From the mouths of children

I was talking to my friend tonight and we were discussing Psalm 8, and something new struck me about verse 2. The NASB says “From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength because of Your adversaries, to make the enemy and the revengeful cease.” Yeshua quoted this verse in Matthew 21, as a retort to the chief priests and scribes. The children in the temple had been shouting out ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’. The authorities became indignant on hearing this. What right do children have to declare anyone the Messiah? I can just see the enemy cringing at what these innocent children were essentially saying. “Save us Messiah! We recognize You and want to praise You!” Yeshua answered those who were criticizing the children by saying “Yes; have you never read, ‘Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise for Yourself’?” Boo-yah!! That shut the authorities right up.

I looked up the word ‘strength’ as used in Ps. 8:2, and the word ‘praise’ as used in Matthew 21:16. The Hebrew for strength is ‘oz’, which in Strong’s means boldness, loud, might, power, strength, or strong. The image is of something of great strength and loud fortitude. It makes me think of an a huge castle with impenetrable walls, combined with loud announcements that nothing can break through them. And that’s what God has established from the mouths of children! So much so that what comes out of their mouths silences the enemy! When Yeshua quoted the verse, He used the word ‘ainos’ in Greek. The translation in Strong’s for this word is ‘praise, primarily used in a story sense, praising God’. In other words it’s primarily used when telling a story that talks about praising God or bringing glory to God, or telling a story that is worthy of praise.

When you look at the two references together, it’s striking that God would use children to declare the very things that silence and defeat the enemy. This is so validating and humbling for me. I wrestled for years with why I struggled with music, and why it was that I was apparently targeted in the area of worship. Linda used to tell me that the people who hurt me had heard me singing, and it made them target me to sabotage any use I might have in God’s kingdom. But guess what? Take THAT enemy! Because God has taken what was meant for evil and turned it for good (Gen. 50:20). Not only for His praise (which is reason enough!), but for the redemption of many others who struggle with similar things. And the release of His works in the heavenlies, just by the praise that flows from my broken but healing heart!

I Cor. 1:27-29 says ‘But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.”

THANK YOU Yeshua! Thank You for everything that brought me pain and then healing in Your timing. You are using my life to defeat the darkness. What an incredible privilege. May I always be as a child before You, ready to sing in abandon about Who You are and what You’ve done. Raise me up as a bulwark against the enemy. I boast only in You.

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