My God and My Country

A Study of Psalm Thirty Four

Verse Three

3 O magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt His name together.

JPS Translation

Brethren:

Webster's dictionary (Ed. 1913) defines the word “magnify” thusly:

“To make great or greater; to increase the dimensions of, to amplify; to enlarge; either in fact or in appearance. To increase the importance of; to augment the esteem or respect in which one is held.

To praise highly to laud or extol”

Additionally, in Strong's Concordance we read the Aramaic translation of the word:
hadar had-ar' (Aramaic); to magnify (figuratively): [thereby to]glorify, [&] honour.

Let us together lift our voices in the sacrifice of praise, for there is no greater pleasure that our Creator takes in hearing the words of our lips giving thanks to Him. When we gather together, we not only fellowship with one another, (in particular in the house of the Lord), but we fellowship with our Creator and Savior. (Read also Philippians 1:5; Philemon 1:6; 1 John 1:3)

“Assign to Him the greatness which really belongs to Him. Joint praise is one sweet fruit of the communion of saints.” - Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown. Commentary Critical and explanatory on the whole Bible Ed. 1871.

“When God made man, He made him first of all alone, and then He decided it was not good for him to be alone; and ever since then God has so arranged it that man is never left altogether alone, or only under very exceptional circumstances. We are born into the world of our fellow-men; when we are born again, we are introduced into a new society, with a fellowship far more real than is to be found in the society of the world. The vision of the Divine presence ever takes the form which our circumstances most require. David’s then need was safety and protection. Therefore he saw the Encamping Angel; even as to Joshua the leader He appeared as the Captain of the Lord’s host; and as to Isaiah, in the year that the throne of Judah was emptied by the death of the earthly king, was given the vision of the Lord sitting on a throne, the King Eternal and Immortal. So to us all His grace shapes its expression according to our wants, and the same gift is Protean in its power of transformation, being to one man wisdom, to another strength, to the solitary companionship, to the sorrowful consolation, to the glad sobering, to the thinker truth, to the worker practical force—to each his heart’s desire, if the heart’s delight be God.” - James Nesbit – Church Pulpit Commentary