Lifting My Hands

“We stand and lift up our hands for the joy of the Lord is our strength.”
-Chris Tomlin


Do you remember as a child knowing exactly where your mom put those cookies in the cupboard? Do you remember trying to reach them? We would stand on the tips of our toes, stretching that little finger trying to gain just enough leverage to open the latch. If that didn’t work, we would then look around to determine another way to get in; the whole time knowing that it would be worth it. If you were like me and the chair was too heavy, you may have dragged that wooden baby bed over to the counter. I maneuvered it just right, climbed up on the counter, opened the cabinet and voila there were those cookies…every kid’s dream. It didn’t really even matter that I couldn’t figure out how to do it backwards and I was stuck on the counter, because I was there with the cookies.
Now that I am all grown up, I can reach the cookies. But as a worshipper, I can relate to wanting something so badly. I can relate to David stranded in the desert of Judah saying, “I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.” (Ps 63:2-4) David had seen God’s glory. David had beheld his power. And just like a child not being able to get enough chocolate chip cookies, David couldn’t get enough of his God. He stood before his maker, holding up his hands, calling on His name. However, to get the full understanding of lifted hands, let’s look deeper into how God’s people worshipped.
David is known for being a very honest worshipper. Some people even struggle with how forthright he was with God. Yet one thing David made a practice of was praising God’s name and character. If you read through the Psalms, you will see verses and verses of praise to Yahweh. Many of them we have memorized. However, in many of David’s psalms, the verses of praise are either preceded or followed by a huge cry for help. Psalm 40 is a wonderful example of this point. Psalm 40 begins with a very well known verse of praise: “I waited patiently for the Lord. He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire. He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.” David continues this line of praise for 10 verses. Then verse 11 says, “Do not withhold your mercy from me, O Lord. May your love and your truth always protect me. For troubles without number surround me.”
Now I could write a book on this lesson alone. David understood worship. If we only read verses one through 10, we would think David is in a pretty good place in his life. God has lifted him up, given him a firm place to stand, put a new song in his mouth. Then we read verses 11 through 17 and see that David is in a world of trouble: men wanting to ruin him, men wanting to take his life. Let me just say this: David WAS in a great place in life, in the hands of El Shaddai. He got that! So as a worshipper, he says, “Hey God, you did it once, do it again! You are El Shaddai, my strength giver. You are Adonai, my master and protector. Come through for me.”
In churches today, we are encouraged to lift our hands in praise to God. I think that lifting hands is a great way to express love to our Savior. However, if you look in Scripture, you will consistently see what we just discovered in looking at Psalm 40. In New and Old Testament alike you see lifting hands as a cry out to God, a begging for mercy, and a need for help.
In Exodus 17, Moses told Joshua to go and fight the Amalekites. He said, “I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.” The story continues explaining that “as long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning.” Of course Moses grew tired, but Aaron and Hur were dedicated to holding up his arms until the victory was won. The leaders knew that God has to be in on this. Moses and Joshua knew the importance of calling on God. They lifted hands to him. They said, “We need you, God. We can’t do this on our own.”
Again and again in God’s Word, people lift hands to say they are in need. David does this in Psalm 28, 63, and 141. In Lamentations, Jeremiah challenges the lifting of hands as he mourns Jerusalem. In 1 Timothy, Paul tells the church to raise hands in prayer. Over and over, people are raising hands in a declaration of who God is and how much they need Him.
In Psalm 143, again David says in verses 6 and 7, “I spread out my hands to you. My soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Answer me quickly, O Lord; my spirit faints with longing.” The word used here is the Hebrew word paras which gives a picture of breaking apart, laying open, stretching forth. This is a desperate heart cry. This is begging God to meet him and guide him.
Sometimes in my relationship with God, I recognize and declare who He is. Sometimes as I walk with Him, I say thank you for what He has done. Sometimes as we sit together, I just tell God how much I love him. Sometimes as things of this life begin to wear me down, I call out to Elohim. I sit in His presence. I cry out, “Abba, Daddy”. I lift up my hands in desperation. It tells Him that I can’t do this on my own. I am reaching with everything that I have. As I lift my arms and stretch out my hands I say, “God, I beg for You. I need you. I thirst for You. I hunger for You. I can’t get enough of You. You are all I need. You are everything to me. I can’t do this without you.”. I am like a child reaching up to my Dad saying, “Pick me up! Pick me up!” Then God, who is the perfect Father, lifts me up. He brushes me off. He holds me. He says, “I’m here, my child. I’m here!”