Psalm 114: 1 — Going out to Grow in Grace

The Word of God is Limitless, Inexhaustible, and Enriching — Like God Himself.

This year, 2014, is the year of Greater Glory, and the Psalm for this year, Psalm 114, can yield great treasures of God's grace for us to receive, reflect, and release to the world.

בצאת ישראל ממצרים בית יעקב מעם לעז׃

The first verse of Psalm 114 is presented above in its original Hebrew.

Here are some key translations to bring out the full meaning of this verse for this banner year of greater glory:

King James Bible
When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language;

International Standard Version
When Israel came out of Egypt— the household of Jacob from a people of foreign speech—

Young's Literal Translation
In the going out of Israel from Egypt, The house of Jacob from a strange people,

The Amplified Bible
¹ When Israel came forth out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,

Interesting how the Amplified Bible does not bring out much  more from these verses.

The Message:
After Israel left Egypt,
    the clan of Jacob left those barbarians behind;

The last translation brings out something more about the land which the Israelites were leaving.

Looking at the meanings behind the original Hebrew words, one finds some impressing things which we can learn about growing in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus.

The first word of the verse is actually "went out":

The original verb is yatsa, and its first  mention occurs in this verse:

"And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good." (Genesis 1: 12)
Going forth is about leaving the ground, or rising from the dead and bringing forth life.

Jesus spoke about the seed which dies and brings forth much fruit:

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." (John 12: 24)

Jesus is the seed of Abraham (Hebrews 2: 16):

"For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith." (Romans 4: 13)

and then

"That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed." (Romans 9: 8)

We are all in the Seed of Abraham, Jesus Christ, and just as He died for us, so we died with Him, and as He rose from the dead, so have we:

"8Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: 9Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. 10For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. 11Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6: 8-11)

When we leave Egypt, the life of sin, the flesh, and the law, we are free to grow in grace. We begin to grow when we die to ourselves and let Christ Jesus live in us, for apart from Him, we can do nothing (John 15: 5) and in ourselves we are dead, for our lives are hid in Christ (Colossians 3: 4)