Hebrew Certainty
My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises! Psalm 57:7 NASB
Steadfast – To put it bluntly, Greek certainty is cognitive, Hebrew certainty is volitional. In Greek thought, certainty is a function of justified true belief. It is the attempt to determine rational, logical conclusions based on indubitable axioms. You may think of the Greek idea of certainty with the metaphor of geometry. Given certain axioms (which cannot be doubted), all the rest of the proofs follow.
But the Hebraic idea of certainty is not based in a mathematical view of the universe. It is based in the volitional act of accepting the revelation of the Most High God. It does not depend on a proof for God’s existence (that follows a Greek model). It is based on the choice to live according to instructions given by God (who is assumed to be the one true Sovereign). This is why David does not say, “I am convinced of Your existence, O God.” Nor does he say, “My mind accepts Your edicts, O God.” For David, it is a matter of the heart, and in Hebrew, the heart is the center of my will, my volition, my choices (and, yes, also my reason and my emotions). David chooses to be steadfast. The presence of contradictory evidence has no bearing on this choice. David chooses to honor God simply because he determines to do so. Even though he is surrounded with evidence that questions God’s faithfulness, he chooses to hold on the God’s character. For David, loyalty is not determined by what God does, but rather by who God is!
David uses the Hebrew word kun. This word means to bring something into being that will remain. The implication is that the subsequent existence of this object is certain. According to the TWOT, there are five related connotations for this word. 1) the idea of basic formation (for example, the formation of the human body), 2) the idea of preparing things for the future (for example, God’s preparation for His creative acts), 3) the idea of establishing something that lasts (for example, establishing the throne in heaven), 4) the idea of a guarantee (for example, the kingdom of the Messiah is assured), and 5) the idea of complete confidence in well-being under God’s covenant.[1] We might usefully consider how each of these connotations affects our relationship with YHWH. If we enjoy the full sense of kun, we will participate in each of these nuances. Certainly David’s choice of kun suggests that he understood this range of meaning.
But the bottom line is this: Believing is not a mental exercise. It is a choice to conform my existence to a revelation from above. It is not based on rationally compelling arguments. It is based on recognition of existential debt! In the end, I must decide either to live in the light of His demands or to ignore them. The justification comes later, after I experience His presence.
Topical Index: choice, kun, establish, steadfast, belief, Psalm 57:7
“Even though he is surrounded with evidence that questions God’s faithfulness, he chooses to hold on God’s character”.
This is the strong conviction we need, that we look not at ‘negative’ circumstances that often surround us, if we choose to go by sight.
Rather, having our hearts securely fixed upon Who YHWH’s is, remembering how far we have traveled on this journey through His chesed, and how much He has done for us on a daily basis, how He has renewed us and is restoring us to a much closer covenant-keeping walk with Him.
How blessed we are to have received His revelation and conviction in our inner beings, that besides Him there is none else we can look to, nor trust, for His chesed towards us is forever, as surely as we see His kevod over all His creation.
The joy that we are His, that He has called us and revealed Himself to me/us overwhelms me/us.
May we join king Dawid in singing “halleluYAH, halleluYAH, halleluYAH!” in spite of circumstances, knowing well he will be delivered in YHWH’s time.
This again confirms my sense that Greek-based ‘scientific apologetics’ is largely on the wrong track. I love what George Macdonald wrote (forgive the length, I’m not trying to emulate Carl here :-)):
“…the appearances of nature are the truths of nature, far deeper than any scientific discoveries in and concerning them. The show of things is that for which God cares most, for their show is the face of far deeper things than they…It is through their show, not their analysis, that we enter into their deepest truths. What they say to the childlike soul is the truest thing to be gathered of them. To know a primrose is a higher thing than to know all the botany of it – just as to know Christ is an infinitely higher thing than to know all theology, all that is said about His person, or babbled about His work…So Nature as well exists primarily for her face, her look, her appeals to the heart and the imagination, her simple service to human need, and not for the secrets to be discovered in her and turned to man’s farther use.”
