Behold!

Such an archaic word, Behold! We might be tempted to say, Hey, look! Or Wow! Look at that! But do we ever say, Behold!

During a recent time in God’s word, I read Isaiah 12:2. And settled there for a while.

Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid; ‘for YAH, the LORD, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.’

Behold

Have you ever done a word study? I’m grateful God allowed men to translate the Scriptures from Hebrew and Greek into English. Without His word in our native tongue, understanding what He is saying is hard. But I’m also grateful God brought a friend into my life nearly fifty years ago who taught me how to do a word study. To dissect Scripture by finding out what the original language said and what it meant, word by word.

Behold. In Hebrew, the word is הִנֵּה, or hinnê. According to Strong’s concordance as reported in the Blue Letter Bible, this word means lo! As in behold, lo, or see. Maybe for us it would compute better if we said, Hey, look at this!

Then again, according to the Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon, this word also can be understood as certainly or surely. And according to Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon, the Hebrew word can be used for pointing out persons, things, and places, as well as actions.

When I read all these explanations, I hear God telling me, Look! Behold! Pay attention! Surely, without a shadow of a doubt, He is my salvation!

Salvation

If God wants us to pay attention to something, I want to pay attention. I want to see what He wants me to see.

Verses in Scripture that tell us not to be afraid are powerful. Especially when God gives us a reason not to fear. And that’s what He does in Isaiah 12:2.

Isaiah said the time will come when God’s people will trust God and not be afraid, because God is their salvation. Do you know what that word salvation is in Hebrew?

יְשׁוּעָה Otherwise known as yᵊšûʿâ. Or as you might have seen it printed before, Yeshua. The Hebrew word for Jesus.

Strength and Song

Isaiah continues his reasons for not being afraid by saying, YAH, the LORD, is my strength and song.

Maybe you already know this, but when you see LORD in an English Bible, it is the Hebrew יְהֹוָה, otherwise known as YHWH. Sometimes pronounced Yahweh and other times you may see it written as Jehovah.

Isaiah is saying that Jehovah is our strength. Yahweh is our song. YHWH is the One Who gets us up in the morning and gives us strength to go through each day. The God of Israel is the One Who keeps us from being afraid of the future.

Yeshua

But the very end of Isaiah 12:2 caused my heart to overflow with joy. According to Isaiah, He (referring to the LORD or YHWH) has become His people’s salvation, or Yeshua.

At Christmas time you hear the song O Come O Come Immanuel. Immanuel means God with us. We read the Christmas story in the New Testament and hear how God came down as a babe in a manger.

But to read in the Old Testament that Creator God Who said His name is YHWH has become my Yeshua blows me away. Yeshua, the Hebrew name for Jesus, means salvation. Isn’t that what the angel of the Lord told Joseph when he was concerned about taking Mary as a wife after hearing she was expecting a child before they were married?

And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21, KJV).

God Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, knew ahead of time we would need a savior. And only He could be that Savior. God alone is perfect and able to pay the price required to atone for my sin. He alone can conquer fear. Jehovah is my strength and song. And YHWH has also become my Yeshua.

Personal Story

Two days ago I needed a walk at the park. Time alone with the Lord in His outdoors. Sadly, the lake at the park has been dry for months. The powers that be drained the water last fall in order to do repairs on the pump and prepare the lake for the future. I’ve been eager to see that desert looking area become a lake again.

As I walked the path, I stopped in amazement. The water was returning. There was still enough dry land to know it will take awhile to fully fill. But what I saw brought joy to my soul.

It’s been months since I listened to music while I walked. I sometimes walk and pray or sing. Other times I listen to podcasts. But that day I heard a song on the car radio as I reached the park, and so I chose to listen to it and other music as I walked.

One of the last songs I heard was The Glory of Your Name (see below.) I stopped and made a note of the words that caught my attention.

“As the waters fill the sea, the fullness of Your glory will be revealed.”

Just as I watched the water level rising in our park’s parched land, God’s glory will be revealed. While we are on this earth, He lets us see fragments of His glory. Beauty and grace sprinkled here and there on this side of heaven. But one day, as the song says, Jesus will reign on high, and His glory will be fully revealed.

Extra God-wink

Tonight as I sat to write, I wanted to find that song again. It took a bit of searching. But when I found it, I stood amazed at our God and His ways. YouTube lists the song as The Glory of Your Name (feat. Dustin Sosebee) Wesley Worship. Dustin ministers in a nearby town. I don’t know him, but he happens to be the son of the music and worship leader at my church.

I had no idea who was singing or who wrote the song when I heard it. Only that it caused me to worship. Learning the songwriter/singer was someone tied to my world reminds me God is very near.

The song The Glory of Your Name includes the phrase, “Even so, we behold You,” referring to Jesus, the Lamb of God. And John the Baptist said, Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:21)

Even so, may we choose to behold Him!

It may take some time for the lake to fully fill, but it will be glorious when it does. And greater than that will be the glory of our Lord when He is fully revealed.

NOTE: Additional posts related to the idea of Beholding are Nothing is Impossible With God and The LORD of Hosts. For more, you can type “Behold” in the search bar of this blog.

(Scripture: NKJV, unless otherwise noted; Song: The Glory of Your Name, Dustin Sosebee; Photos: Taken by Carolyn Thigpen, April 2025)