Rabbi’s Reflections – Sunday, September 8, 2024
Shavuah Tov,
Psalms
Psalm 18:3(2) – Part 6
Psalm 18:3 Adonai is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer. My God is my rock, in Him I take refuge, my shield, my horn of salvation, my stronghold.
The next Hebrew phrase is “E’che’seh-Bo,” meaning “I will seek refuge in Him.” “Chasah” is used 37 times in the Hebrew Scriptures, 32 of them in the Psalms. David loved this word. It is the only “I will” expression in our subject verse. Let’s take some time today to meditate on this. What does it really mean to take refuge in God?
The first use is in Deuteronomy 32 which is Moses’ last address to the children of Israel. Deuteronomy is a summary (or retelling) of Exodus through Numbers, and Deuteronomy 32 is a summary of the summary. It is Moses’ last address to the people for whom he has invested his life to bring them through the wilderness and to the threshold of the promised land. Even here, taking refuge is paired with “Tzur,” the rock, but Moses is asking them about their false gods, and how they will take refuge in them.
The question is ours, and we must deal with it. Where will you be safe when everything is shaken? Hebrews 12:26 His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens.” 27 Now this phrase, “Yet once more,” shows the removal of those things that are shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.
Yeshua is quoted in Matthew, near the end of His “Sermon on the Mount.” Matthew 7:24 Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. That “rock” in Hebrew is “Tzur,” the same word as in our subject verse.
Rabbi Trail: You might ask, “How can we know the Hebrew, since all the Gospel texts are in Greek only?” I checked the Hebrew translation of the Gospels by Franz Delitzsch. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Delitzsch I trust his scholarship. End RT.
Be a wise person and build on that solid rock foundation of Yeshua, so that when everything is shaken, you will stand. Jacob (James) 1:12 Happy is the one who endures testing, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who love Him. Shalom shalom.
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
5 Elul Sunday 8-Sep-24
Deuteronomy 21:10-21 Hosea 9-10 1 Chronicles 28 John 14 Hebrews 6