” the feeling, he sought the Lord. To overcome it, first, he let go of complaining and trying to fix it in the natural, and then, second, he was reminded to worship the Lord (2 Corinthians 10:3-5, Psalm 149:6).
I put this song on, Yahweh by Leeland… I put on… my Airpods Max walking through the airport… I’m just like, “Yes, yo God’s a gangster. He’s just better than everyone else.”
My heart lit up. That’s praise!
“Like any anyone who tries to take on Yahweh is an idiot. Like there’s nothing that can stop what God wants to do. God’s the best.
That’s Who He is. That’s masculine!
“God, thanks for taking care of me, thanks for even caring about me let alone taking care of me. Thanks for this week. Thanks for the vision You’ve given [me].” …and it [the agitation] just goes—boom—gone.
That means declaring what Yah has done for me is feminine!
Jake, his producer, added,
It’s funny how gratitude just kicks you right back into the presence of God.
Amen. I marked it mentally, and then, this verse came to mind –
Psalm 100:4 (Berean Literal Bible) Enter His gates with thanksgiving, His courts with praise; give thanks to Him; bless His name!
Thanks be to Yah for the 3 witnesses, these two men and the verse.
Recall that women were servants at the entrance (gate) of Tabernacle (Exodus 38:8, 1 Samuel 2:22) and later the Temple (Luke 2:37). This, along with the male Levitical roles in the inner and outer courts (blessing/obeying/celebrating the Lord) fits the pattern, first the physical, then the spiritual (1 Corinthians 15:46); we are born of water (woman) and then of spirit (the Father of Spirits) according to Messiah in John 3:1-7. A child’s journey starts with the mother, and over time, the father (and Our Heavenly Father) puts on the finishing touches. In ancient times, the mother receives from the father whatever she needs for the family as a whole; she, in turn, acknowledges through deeds (and sometimes words) the care given to the family by his provision.
Defining Our Terms
The prominent Hebrew word for praise (halah) means to shine (Isaiah 14:12), give light, boast, celebrate, glory, rage, declare (sometimes foolishly), etc. It is the root for words like halleluYah and tehillah. Another word with a similar meaning is shabach [commend (loudly), glory, keep in (pacify), praise, still, triumph]. The best verse that describes what we are to declare:
Psalm 150:2 Praise Him for His mighty deeds; Praise Him according to His excellent [abundant] greatness.
To find songs that have a masculine theme, look for those that proclaim Who and What He is, His victories, regarding Him in second-person pronouns (You, Your, Yours), a focus on what He deserves and/or will do. Crown Him with Many Crowns and All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name are great examples of this.
Here is an example of a declaration of praise:
All rejoice in the name of Yah,
The Ever-Existent One.
His mercy is everlasting.
His grace is sufficient.
Everything He created
is under His control.
Only a fool would say,
“God does not exist.”
Yet, His breath keeps
that one alive.
You will have Your way
across the Earth.
And Your saints continue
to celebrate Your works.
You, O Lord, are awesome!
There is no one like You.
You are the Holy One.
Your order is perfect.
You are the Lord of Lords,
the King of Kings,
the Father of all fathers,
the El of all Elohim,
the Spirit of Spirits.
Amen.
The main word translated thankgiving (yadah) is derived from the word yad, which means (open) hand. It means to confess, shoot, give thanks, lift hands (for worship), praise, throw. Words from this root are todah (thanksgiving, thank offerings, choirs, thank offering, choir, confession) and hoda’ah (gratitude, admit, acknowledge). Probably the best verse using this term lists all what the Levites were doing for the Ark:
1 Chronicles 16:4 [David] appointed some of the Levites ministers before the Ark of YHWH, to celebrate [extol, record, recall] and to thank and praise YHWH God of Israel.
In the today’s world, worship songs which have a feminine flavor dominate the airways; some of them I call “Jesus is my boyfriend” songs. These are the ones that proclaim “[You] God did this for me,” “I did this for You [God],” confessions, the use of personal pronouns (I, me, my, mine, we, us), and/or include thankfulness and love. My favorite at the moment is Goodness of God. This is not a vilification against worship in appreciation, but recognizing we might be out of balance. This may also explain why the older generations don’t care for newer songs, but can’t pinpoint the reason why.
There are songs that do a beautiful job of combing both masculine and feminine traits; the most famous one being Amazing Grace. Notice: The Lord’s example prayer contains both declarations about Him and confessions of continuous action. I suggest doing both at the start and/or end of every prayer, yet have times when one or the other seems relative at the moment.
