Success Plan
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. Psalm 103:11 (Hebrew World)
So great – If you want the revamped lyrics to this psalm, turn to Romans 8:38-39. Death, life, angels, principalities, present, future, powers, height, depth or anything in the created universe covers a lot. God’s hesed is more (translated “lovingkindness” in NASB). Hesed is one of those mega-words in Hebrew that no single (or even multiple) English word can capture. Hesed requires considerable study on its own. Today we just look at the verb that precedes hasdo (His hesed).
That verb is gavar (Gimel-Beth-Resh). The actual construction of this Hebrew line of poetry doesn’t really include the adverbs “so great.” That’s English. What the Hebrew says is “is mighty His hesed.” Why does this matter? Doesn’t “so great” communicate the same idea? Well, yes and no. Yes, it communicates the idea that God’s lovingkindness is very great, high above anything we can imagine. But, no, it misses the fact that this isn’t a description of God’s lovingkindness. It’s an action – a verb. An adverb expresses addition. That means an adverb assumes some state of condition and adds some thought to that state of condition, like “great” to “effort.” A verb expresses action. In this case, the action is hesed. God’s lovingkindness is not simply an attribute of His character like being a male is an attribute of who I am. God’s hesed is His active benevolence toward us, His deliberate concern for us, His engagement in our rescue. It’s not just that God is so great. It’s that He is so great in doing good toward His creation. In Hebrew, the active aspect of God can never be set aside from who He is. In fact, “mighty to act” and “God” are identical thoughts.
The pictograph of gavar is “to lift up the head of the household.” To be strong, to prevail or to have success in Hebrew thought is the same as lifting up the head of the household. We should notice that the very idea of strength is communal. Strength concerns the whole house, represented by the head of the house. Strength isn’t about the individual alone. Once again we are confronted with the Hebraic concept of family. God’s being mighty is a family affair.
Who are in this family? That answer requires only a single word, yereav, God-fearers. Notice that yereav is not ethnic. In fact, this is the same term used throughout the New Testament to describe Gentiles who came to believe and practice the Way. To be a God-fearer is to accept God’s hesed, to apply His active benevolence in your life and become obedient to Him. There are many examples of God-fearers in Scripture, from Rahab and Ruth to the Ethiopian eunuch. Most of us are God-fearers, not physical descendants of Abraham. God has plenty of room for yereav. A thousand years before the birth of Yeshua, David knew that God’s hesed extended far beyond the borders of ethnic Israel. God’s success plan always included anyone who came to worship Him. That’s why today this verse is our verse. We belong. We come under gavar. Blessed be He.
Topical Index: gavar, strong, mighty, strength, hesed, God-fearer, yereav, Psalm 103:11
Shalom Skip,
Before I looked at your teaching this morning, I was thinking about expressing an idea on my facebook page, the thought was along the line of “YHWH, forgive me for making you so small, please ENLARGE MY VISION OF YOU!” Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Then it changed to “Mighty YHWH” with the same idea expressed above.
Then I read this line on your teaching this morning. The actual construction of this Hebrew line of poetry doesn’t really include the adverbs “so great.” That’s English. What the Hebrew says is “is mighty His hesed.” Just hearing that phrase from the Ruach HaKodesh this morning “Mighty YHWH” and the concluding thoughts, “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” In relationship to all this was a song that passed through my mind last night “Show Your Power.” YHWH is actively showing His power and hesed to us individually, for the sake our families, and all who desire to partner in bringing “is mighty His hesed” to this broken fragmented world. YHWH, only You hold this world together by Your active and ongoing hesed. Concerning this glorious partnership you have called us, ENLARGE OUR HEARTS AND VISION.
Shalom to all,
Please allow me a little redundancy here. Everyone who calls on the name of YHWH will be saved! This is Abba’s longing for His creation and He has giving us His Spirit to accomplish this task. This sometimes show up in big demonstrative ways, and like leaven that permeates the dough, in small mysterious ways. May we all be about our Father’s business in small and big ways. And in Yeshua name, being faithful to where He has placed and called us!
Just a little more redundancy Brian. בשם יהוה b’shem YHVH
It’s liturally “Everyone who calls upon the name YHVH”. It makes more sense with the “of” removed from the sentence in my opinion.
Shalom shalom
Thanks Pam. I appreciate you pointing this out.
Shalom shalom
Be blessed. What blessing would come down if we all began to call on YHVH together as He commands us to? Blessed be He that comes in the name YHVH!
Shabbat Shalom
Psalm 103:13 As tenderly as a father loves his children,
Psalm 103:13 so Yahweh treats thos who fear him;
Psalm 103:14 He knows that we are made of,
Psalm 103:14 he remembers we are dust.
Made of Dust to be blown around by the GodFather.
Hi Skip
David Stern (Complete Jewish Bible) translates this verse as, “because his mercy toward those who fear him is as far above earth as heaven.” Would you consider this a good translation?
Captures the same idea. Translation is a matter of communicating the meaning AND the information contained in the exact words, so it is an art and a science. Unfortunately, translators usually seem to come down on one side of the other. That’s why we need to dig behind every translation.
Thank you Skip for this wonderful word. I’ve been off grid for a week and a half. I’m so glad I backtracked to this one.