Tag-Archive for » Psalm 26:1 «

Shake, Rattle and Roll

Friday, February 12th, 2010 | Author:

Judge me, YHWH, for I have walked in my integrity; I also have trusted in YHWH; I shall not slide. Psalm 26:1

Slide – James has a Greek expression for this Hebrew word.  It was dipsuchos (two psyche).  Most contemporary English translations use “waver” for the Hebrew ma’ad.  But Hebrew is a tactile, phenomenological language and it is much more likely that the basic meaning here is sliding back and forth, shaking  and slipping rather than the Greek mental state.  That distinction is important.  Let’s see why.

Have you ever tried to keep your mental focus completely on God’s purposes for your life?  Were you successful?  Were you able, day after day, hour after hour, to think of nothing but what the Spirit brought to mind?  Or did you find that other thoughts crowded in?  Did you discover that even as you intently concentrate on the study of God’s Word or apply yourself in prayer or meditate on His goodness, distracting sparks kept popping up?  If you’re like most believers, it is a real battle to keep a single mind on the things of God.  Mental capability flags and soon we are immersed once more in the trivial, mundane and even corrupt.  Yes, we desire to bring every thought captive, but it’s not easily done.

If David is talking about the interference of distracting or corrupting thoughts, then his declaration of fidelity seems woefully misrepresented.  Do you think David was of a single mind when he walked the roof top of the palace and spied a woman taking a bath?  Do you think he was intently fixed on the purposes of God when he ordered the census?  You might reply, “Well, David must have written this psalm before he ran into those difficulties.”  Yes, that’s possible, but then how does this psalm help us.  Should it read, “I shall not slide as long as circumstances don’t present the opportunity”?

The difficulty we face is that the Hebrew expression ma’ad isn’t about how we think.  It’s about what we do!  Take a look at Proverbs 25:19.  Sliding around is like a bad tooth or an unsteady foot.  I don’t recall the last time that anyone compared thoughts to bad teeth or unsteady feet, but we certainly understand the imagery when it is applied to behavior.  Indecisive, unreliable, wavering, uncertain – that’s a biblical description of a fool, and it’s not about his thinking.  It’s about the action that follows.  I can doubt.  I can waver back and forth.  I can be undecided – right up to the point where I choose to be obedient.  Then I set aside all that inner mental turmoil and do what God asks! When I can’t seem to do what He wants, I shake, rattle and roll.  I am branded a fool by my behavior, not my mental dyslexia.

So, stop worrying about your thinking.  You’ll have more than enough time to consider the impact of your thoughts once you settle the issue of behavioral decisions.  Like David, trust YHWH and do what is right in His eyes.  Your thinking will tag along behind.

Topical Index:  slide, double-minded, waver, ma’ad, Psalm 26:1

For a previous look at the same verse, go here. 


Category: Today's Word  | Tags: , , , ,  | 7 Comments

Facing Forward

Thursday, February 11th, 2010 | Author:

Judge me, YHWH, for I have walked in my integrity; I also have trusted in YHWH; I shall not slide. Psalm 26:1

Judge – David seems to make a very bold request.  Can we echo his words?  Are we ready to have YHWH judge us?  Can we claim that we have walked in integrity when we appear before the Holy One of Israel?  Each of us probably feels a bit of trepidation over such an event.  We think of “judge” as the process of passing a verdict and handing out a sentence.  And since we all know that we have sinned – and that we still sin – we might not be as anxious as David seems to be to have God pass judgment on us.  We are more likely to say, “Lord, have mercy on me a sinner,” than we are to invoke God’s judicial prerogative.  Maybe part of our reticence comes from the change in meaning from shaphat (Hebrew – to judge) to judicare (Latin – to pass judgment).

Shaphat has a much broader application than simply pronouncing a sentence or a verdict.  Shaphat really is a verb about governing.  It covers all the elements of our form of government: legislative, executive and judicial.  Consequently, when David uses the verb, he could mean the full range of kingdom actions.  His word choice might cover the determination of the law, the process of instituting the law, the execution of its requirements, the arbitration of its application and condemnation and punishment.  In other words, David is not necessarily asking God to pass a sentence over him.  He is asking God to rule over him.  He is declaring that he is ready, willing and able to take on the mantle of God’s servant.  We could translate this verse, “Govern me, YHWH.”