Baruch ata Adoni
Blessed are You, my Lord
A Whisper, Screamed 
The Difference between Praise and Thanksgiving
A teacher I have enjoyed over the years had a video called, “Worship Like a Man.” Being curious, I listened to it. He did a great job stressing the importance of worship but failed to explain what male-driven worship looks like. Sometimes, intelligent people forget we are not in their heads, which I think was the case here.
Years later, I was listening an episode of The Deep End w/Taylor Welch called How to earn the trust of God. At 1:02:32, while traveling from Denver to Texas, intense agitation and frustration fell upon Welch the moment he reached a specific terminal. He realized this was not his personality or a natural physical reaction (such as being hungry or tired), but rather his spirit reacting to a dominant atmosphere or principality (Ephesians 6:12, Daniel 10:13, Daniel 10:20, Ephesians 2:1-2) occupying that specific geographic region. Instead of continuing to analyze the situation with logic or “fighting” the feeling, he sought the Lord. To overcome it, first, he let go of complaining and trying to fix it in the natural, and then, second, he was reminded to worship the Lord (2 Corinthians 10:3-5, Psalm 149:6).
My heart lit up. That’s praise!
That’s Who He is. That’s masculine!
That means declaring what Yah has done for me is feminine!
Jake, his producer, added,
Amen. I marked it mentally, and then, this verse came to mind –
Thanks be to Yah for the 3 witnesses, these two men and the verse.
Recall that women were servants at the entrance (gate) of Tabernacle (Exodus 38:8, 1 Samuel 2:22) and later the Temple (Luke 2:37). This, along with the male Levitical roles in the inner and outer courts (blessing/obeying/celebrating the Lord) fits the pattern, first the physical, then the spiritual (1 Corinthians 15:46); we are born of water (woman) and then of spirit (the Father of Spirits) according to Messiah in John 3:1-7. A child’s journey starts with the mother, and over time, the father (and Our Heavenly Father) puts on the finishing touches. In ancient times, the mother receives from the father whatever she needs for the family as a whole; she, in turn, acknowledges through deeds (and sometimes words) the care given to the family by his provision.
Defining Our Terms
The prominent Hebrew word for praise (halah) means to shine (Isaiah 14:12), give light, boast, celebrate, glory, rage, declare (sometimes foolishly), etc. It is the root for words like halleluYah and tehillah. Another word with a similar meaning is shabach [commend (loudly), glory, keep in (pacify), praise, still, triumph]. The best verse that describes what we are to declare:
To find songs that have a masculine theme, look for those that proclaim Who and What He is, His victories, regarding Him in second-person pronouns (You, Your, Yours), a focus on what He deserves and/or will do. Crown Him with Many Crowns and All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name are great examples of this.
Here is an example of a declaration of praise:
All rejoice in the name of Yah,
The Ever-Existent One.
His mercy is everlasting.
His grace is sufficient.
Everything He created
is under His control.
Only a fool would say,
“God does not exist.”
Yet, His breath keeps
that one alive.
You will have Your way
across the Earth.
And Your saints continue
to celebrate Your works.
You, O Lord, are awesome!
There is no one like You.
You are the Holy One.
Your order is perfect.
You are the Lord of Lords,
the King of Kings,
the Father of all fathers,
the El of all Elohim,
the Spirit of Spirits.
Amen.
The main word translated thankgiving (yadah) is derived from the word yad, which means (open) hand. It means to confess, shoot, give thanks, lift hands (for worship), praise, throw. Words from this root are todah (thanksgiving, thank offerings, choirs, thank offering, choir, confession) and hoda’ah (gratitude, admit, acknowledge). Probably the best verse using this term lists all what the Levites were doing for the Ark:
In the today’s world, worship songs which have a feminine flavor dominate the airways; some of them I call “Jesus is my boyfriend” songs. These are the ones that proclaim “[You] God did this for me,” “I did this for You [God],” confessions, the use of personal pronouns (I, me, my, mine, we, us), and/or include thankfulness and love. My favorite at the moment is Goodness of God. This is not a vilification against worship in appreciation, but recognizing we might be out of balance. This may also explain why the older generations don’t care for newer songs, but can’t pinpoint the reason why.
There are songs that do a beautiful job of combing both masculine and feminine traits; the most famous one being Amazing Grace. Notice: The Lord’s example prayer contains both declarations about Him and confessions of continuous action. I suggest doing both at the start and/or end of every prayer, yet have times when one or the other seems relative at the moment.
Baruch ata Adoni
Blessed are You, my Lord
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