“Human science is but the backward undoing of the tapestry-web of God’s science, works with its back to Him, and is always leaving Him – His intent, that is, His perfected work – behind it, always going farther and farther away from the point where His work culminates in revelation.”
“What notion should we have of the unchanging and unchangeable, without the solidity of matter?… How should we imagine what we may of God without the firmament over our heads, a visible sphere, yet a formless infinitude? What idea of God could we have without the sky?”
“The truth of a flower is, not the facts about it, be they correct as ideal science itself, but the shining, glowing, gladdening, patient thing throned on its stalk – the compeller of smile and tear…The idea of God is the flower: His idea is not the botany of the flower. Its botany is but a thing of ways and means – of canvas and colour and brush in relation to the picture in the painter’s brain.”
“The truth of a thing, then is the blossom of it, the thing it is made for, the topmost stone set on with rejoicing; truth in a man’s imagination is the power to recognize this truth of a thing.”
In Psalm 119:73, the psalm writer says, “made and established”. Both words seem to imply something, man, was fashioned. I am looking at both definitions of made and established and it is unclear to me the difference between the two. Could it be, as I glean from your article, that once he made man, then he placed him in the garden to be steadfast (fixed) for the purpose of dressing and keeping?
Ahh, THE SECRET OF HAPPINESS is to trust and not worry.
The world is occupied with what today may bring to them, what to eat, what to wear, what to do “if…”
A fixed and established heart, firm and sure, is one that is assured of its salvation by Christ, rooted and grounded in the unfailing love of God, firmly built on the foundation which is Christ, with all affections set on Him; unmoved from the hope of the Gospel, no matter what it meets with.
Firm faith is a heart prepared or ready to receive good or evil, prosperity or adversity, at the hand of God, assured God will not abandon or fail to finish His promised good work in you. Bad as things can get, — it is by the mercy of God that they are not worse in every case.
Our faith in God is Abraham’s faith, only fuller and aglow with all the glory that shone from the face of Jesus Christ. A fixed heart is the insight of an eternal soul looking beyond time and chance.
Faith in Almighty God and His Word is not an argument, — it is an affair of loyalty.
Your mind ought to receive new impressions, but your heart ought to be fixed on the firm foundation.
God’s mercies are new every morning. If we know that, let us awake early with songs of praise in our hearts and on our lips. David still sings to the nations. He desired to bring others to praise of God with him, so full of joy in God that he wished to communicate his emotions to all his fellow-creatures.
How marvelously has the Lord granted David’s wish!
The Psalter has been translated into scores of languages, and is loved everywhere it is known, — David yet sings, and I sing, from the open pages of my Bible.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
John Adams, I very much enjoy G. Macdonald, too!
but I must say you are a mere baby at ‘length of posts’, ha ha!
Thanks Dorothy! But it’s a good thing you are not a student of mine; if they add an ‘s’ to my surname, they get an instant ‘F’!
🙂
Thanks, Skip, for the continuing reminders and and explanations regarding the differing world views when understanding faith. I am so engrained in a Greek worldview that it is an effort much of the time to effect that change in thinking. Although, I have relaxed in my living habits such that I simply move in the direction of walking and doing what I know to align with His words and ways. While I am exercising those actions more often, I still tend to kind of backup and try to over analyze things from my Greek world view. It’s going to be an ongoing process replete with walls to climb over, holes to fill in, and challenges to conquer. But that is truly daily life. Meet it one day at a time, keeping forward movement active.
Again, thanks.
🙂 True, Michael C! But at least we are getting it, enjoying it and getting there, not resisting it.
It is a re-learning process. So glad I am on it, for quite a while now, yet still learning.
True, Ester.
Quite true.
Still learning and still amazed Yeshua’s hesed is so full, dynamic and real.
It’s like taking in the Milky Way on a dark clear night. Not much to say. Just look. In awe.
