Rabbi’s Reflections – Thursday, January 16, 2025
Shalom,
Psalms
Psalm 23:2 – Part 3
Psalm 23:2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.
“Shalom!” The word is not used in this verse, but the concept of Shalom is communicated perfectly, as we recall how God causes us to recline in tender and sprouting vegetation. That pleasant thought is followed by another. God directs us to a place of rest “beside still waters.” The Hebrew word translated as “still” uses the same Shoresh as Noah’s Hebrew name (which is Noach). It means comfortable and pleasant. No wonder this Psalm is so popular at funerals.
Let’s pause here to look at some opposites. The opposite of tender vegetation is thorns and thistles, while the opposite of still waters is troubled waters. Oh Lord, deliver us from thorns and thistles, and keep us far from troubled waters. (In Scripture, water is frequently symbolic of people. Lord, we pray You will keep us far from troubled people.)
Do you suppose that Satan was doing more than mocking Yeshua as “King of the Jews” when the Roman soldiers placed a crown of thorns on His head? Surely Satan was also mocking the Scriptural promise that God would take us (Yeshua is the quintessential “us.”) to lie down (and by implication, rest) in the tender new growth of vegetation and herbs.
This brings to mind King David’s last words, spoken 1,000 years before Yeshua came, as they are recorded in Scripture. It uses the same Hebrew word for “springing grass.”
2Samuel 23:1 (selected) Now these are the last words of David,… the anointed of the God of Jacob and the sweet singer of Israel: … 3 “The God of Israel has said,… ’He who rules over men righteously, he who rules in the fear of God— 4 he is like the light of the morning when the sun rises, a cloudless morning of glistening as grass springs from the earth.’”
Rule in righteousness and in the fear of God, and be like tender grass, springing up from the earth. Jewish people pray liturgical prayers that follow a prescribed pattern. The second prayer (upon arising in the morning) starts with this phrase (quoted in several places of Scripture)… Proverbs 9:10a The fear of Adonai is the beginning of wisdom.
May God lead us to wisdom, that we may fear Him and be like Him. 1John 3:2 Loved ones, now we are God’s children; and it has not yet been revealed what we will be. But we do know that when it’s revealed, we shall be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And remember, we become what we behold. The next verse is a description of those who fear the Lord. 1John 3:3 Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. May we all attain unto a double portion of Shalom. Shalom shalom.
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/
Thu 16-Jan-2025 16th of Tevet, 5785
Ex 3:16-4:17 2 Sa 21 Ps 94 Lk 13 (Gal 3)