Christians have the tendency to place a great deal of emphasis on sin.  In fact, we are particularly attuned to the idea of personal sin.  We see sin as the mountain to climb before we can be useful to God.  We think of sin as the axe that will fall and condemn us to hell.  We are acutely aware of our failures and we deflect our victories.  For us, sin is about judgment and judgment is about condemnation.   What’s startling is how lop-sided this view is when we really examine the biblical account.  Oh, don’t get me wrong.  Sin is very important.  But it is woven into the fabric of acts of righteousness, good will, mercy, spiritual triumph, deliverance, praise, devotion and celebration.  Under the Christian sky, we seem to have a constant forecast of gloom and doom.  But the Hebrew view is founded on shalom, sunshine in well-being in life.  To be ruled by God is to have shalom, even if life is filled with sin and repentance.  The Jewish sages recognized that the yetzer ha’ra is essential for human being.  That shifts the emphasis from sin to sacrifice.  Brother Lawrence believed that when we sin, we are to confess immediately – and then immediately move on with God.  The emphasis is not on all that I have done but rather on all that I am yet able to do.

“Govern me” leads me toward a life of obedience, free from the Accuser’s recall of past offenses.  It is a word that looks ahead whereas “judge me” often directs our attention behind.  David understood God as the God of shaphat.  We need to shift our vocabulary. The difference is monumental.

Topical Index:  shaphat, judge, govern, Psalm 26:1

Category: Today's Word  | Tags: , , ,  | 3 Comments

Fill Me Up

Friday, September 18th, 2009 | Author:

Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the LORD without wavering. Psalm 26:1

In My Integrity – Would you be able to make this request of the Lord? Can you honestly say you have walked with integrity and trusted God without wavering? That scares me. I know myself too well. So, how could David say such things? His life seems to have had its own share of disobedience. Is he so much different than I am?

When I read this verse in English, I stagger under the implications. How can I expect God to vindicate me? I go away discouraged and disillusioned. I’ll never make it. My sins overwhelm me. But when I read this verse in Hebrew, things change.

The Hebrew word here is tom. It’s an unusual word because it apparently comes from two distinct verbal roots. The first meaning of tom is to see something come to an end. You will find the word in Ezekiel 15:5, for example. Basically, it means to be completed or finished. It is commonly translated in Greek with teleios. That’s important because of the connection to Matthew 5:48. You’ll see why in a minute.

The second verbal root of this word describes moral uprightness or blamelessness. It’s used in the sacrificial system to describe the offering brought to the temple. Sometimes it’s applied to human beings, as in Song of Songs 5:2 where it describes the faultless beauty of the beloved. Of course, there is the very strange object called the thummin (Exodus 28:30), a word that comes from this same root.

What’s important about this word is that it is essentially ambiguous. You can only tell which meaning should be used from the context. Sometimes it’s about completion; sometimes it’s about blamelessness, and there’s no way to tell which one unless we examine the context of the passage.

David certainly uses the word in the sense of blameless. He claims that he has faithfully trusted the Lord and that his manner of life is blameless. Wait! What about Bathsheba (and a few other notable events)? David’s use of this word must mean his manner of life is in the direction of God, not that he has never fallen along the way. In other words, he has walked with integrity because he has not allowed sins to permanently derail him. He knows repentance and forgiveness, and on that basis, he claims blamelessness. David stands before the Lord a forgiven sinner, not a faultless saint.

Now let’s look at that difficult passage in Matthew 5:48. Have you ever wondered why the Greek translation of Yeshua’s reference to Leviticus is so messed up? Leviticus doesn’t say, “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” It says, “Be holy for I am holy.” How could the translator make such an enormous error? Why did he use teleios instead of agathos? Do you suppose he chose this Greek word because Yeshua used the Hebrew word tom in His commentary on the Leviticus passage? If He did, then the inherent ambiguity would allow the translator to choose either teleios or agathos and still be correct. Did Yeshua tell us to be fully complete or to be blameless – or maybe both at the same time? Maybe walking toward the Lord with a forgiven heart is the same as being complete. What do you think?

Topical Index: tom, blameless, complete, teleios, agathos, Psalm 26:1, Matthew 5:48

For today’s picture, click here – Antigua, Guatemala

Category: Today's Word  | Tags: , , , , , ,  | 9 Comments