In silence, the heavens declare His glory every so loudly and ever so clearly.
You just take it in as you move forward.
Amein Michael C!
YHWH’s creation simply amazes us! Not only the vast universe, the character of His beauty and chesed, and our physical bodies! Too amazing for words! SOOOO many cells and etc each functioning in such order! All k’vod and esteem to YHWH!
Shalom!
O God, my heart is steadfast (never take sides against the family)
The Godfather (1972)
Stars: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan
Hmmm
I’ll never forget the first time I saw the Godfather; I was with my first wife, whom I adored
My mom had thought it was very important for me to see the movie, after she read the book
I never read the book and really was not that crazy about the movie, except for the brother
Played by James Caan, who was completely rebellious and sadly got himself killed early on
Many years later, around the turn of the century, I was working at Cisco Systems
And I saw how the GodFather “game” was supposed to be played in real life
I was working in the Catalyst Switch Group, way under a Senior VP named Mario Mazolla
Mario was affectionately known as the GodFather of Cisco Engineering
Mario’s right hand man was a gigantic, Germanic-looking Italian named Luca Cafiero
And like Luca Brazi in the GodFather, Luca Cafiero would give you an “offer you cannot refuse”
If you ever took sides against the family
Who was/is ultimately the President John Chambers himself
The lesson of course is to learn to accept whatever you get as the will of God
Then love it and move on
Oops one of the key concepts in this game that I inadvertently left out is the role of the command
When we think of switches and routers, the main products that Cisco makes to transport our data
From one end of the Internet to the other
We don’t typically think of these mechanical “computers” as the desired models for human behavior
But for those of you who don’t know how computer software works
The computer is driven by software commands in a computer language
And, unlike humans, computers are always absolutely faithful in carrying out their commands
Unless of course they are defective, in which case they are either fixed or discarded
~ My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises! ~ (Psalm 57:7)
The Rest of the Story..-Part 2- Redux
“I will sing..”
“I”- personal pronoun. This is David (a man after God’s own heart) doing this. David is the “one” doing this. And action! David, – what are you doing?
“Will.” David made a decision. One decision, one choice. It was the choice of a lifetime. His fixed (set) his heart upon the praise of Elohim, just as our own Savior “set His face like a flint” toward Jerusalem. David said, my heart is fixed.. “set like a flint”- set in stone- I have one purpose- one will- one desire- (shout it for us David.. I WILL- praise Him. I WILL trust Him. ~ I WILL bless ADONAI (the LORD our God) AT ALL TIMES- His praise shall CONTINOUSLY be in my mouth ~
So let’s ask David some questions.. Yo, David – When will you praise God? When the sun comes up, when you’ve had a wonderful night’s sleep? When you go to bed with a full belly? When you are breathing in and out with a flavorful cup of your favorite java juice in your hand? When you are with your family, sitting in the surroundings of a virtual paradise with a table full of abundance spread before you? Or..
Will you, David, praise Him “only” during the sunshine and NOT praise Him for the rain? David, don’t you know? Rain is a “good thing?” Without rain, David, this world would be a desert. Why don’t we at least “attempt” to welcome the rain?- David, have these words ever proceeded out of your mouth? Thank you God, for this rain- the flowers and the trees, and the birds and the bees drink in what You have provided. Thank you God, bless You God for Your provision. We (all) need this rain. Rain is a “good thing” and comes from our “good” God, a God Who is always good (amen?) – all the time (amen?)- and to everyone (amen?).
Yes, it does ~ rain upon the just and the unjust ~ (God is the Cause, God is the Source), but why?
Why does it rain upon the just AND the unjust? It is because ~ The LORD *IS* Good! (Always and forever- good!) Always and forever- “Good.” (and.. to everyone!).
