Rabbi’s Reflections – Saturday, March 25, 2023
Shabbat Shalom,
Day 32: Evening
by David Harwood
Seeking Our Revelatory Encounter with Our Lord
This is a great verse.
For He satisfies the thirsty soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness. (Psalm 107:9 TLV)
Here is an important pattern. The Messiah promised, “Seek, and you shall find (Matthew 7:7b TLV).” He wasn’t kidding.
One thing we might seek is for God to assist us in loving Him with all we are. The Prioritized Command calls out to humanity waiting to be fulfilled. I can’t speak for everyone, but as for me, my heart often feels dull on a daily basis. I need His help. I know I can receive it as a result of seeking Him. My expectation is for the Lord to grant reality to my soul. He wants it and can provide what He desires.
Surely You desire truth in the inner being. Make me know wisdom inwardly. (Psalm 51:8 TLV)
He is still Adonai-Yireh (Jehovah Jireh – literally, “the Lord will see to it”). He still provides what He requires. He’s amazing. If we ask in harmony with His will, He hears us. If He hears us, He answers us.
This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him. (1 John 5:14-15)
Be bold and apply that confidence to the development of our purified love for God. Consider applying David’s repentant petition. Ask:
Cleanse me with hyssop and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. … Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. (Psalm 51:9, 11 TLV)
He provides the power. The holy One produces holiness. The eternal Lover imparts the capacity to reciprocate His love.
We can ask God to cleanse our affections. We can expect the Creator to move in the chaos of our desires and create a new heart. It is not unreasonable to anticipate that He would maintain the results of His work. We can expect a renewed, steadfast spirit.
Left to myself I might despair. Paul’s anguish revealed in Romans 7 could still be my lament.
Miserable man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? (Romans 7:24 TLV)
Yet, I can rejoice in the delivering power of the Messiah.
Thanks be to God—it is through Messiah Yeshua our Lord! (Romans 7:25a TLV)
Nothing is too hard for God. He can continue the transformation process while upholding the integrity of who I am. We do not lose the reality of who we are as we experience His sanctifying flame. We become like bushes that burn but don’t burn up.
Ah, my Lord Adonai! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm—nothing is too hard for You! (Jeremiah 32:17 TLV)
Thinking of God’s great capacity reminds me of this:
And looking, Yeshua said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26 TLV)
It’s written that God fills the hungry with good things. Moses was voracious. Before the Foremost Command erupted from Moses’ heart came a hungry soul that was searching for a revelatory encounter with the Lord.
Then (Moses) said, “Please, show me Your glory!” (Exodus 33:18 TLV)
Here is my paraphrase of Moses’ cry: “Show me Who You really are!”
That man sought. God answered. Moses found. God opened up and revealed Himself to Moses. Here are the verses recording his experience:
Then Adonai descended in the cloud, (and) stood with him there, as he called on the Name of Adonai.
Then Adonai passed before him, and proclaimed,
“Adonai, Adonai, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness and truth, showing mercy to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, yet by no means leaving the guilty unpunished, but bringing the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:5-7 TLV)
This revelation changed the spiritual climate of Israel. The whole incident provided a pattern that is relevant to us.
Please pray:
O Father, strengthen my desire to love You more. I seek You for power to seek You. I want to fulfill the Great Command and be in fellowship with You. Purify and empower my heart. Amen.
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarsson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Sat 25 Mar-2023 3rd of Nisan, 5783 Parashat Vayikra
Le 5:11-6:7[5:26] Isa 43:21-44:23 Heb 13:10-16