Rabbi’s Reflections – Friday, July 12, 2024
(Early) Shabbat Shalom,
Psalms
Psalm 13:1-3(1-2) – Part 1
Psalm 13:1-3(1-2) For the music director, a psalm of David. 2 How long, Adonai? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? 3 How long must I have cares in my soul and daily sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?
Four times the psalmist asks, “How Long?” In Hebrew, “Ad-Anah” is an idiom. Literally it would be translated “until when or where.” But idiomatically, “how long” is a fair translation. How long…
- …will You forget me?
- …will You hide your face from me?
- …must I have cares in my soul and daily sorrow in my heart?
- …will my enemies triumph over me?
Yeshua provides the answer to the question, “How long?” Dozens (if not hundreds) of times the Lord is quoted in Scripture, “I will never leave you, nor forsake you.” Sometimes that phrase appears in the third person, “He will never leave you nor forsake you.” The best “for instance” is Hebrews 13:5, which quotes both Deuteronomy 31, verses 6 and 8.
The context of Hebrews 13 is interesting. It begins as a call on our lives to trust God rather than money before calling on us to be content with our position in life. Heb 13:5 Keep your lifestyle free from the love of money, and be content with what you have. For God Himself has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you,” 6 so that with confidence we say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What will man do to me?”
Wanting more out of life is not wrong, but if wanting more becomes your god – little “g” (driving force), then a correction is needed. Our primary driving force should be more of God, not more of stuff, more like Him, more from Him, more with Him, and more in Him. More of Him in us.
Colossians 2:9 For all the fullness of Deity lives bodily in Him, 10 and in Him you have been filled to fullness. He is the head over every ruler and authority.
How long? It’s not a question for an individual, but a question for a community. Ephesians 4:12 to equip the kedoshim for the work of service, for building up the body of Messiah. 13 This will continue until we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of Ben-Elohim—to mature adulthood, to the measure of the stature of Messiah’s fullness.
The answer to the question “how long” is not a “when,” it is a “what.” Shalom shalom, and early Shabbat shalom.
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
6 Tamuz Friday 12-Jul-24
Numbers 21:10-20 Jeremiah 52 Ezra 2 Luke 6:1-26 Galatians 3