Orders from the Commander-in-Chief
Be to me a rock of habitation to which I may continually come; You have given commandment to save me, for You are my rock and my fortress. Psalm 71:3 NASB
Commandment to save me – The NASB translation is a bit awkward. What does it mean for David to say that God has given commandment to save him? The verb, shawa, in this case might be translated, “you have given the orders to save me.” In other words, just as David is king and gives orders that will be fulfilled, so God is King and gives orders that will be fulfilled. God has ordered that David be saved and what God commands to be done will be done.
Let this idea of the chain of command sink into your heart. So often we find ourselves plagued by our failures and disobedience. We think, “Oh, my goodness. How can God ever even think of rescuing me when I have been so wretched.” Our sins press us down. There is no way we can repair the damage we have done. We are lost.
But . . . God has ordered our salvation. He has commanded the universe to conspire with Him to bring about His intended purposes in our lives. He has charged history with a decree of rescue. He has ordained it and it will come to pass. Everything in your life, including those detours, is ordered to bring you back to the Lord. Everything is working to make you become the human being He created. All the slips and slides are but instruments in His hand to fulfill the divine mandate.
David was a man of intensity. “Why are you standing here when that Philistine taunts our God?” “Absalom, Absalom, how can I love you more?” “Oh, Lord, all night long I have cried in my bed!” Even in his sins he was impassioned. “You are the man,” were words shouted at a king who knew righteousness and wickedness. So do we. Are there any emotions in the Psalms that have not been in our hearts? Are we not men and women of passion, even when those passions push us away from the hesed of the Lord? Do you suppose God wants passive parishioners, quietly sitting in neatly assigned rows, nodding heads with each new pearl delivered from professional cheer-leaders? A thousand time “No!” God seeks women who are so distraught they open their mouths but no words come forth. God delights in men who sweat drops of blood. God loves children who unreservedly trust Him. And God loves the soul that struggles to hold on even when defeated. God is filled with passion. His orders are passionate expressions of His great desire. He is the Great Hunter seeking whom He may ensnare. The hearts God wants are the hearts that have been captured by His love.
Can we not rejoice in the fact that God orders our lives to bring about our rescue? Does this relieve you of the weight of perfection? The King of the Universe is in charge. What else do you need?
Topical Index: commandment, shawa, save, yasha’, orders, Psalm 71:3
How great is our G-d! “A Man of like passions”, “moved with our infirmities”. We can safely cast all our cares, our passions, on Him, for He is passioned by, and cares for (is moved), for us. Halleluah!
One of the greatest musical pinnacles I experienced as a child was when the Kiwanis Club in Spartanburg, S.C., where I grew up, hosted the National Orchestra of Switzerland. They came one cold late fall, and my Mama, who always tried to find all the affordable (as in, free) cultural events for her children that she could get her hands on, took us. She always encouraged us to get as involved as possible, and, as the music started, and we realized how special it was, she let us creep forward and sit with our legs dangling through the railing into the (empty) orchestra pit. It was an unforgettable experience.
Perhaps not many people remember that Switzerland went through a severe economic crisis before they figured out how to become the bank to the world. During that time, the nation decided to export a lot of their best citizens to go make money elsewhere and send it back home to the rest of the poor people. America was where so many Swiss came to make their fortunes, and apparently Spartanburg was some sort of Swiss capital away from home, for at one time, anyway, I heard that as much as a third of the whole town was Swiss. They were attracted to the South because of the potential for the textile industry. So much of our textile industry was built on the backs of the industrious Swiss, and Spartanburg was home to some of the largest mills in the South. Well, that was why the National Orchestra of Switzerland traveled all the way down from New York just for our little town. That auditorium was packed with Swiss! I don’t know if I heard a word of unbroken English the whole evening!
This was not your ordinary orchestra. First of all, they deigned the pit, and they all stayed up on stage, where they could see and be seen. And this was no classical musical performance. This was the original folk music of the Old Country: music that they would only play for their own. The Irish have their distinctive music, and we all know it, but I wonder how many people have ever heard the marvelous folk music of the Swiss? They were dressed for the part, and they played only their native instruments, including those most marvelous of Swiss inventions, the Alp horns. At one time, lined up across the stage, they stretched from one side to the other with those horns. The largest ones were over 20 feet long! And they played. And I just cried. This was no one-sided performance, either! The audience, homesick for those faraway Alps and fellow countrymen, and the music that expressed them best, joined in. You never heard so much yodeling in your life! They performed a traditional marriage ceremony, complete with a costumed bride and groom and the whole shebang; they played war songs and lullabies and waltzes and music to call the cows home.
I only recognized a few instruments, like accordians and fiddles and the like, but the majority of the ‘instruments’ were homemade. The majestic Alp horns certainly were, and they took pains to tell, in broken English, how they were fashioned from trees that hung out over the cliffs to give them their characteristic bottom curves. They played a whole band of nothing but cow bells, from the tiniest ones that went on the calves, to the biggest ones, over two feet tall(!) that went around the lead cows’ necks. They played silver coins rolled in large milk bowls, spoons held together and clanged, and they even blew on fig leaves picked off the side of the auditorium and held between their thumbs. It was inspired music!
