This Time I Will Praise Him

"When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren." Genesis 29:31 NKJV

Forced into a marriage by a manipulative, deceptive father, then unloved by her husband, Leah seemed to have every reason for sorrow. And yet...the God of the universe looked at her situation and blessed her with sons. Many sons. With each son, scripture keeps showing us by the names she gave each one, that all Leah could dream was "now my husband will love me". She couldn't see the love poured out on her by her heavenly Father because of the rejection she was daily faced with because her husband loved his other wife Rachel, her sister.

The 1st son, Reuben, means "See, a son". And Leah thought NOW her husband would love her.

The 2nd son, Simeon, sounds like the Hebrew word for "heard". Leah said, "because God has heard that I am hated".

Her 3rd son, Levi, sounds like the Hebrew word for "attached". Once again, Leah hopes her husband's heart will turn towards her since she has given him another son. The heartache is visible.

The 4th son, Judah, sounds like the Hebrew word for "praise". Leah finally says, "This time I will praise the Lord!"

With her sons coming after Judah, it appears Leah is still longing for the earthly love from her husband, but with the birth of Judah, it seems like she might have gotten a glimpse of the goodness of God, and even though life hadn't met up to her preconceived conceptions, she choose "this time" to praise the Lord.

Judah, along with his brothers, was a gift of love to unloved-on-earth Leah. They were visible representations of God's heart toward his daughter. It is not coincidence that Jesus is in the line of Judah; he is the son whose birth caused his mother's heart to turn towards the Lord and who became the inheritor of his father's kingdom as the eventual assigned first-born of the family.

An extraordinary, notable, fact is this is the first time the Hebrew word "yadah" ("praise with the lifting up of the hands") is used in the Bible (Genesis 29:35)! Praise started being expressed when the father of the lineage of Jesus came into existence. This word then continues to be used prolifically throughout the Old Testament.

Question for you: What area in your life comes to mind where you may be at the point Leah reached: "this time I will praise the Lord"?