Genesis 29:35 Daily Devotional & Meaning – Now Will I Praise the Lord
- Benjamin Michael Mcgreevy
- 19 hours ago
- 9 min read
Daily Verses Everyday! Day 173
“And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise the Lord: therefore she called his name Judah; and left bearing.”
Leah conceives again and bears another son, and this time her words change. She says, “Now will I praise the Lord: therefore she called his name Judah; and left bearing.” This is a powerful moment in Leah’s story because her focus begins to shift. With Reuben, she said, “Surely the Lord hath looked upon my affliction; now therefore my husband will love me.” With Simeon, she said, “Because the Lord hath heard I was hated, he hath therefore given me this son also.” With Levi, she hoped, “Now this time will my husband be joined unto me.” But now, with Judah, Leah says, “Now will I praise the Lord.”
That shift is beautiful.
Leah has been carrying the heavy burden of rejection. She has been the unloved wife, the overlooked wife, the wife living in the shadow of Rachel. Her marriage began in deception, and her heart has been longing for Jacob’s affection ever since. Every son she has borne so far has carried the ache of that longing. Reuben’s name spoke of being seen by God, but Leah still hoped Jacob would love her. Simeon’s name spoke of being heard by God, but Leah still felt hated. Levi’s name spoke of her hope that Jacob would finally be joined to her. Her heart kept reaching for the love of her husband.
But when Judah is born, Leah’s words rise higher. She does not say, “Now my husband will love me.” She does not say, “Now Jacob will hear me.” She does not say, “Now Jacob will be joined to me.” She says, “Now will I praise the Lord.” This does not mean Leah’s pain has completely disappeared. It does not mean she no longer desires Jacob’s love. It does not mean every wound in her heart has been healed in an instant. But it does show a movement in her soul. For this moment, her eyes are lifted from what she lacks to the Lord who has blessed her.
The name Judah is connected with praise. Leah names her son according to this confession: “Now will I praise the Lord.” Judah’s name becomes a testimony of worship. This son is not named mainly from Leah’s pain, but from Leah’s praise. After being seen, after being heard, after longing to be joined, Leah now praises. Her story has not been easy, but God has continued to show mercy. He has given her son after son. He has not overlooked her affliction. He has not ignored her tears. He has blessed the woman who felt unloved.
This is one of the great lessons of Leah’s life. God’s blessings slowly draw her heart upward. At first, her focus is still deeply tied to Jacob’s response. She wants his love. She wants his attachment. She wants his affection. That desire is understandable because Jacob should have loved her well. But human love had failed her. Jacob’s heart remained divided. Rachel still had the affection Leah desired. Yet God kept showing Leah that she was not forgotten. The Lord saw. The Lord heard. The Lord blessed. And now Leah praises.
There is something spiritually powerful about praise that comes from a wounded place. Leah is not praising because her life has been perfect. She is not praising because her marriage is whole. She is not praising because Jacob has finally loved her the way she hoped. She is praising because the Lord has been good to her in the middle of an imperfect life. That kind of praise is deep. It is not shallow happiness based on everything going well. It is worship that rises from someone who has known affliction and still sees the mercy of God.
This matters because many people think they can only praise God when all their circumstances are fixed. They think praise belongs only to the season when the burden is gone, the wound is healed, the relationship is restored, the prayer is answered exactly as desired, and the heart feels light. But Leah shows another kind of praise. She praises while still living in a complicated household. She praises while still being the less-loved wife. She praises before every sorrow is resolved. Her praise does not deny the pain. It rises above the pain.
That is why this verse is so meaningful. Leah’s life teaches that praise is not always the result of having everything we want. Sometimes praise begins when we finally recognize that God Himself has been faithful, even when people have not. Leah wanted Jacob’s full love, but Jacob’s love was unequal. Yet God’s care was steady. Leah wanted to be seen by her husband, but God had already seen her. Leah wanted to be heard in her sorrow, and God had already heard her. Leah wanted to be joined to Jacob, but now her heart is learning to turn toward the Lord in worship.
This does not make Jacob’s failure acceptable. Jacob should have loved Leah rightly. The pain of the household was real. The rivalry between Leah and Rachel would continue. But Leah’s praise shows that her soul is not completely imprisoned by Jacob’s affection. For this moment, she is not defining her entire life by whether Jacob loves her enough. She is defining this birth by the goodness of God. She says, “Now will I praise the Lord.”
That is a powerful movement from longing to worship.
Judah’s birth also becomes deeply important in the larger story of Scripture. Leah does not yet know what God will do through this child. She only knows that God has blessed her again, and she responds with praise. But from Judah will come the tribe of Judah. From Judah will come kings. From Judah will come David. And from the line of Judah will come Jesus Christ, the Messiah. The son named from Leah’s praise becomes the line through which the Savior comes into the world.
That is astonishing. The Messiah does not come through Rachel, the wife Jacob loved most. He comes through Leah, the wife who felt unloved. He comes through Judah, the son whose name is tied to praise. God chooses to bring the line of Christ through the woman who knew rejection, sorrow, and affliction. This does not mean Rachel was unloved by God, but it does show something beautiful about the Lord’s ways. God sees the overlooked. God honors the lowly. God weaves eternal purpose through people others may undervalue.
Leah may have felt second in Jacob’s house, but she was not second in God’s plan. Jacob loved Rachel more, but God chose Leah to bear Judah. Human preference did not determine divine purpose. Human favoritism did not control the covenant line. God was working in a way no one in that household could fully see. The rejected wife became the mother of the tribe from which the King would come.
