Rabbi’s Reflections – Thursday, March 6, 2025
Shalom,
Psalms
Psalm 25:17 – Part 21
Psalm 25:17 The troubles of my heart increase. Bring me out of my distress.
“Troubles” in Hebrew are “Tzar’ot.” Throughout the Bible, this word is used to describe distress and adversity. The connotation is that of being in a tight spot, which involves being trapped with a lack of freedom to move. John 8:36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
Tzar’ot uses the same Shoresh as the word used in Psalm 139:5 You hemmed me in behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Of course, in Psalm 139 this is not a bad thing, but God holding us close as He lays His hand on us in times of trial.
Tzar’ot (troubles) in the first part of verse 17 are couples with “Mitzukotai” (4 syllables, Mi-Tzu-Ko-Tai) which is almost identical in meaning to Tzar-ot. The poet, King David, is using the entire Lexicon of words available to him as he describes himself. God said of King David (through Paul in Acts)… Acts 13:22 “I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do My will.’”
King David, the man after God’s own heart, had great sin exposed by the prophet Nathan. 2Samuel 12:7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man!” In the parable, the “man” was a rich man who took a poor man’s lamb. David was that man to Uriah the Hittite. David’s response was to draw near to God in repentance. We may not be “that man” exactly, but we are all his close cousin. Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
The very next verse of Romans 3 gives us the answer to our distress… Romans 3:24 They (you and I) are set right as a gift of His grace, through the redemption that is in Messiah Yeshua. So, we call upon God for deliverance. We agree with David, Psalm 25:17b “Bring me out of my distress.”
This is not a plea for God to put up with our sin, but rather, a plea to be delivered out of it and set far from it. Galatians 5:1 For freedom, Messiah set us free—so stand firm, and do not be burdened by a yoke of slavery again. Obeying God is not “slavery.” Yeshua told the woman accused of adultery, John 8:11b Yeshua said. “Go, and sin no more.”
At the end of Romans 3, Paul arrives at the same conclusion. Romans 3:24 They are set right as a gift of His grace, through the redemption that is in Messiah Yeshua…. 31 Do we then nullify the Torah through faithfulness? May it never be! On the contrary, we uphold the Torah. May we all uphold the Torah as we are delivered from the distress of sin. Genesis 17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, ESV And, we too, like our father, Abraham, (who is the father of us all) have that same call from God to be blameless. Shalom shalom.
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarsonhttps://www.thewatchman.org/)
Thu 6-Mar-2025 6th of Adar, 5785
Ex 29:19-37 2 Ki 23 Ps 147 Jn 19 (Heb 4)