Yo. You see that “sinner” over there? God loves him (or her) every bit as much as He loves you! Now, go look in the mirror and “see” and say this.. “Thank you God for loving me!-, a sinner also! – (Try it.. you’ll like it!). Especially when you “discover” – it is the truth! And if God loves you and God loves me- then why (tell me why, please!) can we not love one another? What is our “malfunction?” Has sin completely short-circuited our minds or twisted our thoughts? Restore unto us, ADONAI- the joy of our salvation! Amen.
But what about “pain and suffering?” Are you, David- one of those “joy-boys” Doesn’t anything “bad” every happen to you? Do you ever get stuck in traffic? (look at all those chariots!) Have you ever been disappointed? What about our dear brother Job? What about him? Didn’t you hear what “happened” to this man? Was God intimately and intricately involved in t-his life? Didn’t God care that he was hurting?
David, your beloved son Solomon grew up to be known as the second wisest man who ever lived. At the time he was number one, but later on ~ a greater than Solomon is now here ~.
And David, it was your own son who said, ~ better is the end of a thing, than the beginning thereof ~ and the patient in spirit is “better than” the proud in spirit.
And now.. for the “rest” of the story.. ~and there is a “rest that remains” for the children of God!
~ Let us now “enter into” that rest.. ~
~As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the LORD finally brought about. The LORD (our LORD) is full of compassion and mercy ~
May I?
~ the LORD is FULL of compassion and mercy! ~
What the LORD (our LORD) finally brought about, “in the end..” Job, you were a “work in progress!”
~ it was God, (brother Job) who was working in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure! ~
Sanctification is a process. The process of holiness!
(Yes!) Thy dross to consume
and thy “gold” to refine!
Job, the testimony of your life and all that pain, all that suffering, all of that loss have been through the ages and to millions of suffering ones– a testimony and a witness- that “in the end” (and the end is better than the beginning!)- the LORD IS good!.
Now Job, I gotta say.. suffering is no fun. Anyone who “enjoys” pain, (in my book) is a strange bird. But pain serves a purpose. There is nothing (in my life) that gets my “focused attention”- I’m sorry to say, than pain. Pain is (for lack of better vocabulary) an “attention getter.” Yes, brother Job, – it is “painfully true!” Why do I always (it seems) learn things the “hard way?” Am I also “enrolled” in the University of Hard Knocks? – I can’t wait to graduate! – And here is what my diploma will read:
~ And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, AFTER (emphasis mine) you have suffered a little while, (will Himself!) restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast! ~ (I Peter5.10)
Thank you, Peter. This gives me great hope! Great comfort!- and great encouragement!- There is (Selah, y’all!) an *AFTER!* Pain-sorrow-suffering-affliction-tribulation is temporary and “light” according to the glory that will be revealed in us! And was it not our Savior (Himself) who was “made perfect” by His sufferings? Did, in this life, and in this world, and in human flesh and bones, our Messiah also suffer?- Was He tempted, tried with every trial and tribulation just as we are? According the scriptures He was. And we haven’t even consider the brutality of the cross! And yet… this ONE was without sin! A- mazing Love! How can it be? That Thou, my God! would die for me?
What is my response to tHis love? Worship-praise-greatfulness-thanksgiving- all of the Above!
Dissolve my heart with thankfulness and melt my eyes with tears!- (Amein!) Thank you for the cross, LORD! Thank you for the nail-scarred hands!
~ My hear is fixed O LORD, my heart is fixed.. – I *will* sing praise.
“I will sing praise, I will lift my voice.
I will sing praise, I’ve made my choice.
I will sing praise,- in all I do.
I will sing praise to You!
No matter the storms that come my way,
No matter the trials I may face,
You promised that you will see me through.
So I will trust in You.”
Yes, though I walk *through* the valley of the shadow of death- I will fear no evil. (Why?)
Who has promised never to leave us nor forsake us?- and what is tHis Name?
~ And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; Saying with a loud voice,
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing, and every creature which is in Heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying,
Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be to Him that sits on the throne, and to the Lamb for ever and ever!
(Amen!-)
~ My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises! ~ (Psalm 57:7)