The audience was just torn up. It was too much. They cried and sang along and danced jigs in the aisles, and the yodeling! It went on for hours. I was totally enchanted. The performers finally got tired of saying “just one more” and just gave up trying to stop. The place rocked until they threw us all out into the street, but nobody even slowed down. The music just broke up into smaller pieces, and started taking requests, and the party went on, on that cold night. I never wanted it to end. I had not experienced that kind of music on that level for many years. Up in the hills where my Mama came from, where music was all anybody ever had, the families would gather after the crops were in, and do a ‘sing’, and that music was at that same intensity, and for many of the same reasons. It expressed all the whole language of the heart. All the love, the fears, the homesickness, the tragedy and the laughter you used to endure it with. And it was two-sided music. Not one-sided. These were no stage performances for an audience. This was everybody getting together and all saying the same thing together! Music is designed to express the passions. The heart. Done right, it does do that. We need to unload. This is what we were given to do that with.
I think when we join in with that New Song before the throne, it will be with the National Orchestra from Home, and there is gonna be a whole lot of yodeling from the audience! We are all going to emote together, folks! Music wipes away the tears because it allows them to rise to the surface so that they can be wiped. You just can’t wipe a tear that is still in its tear socket! Can’t wait to cry all those tears I could never get to here! Can’t wait to sing along with all y’all! We are going to let our hair down, then! Halleluah!
That’s a beautiful description, Laurita. Brought back memories of the Sounds of Music movie with its wonderful songs and singing. That was such an enjoyable and passionate movie.
Shanah tovah to you; Skip, and all on this blog.
I only saw a few movies as a child, as we did not own a tv, but our neighbor invited us to see The Sound of Music. It was only my second movie experience, and I remembered everything. I would play the music from that movie over and over in my head when I just could not go on, and it gave me the courage to hang on just one minute longer. It still does. There is a reason that The Sound of Music is listed as the most viewed movie of all time, I believe. It is everyone’s story. Everybody, from the orphans to the widower, gets saved. By sticking together. (I feel a real belly laugh coming on….) That was one extraordinary family!
You are spot on, on the sticking it out together at all costs, to help those who are against and will not submit to tyranny. What a show of courage and determination!
It was based on a true story of bravery. The parts were so well played.
YHWH bless you and keep you! HIS shalom fill you!
Amen! Me, too!!
Thank you for this, Skip. It is really encouraging on this sometimes confusing and difficult path. Im so glad he is in charge and knows I am not perfect. I’m so thankful for God’s passion! It reminds me that passion is good (and allowed). Yay! I can only imagine when God celebrates! What a sight that must be!
“And God loves the soul that struggles to hold on even when defeated.” That is the trust that surpasses all understanding.
“The hearts God wants are the hearts that have been captured by His love.”
His love is that of caring, renewing, refreshing, and restoring, the love of respecting, administering justice, helping the poor, the helpless, your neighbour; the love of compassion and mercy, in actions, not of words only.
May the New Year draw us closer to His passions, and His love to transform us.
L’Shanah Tovah! Let us celebrate His goodness/chesed! Amein!
One More Thing
and it came to pass.. (Thy will be done!) -that the Scriptures might be fulfilled..
~ And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
~ And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the LORD came upon them, and the glory of the LORD shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
~ And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
~ For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ, [the Messiah], the LORD.
~ And this shall be a sign unto you; you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
~ And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.
~ and the Word was made flesh and tabernacled among us.. ~ (John 1.14)
~ And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it ~ (Isaiah 40.5)
And it (our salvation) is all about Yahshua, the only Begotten of the Father! Without Him – His life, His death (in our place), His resurrection and ministry in the heavenly hekal for us, we would be without hope. But, because of Him, the Father gives the commandment that we are to be saved. How I long for the day when I can thank our Saviour face to face.
Peace and blessings from our Abba as we prepare to enter into another year of His moed.
Shalom
This is beautiful, Skip.
I’ve missed the past week or so of posts. It’s been a crazy week. Our storage building caught fire last weekend, which then caught our van on fire, which very nearly caught our house on fire. Thank God we are all fine, and what was lost was just “stuff”, and the fire dept arrived just in time to keep the fire from spreading to our house. But my husband is pretty devastated about the loss of 25 years worth of tools and equipment, and now we are down to one vehicle that won’t hold our family anymore because yesterday I gave birth to our fourth baby! A boy, 8lbs 7oz, born at home, who we have named Cohen Luke. 🙂 Whew! What a week! Thankfully our homeowners insurance will pay for most of what was lost, minus the van. But it was paid off and ten years old, so we were looking at replacing it soon anyway.
All of this to say… this site is a source of daily encouragement for me. I almost never miss a day of reading it. Until this week. But I have prayed more and experienced God more in the past week than I have in a long time. I’ve been “in the action” instead of just reading and going through the normal day to day. Even with all the bad, I’m choosing to call it all GOOD because I have felt God holding me up through every minute. And much of what I have read here and learned here was brought back to my mind as I struggled to trust Him and lean on Him this week. So thank you, Skip, and everyone who contributes here. 🙂 You’ve all blessed me this week, without even knowing it. Being away made me realize what an oasis TW is. 🙂
Thank you, Alicia, for telling about all this. What a week for you! May God bless your recovery. And you are so right: Today’s Word is indeed an oasis.
Thank you, Thomas! We are all doing well. I’m feeling pretty good and enjoying this precious new little life in my arms!
Alicia,
I am not sure what happened with that first post. I did not mean to send you an unfinished response to what you shared (Skip, would you please delete my first post). 🙂
Congratulations on the birth of your son! May YHWH bless you all real good!
New life comes to us a lot of times in the midst of unfortunate and crazy events. I will be praying for you and your family.
YHWH is King!
“And God loves the soul that struggles to hold on even when defeated.”
Sojourning is tough at times. Realistically speaking…we can repeat to ourselves just how much He loves us and in the midst of reality, yet struggle. Platitudes are non-essential commentary when we are straining every fibre of our being through the muck and the mire…This post is strangely comforting today.