All the earth let us sing...

So why "shabach" and what has that got to do with "shout to the Lord"?
"Shabach" is Hebrew for "Give a Loud Shout unto the Lord", especially in the context of the passage in Psalms 98:

"OH sing to the LORD a new song!
For He has done marvellous things;
His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory.
The Lord has made known His salvation;
His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations.
He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Shout joyfully (SHABACH) to the LORD, all the earth;
Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.
Sing to the LORD with the harp,
With the harp and the sound of a psalm,
With trumpets and the sound of a horn;
Shout joyfully (SHABACH) before the LORD, the King. "
Psalm 98: 1-6 (NKJV)

It is actually the first email address that I used when I was still with pacnet. And now I've been used to being reduced to an alpha-numeric identifier (in Cambridge I was "wkw24", in Columbia I'm "kww2101"), I thought it'd be nice if I harked back to the good ol' days when I first started using the internet -- cos this is my first weB-log (hence the "blog") and I thought a bit of nostalgia might do the trick.

Actually, I keep getting comments on my loud voice. So even though I'm not shouting, I may seem as if I am. It's scary at times, very clear all the time, and apparently plain annoying sometimes. So whatever it is, I think I want to dedicate my voice (I like to think of it as my "gift" from God) to shouting praises to His name. At least I can find a worthy cause for my (un)worthy voice. Haha. Funny thing is -- I went out to Tom's Restaurant with the Columbia ABSK ppl (Tom's Restaurant is the oft-mentioned diner on "Seinfeld" and ABSK = Asian Baptist Students Koinonia (Greek for "Fellowship")) and I'm pretty sure I wasn't the loudest there. But I had a great time. Both at ABSK Bible Study (we studied Solomon in 1 Kings and His choice of wisdom over wealth, longevity and victory over enemies) and at supper. But that's clearly an aside.

Anyway I just want to constantly remind myself to rethink the things I've said/done/thought and that our lives should be acts of sacrifice, as daily worship to Him. So I figured if I saw the slogan "Shout to the Lord" (which I'm sure Hillsongs will not claim copyright over -- since arguably you can't have copyright over mere titles -- Francis Day v. 20th Century Fox) each time I wanted to write an entry, I'd remember to give Him praise no matter what. If this should not be the case (ie if I sound like I'm complaining / being judgmental), please remind me!

Will write more as the days go by. (Hopefully law school work doesn't bog me down too much!) And hope to hear lots of your comments! :)