This points forward to the grace of God in Christ. Jesus Himself would come from Judah’s line, and He too would be rejected by men. Isaiah 53:3 says He would be “despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” The Savior who came through Leah’s son would Himself know rejection. He would come to His own, and His own would receive Him not, as John 1:11 says. Yet through that rejection, God would bring salvation.
That makes Leah’s story even more moving. The woman who felt unloved bears the son named praise, and through that line comes the One who would bring rest to the weary and salvation to sinners. Leah’s pain was real, but God’s purpose was greater than Leah could see. Her praise became attached to a future far beyond her own lifetime.
The verse also says, “and left bearing.” This means Leah stopped bearing children for a time. After Judah, there is a pause. That detail matters because the season of fruitfulness changes. Leah has received four sons, but now the bearing stops. This reminds us that blessings often come in seasons. There are seasons of receiving, seasons of waiting, seasons of fruitfulness, and seasons of silence. Leah had been blessed greatly, but now she enters a pause.
Yet the pause comes after praise. That is important. Leah’s last word before this pause is not bitterness. It is praise. She does not end this part of her story by saying only, “I am hated.” She does not end it only by saying, “My husband is not joined to me.” She says, “Now will I praise the Lord.” Before the silence of barrenness returns for a time, worship is placed on her lips.
This teaches us something about spiritual maturity. We may not be able to control when seasons change. Leah could not control when she would conceive or when she would stop bearing. But she could recognize the Lord’s kindness and praise Him. Praise does not mean we control the future. Praise means we acknowledge the God who has been faithful in the past and present. Leah does not know what comes next, but she knows who has blessed her.
There is also a movement in the names of her sons that shows the journey of her heart. Reuben says, “The Lord has seen.” Simeon says, “The Lord has heard.” Levi expresses the hope of being joined. Judah says, “I will praise the Lord.” It is as if Leah’s soul is slowly being lifted. She begins by seeing her affliction. She continues by knowing God has heard her rejection. She longs for human attachment. But then she reaches praise. Her circumstances are still imperfect, but her worship becomes clearer.
Many believers walk through a similar journey. At first, prayer may be filled with pain: “Lord, see me.” Then it becomes, “Lord, hear me.” Then it may become, “Lord, change this relationship. Fix this situation. Give me what I long for.” Those prayers are not wrong. God invites the weary to come to Him. But over time, God also teaches the heart to say, “Lord, I praise You.” Not because every wound is gone, but because He is worthy. Not because every person has loved us rightly, but because He has loved us faithfully. Not because every circumstance has changed, but because He remains good.
Leah’s praise is not based on Jacob becoming the husband she wanted him to be. It is based on the Lord being the God who saw, heard, and blessed her. That is the foundation of true worship. If praise depends entirely on people treating us rightly, then our praise will rise and fall with human behavior. But if praise rests on God’s character, then even wounded people can worship. Even the unloved can praise. Even the weary can lift their eyes to the Lord.
This does not mean praise is easy. Leah’s words came after affliction. They came after rejection. They came after years of emotional pain. Sometimes praise is costly because it requires the heart to look beyond what is still broken. It requires faith to say, “God is good,” even when the household is not peaceful. It requires trust to say, “The Lord is worthy,” even when human love has failed. Leah’s praise is powerful because it is not born from ease. It is born from mercy in the middle of pain.
Judah’s birth also reminds us that God can bring praise out of places of sorrow. Leah’s story could have been defined only by rejection, but God gave her a testimony. Her life could have been remembered only as the unloved wife, but God made her the mother of Judah. Her pain did not have the final word. Praise did. And through Judah, God would eventually bring the One who gives eternal hope to all who are weary and heavy laden.
There is comfort here for anyone who feels like Leah. Maybe they feel overlooked. Maybe they feel loved less than someone else. Maybe they feel compared, forgotten, or emotionally rejected. Leah’s story says that God sees more than people see. God hears more than people hear. God blesses in ways people cannot control. And God can bring praise out of a life that has known deep affliction.
The world may have looked at Leah and seen the less-loved wife. Jacob may have looked at Rachel with greater affection. But God looked at Leah and saw a woman through whom He would bring Judah. This is the grace of God. He places purpose where others see pain. He brings honor where others see rejection. He brings the line of Christ through the woman who had to learn that God’s love was more faithful than Jacob’s love.
Genesis 29:35 is therefore a turning point in Leah’s heart. She conceives again, bears a son, and names him Judah because she says, “Now will I praise the Lord.” Her words do not erase her sorrow, but they reveal worship rising through it. She has moved, at least in this moment, from seeking Jacob’s affection to praising the Lord’s goodness. The woman who was hated now becomes the woman who praises. The wife who felt unseen now names a son whose line will lead to Christ.
This verse reminds us that God is worthy of praise even before every burden is removed. He is worthy when He sees us. He is worthy when He hears us. He is worthy when He blesses us. He is worthy when seasons of fruitfulness come, and He is worthy when they pause. Leah’s story teaches that praise can rise from affliction when the heart begins to see the faithfulness of God.
Leah said, “Now will I praise the Lord.” That is the sound of a burdened woman lifting her eyes. That is the sound of a wounded heart recognizing mercy. That is the sound of someone who has been unloved by man but not unseen by God. And from that praise came Judah, the line through which the Savior would come, proving that God can take the sorrow of the overlooked and weave it into the glory of His redemptive plan.
If you would like to explore Genesis in a sustained, verse-by-verse way with space to reflect, journal, and trace how these foundational truths unfold through Scripture the Verse by Verse book expands these reflections into a unified reading experience. The book gathers these meditations into a structured journey through Genesis, designed to help readers linger in the text and engage God’s Word more deeply over time.
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