Backtracking
All the LORD’s paths are kindness and truth for the keepers of His pact and His precepts. Psalm 25:10 Robert Alter translation
All – Do you really believe that all of YHWH’s ways are kindness and truth? Are you just as likely to proclaim this with David when the plane crashes and everyone is killed, when the soldiers invade and rape village women, when your child is born with a debilitating condition, when you lose your home, when you are robbed? Are all the ways of YHWH still kindness and truth?
“The essence of chessed is rooted in God—as it is written: . . . All the paths of HASHEM are kindness and truth (Psalms 25:10). Even death springs from God’s chessed. As the Sages teach, . . . Whatever the All-merciful does is for the good (Berachos 60b). This is not always obvious to the human mind.”[1]
There could hardly be a greater understatement. The truth is this: We have no clue! Hebrew thought begins with God’s sovereignty. Nothing is more fundamental than the fact that God is the author, sustainer and manager of everything. David captures this essential tenet of Hebrew thinking in the phrase, “all the paths of YHWH.” The problem is not that God battles other superhuman powers in order to gain control and bring about His purposes. The problem is that we don’t see what He is doing. It’s not God’s problem at all. It’s ours. As a result, we often blame God for those acts that we believe do not fit our version of kindness and truth.
Ah, but we all know this, don’t we? We all theoretically know that YHWH is good and that whatever He does or allows serves His purposes. We all theoretically affirm that we trust in Him because we do not see the beginning and the end. But when it comes to actual practice, we slip from the holy grail of sovereignty. We act as if our purposes are the same as the higher purposes of God. We think the world should behave according to us. We forget “all” (kol).
I propose a small Hebraic exercise. Today, no matter what happens, say out loud to yourself, “This too is the kindness and truth of God.” Each time you are confronted by a bend in the road, a twist in your plans, an unexpected detour, say, “This too is the kindness and truth of the LORD.” Make an audible declaration of God’s sovereignty and faithfulness right now, and continue to reassert that claim of faith throughout the entire day. Don’t ask for explanations. Don’t try to imagine why and why not? Just declare that all of them are His.
And see what happens.
Topical Index: hesed, kol, all, kindness, truth, Psalm 25:10
Verses eight, nine and ten speak about His ways. It seems to me that it refers to His Torah. Isn’t it more plausible that the meaning of verse 10 is that “the commandments – the way He directs you to go” are all mercy and truth?
Raping by soldiers is never a way of truth and kindness. Never ever. God has never directed Israel, even in His commandment to wipe out the inhabitants of Canaan, to rape the women.
You are absolutely right. God NEVER commanded the soldiers of Israel to rape the women of Canaan. But that wasn’t the point. The question is whether or not WE are willing to see every event as somehow involved in God’s plan and purpose. That does not mean there aren’t exceeding evil things in the world. There are, but are we able to see them as also somehow serving the purposes of God?
Now to the text. The Hebrew ‘orah is used almost exclusively in poetic material (Psalms, Proverbs and Job) but is parallel to derek, that is, the way of life and death. We could read this verse as you suggest, implying that all of ways of YHWH, that is, all that He reveals as His path, are kindness and truth. That limits the conversation to a discussion of the value of the commandments, and, in my opinion, removes any surprise from the poet’s insight. No one in David’s time would have argued that YHWH’s commandments were NOT kindness and truth. The surprising claim is that all the ways God oversees are kindness and truth. It’s a matter of how we view the scope of emunah. Of course, you might be right about this, in which case there is little argument. But apparently the rabbis took my position since they argue that even death is to be understood as kindness and truth.
Do you mean the rabbis or the sages took this position?
Ahhh, so Psalm 25:10 is the principle that Romans 8:28 is based on…God causes all things to work together for good to to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
I think we tend to muddy our understanding of truth and kindness with our English/Greek paradigm definition of “good”. We think if it’s truth and kindness, it is also good as in “pleasant, moral, righteous”.
If I’m understanding the Hebraic view: God is good, and only God is good. Goodness has nothing to do with what we think happened, it only has to do with His sovereignty. It is good because it is God. And if we are following on His paths and His precepts, it is good for us because it is God.
This good has nothing to do with pleasant vs. noxious, or tasty vs. foul, or even moral vs evil. I’m sitting here this morning with yet another respiratory infection and I’m aware that God’s purpose is good. Does that mean the infection is pleasant? I can assure you it’s not, as I endure yet another fit of coughing. (wry smile)
But His goodness means He is sovereign over this too. He hasn’t forsaken me even though I may have been stupid and made myself susceptible to illness again. Am I learning something? Yes — though I don’t think God retaliated with illness to teach me something. He allows me to bear the consequences of my behavior as an opportunity to learn. This too, is the goodness of God.
So Skip, thank you for the reminder. And I’m saying, “this too, is the kindness and truth of the Lord.”
Absolutely the BEST word of the day EVER ;-)…I’m so sick and tired of everyone ‘blaming the devil’ or ‘accusing the enemy’ of absolutely everything that happens in their lives…they fast and pray and moan and cover their head with ashes sinking into despair that the enemy is after them….man…GET A LIFE – literally – change your focus and look at it for what it is and for what HE says it is!!!
All the LORD’s paths are kindness and truth for the keepers of His pact and His precepts. Psalm 25:10
If one is seeking HIS path…and keeping HIS path and HIS precepts…than everything you go through …. is from HIM!
AMEN and AMEN!
Well, I don’t know if it is the best Today’s Word ever, but I’m glad you found it helpful.
Well, it IS the best word for today that I’ve had TODAY 🙂
The key word is “through.” Yea, yes (amen) though I walk through the valley. Though we go through the flood. Though we might go through the fiery furnace of affliction, this is not our final resting place. We will have tribulation, persecution, etc., He has promised. But then again He has also promised never to leave us nor forsake us and He has promised strength for every circumstance or situation that might arise. The battle is the Lord’s.
If God is in control of everything, how does Satanic Ritual Abuse exists where hundreds of female and male children are tortured?
I think Suzanne has captured the problem – and the solution.
Years ago, I loaned a friend (who was also a brother in faith) my car so that he could sign up for college. He had to drive half-way across the state. To make a long story short, the engine blew up during his trip. He called me, and I was pretty hot under the collar. It wasn’t until I thought of Romans 8:28–and settled down to watch–that calm returned. Everything did indeed work out okay with that car and that engine–and that dear brother. Replacing that engine paid for itself three times over during the life of that car. And not only that, this brother is one of my closest friends, and the one I can most easily talk to in discussing God’s word.
If I hadn’t settled this in my heart years ago about His kindness, not even knowing about a Hebraic mindset I am pretty sure I wouldn’t be where or who I am today. The whole idea of evil versus good all has to do with someone else’s choices but doesn’t change who Yaweh is or what He is all about.
I preached a sermon one time and the message was all around the selfishness of our wanting our lists fulfilled and the things we expect but how it really all adds up to our limited vision. I am thankful that mine haven’t been. There’s an old boyfriend from high school I still talk to who was on my list of what I wanted and desired but wow are we both glad that never was fulfilled he’s an atheist and proud of it and I am a beloved of my Father!
So many things happen because of our choices that never change who or what our Father is all about and on that, well it’s how I live.