Shake, Rattle and Roll
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.
ma’ad: to slip, slide, totter, shake.
Remember Yeshua’s words to Peter- “I have prayed for you that your faith does not fail”. “But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” Luke 22.32.
And His words prior to this were: “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat.” (Luke 22.31) Satan has desired to “shake you.”
Have you ever been “shaken?” Have you ever been “sifted?” Has there ever been a crisis situation in your life where the “foundations have been removed?”
During this time of testing- where were you anchored? David said in Psalm 1: “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!” (v.2)-“But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.”
And now for the “good news!” -“He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.”
The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; (Psalm 92.12) Having grown up in sunny south Florida, I will testify to the amazing ability of the palm trees to “weather the storm.”
Jesus prayed for Peter. Has there ever been a prayer from Jesus that was not answered? -Short answer:no. “Ask and you shall receive.’ (I’m sure we have heard these words before.) Therefore,I’m asking this day..
Lord Jesus- pray for me, that my faith “fail not.” Empower me, energize me, enlighten me. Cause me my Savior and Deliverer to be “awake and aware” to the deceptive darts of the devil this day. Help me to remember your words that I the child and the learner would remember my Master and be quick to say, “it is written” in every situation and circumstance I go through this day. I thank you for your promise- you will never place upon us more that we are able to bear and for this I praise you. I thank you my Savior for the privilege to be called your son and ask that I would walk worthy of the family name. Hide me my Savior “in the secret place”, and cause me to be rooted and grounded in love. Draw me close to you my Sovereign Shepherd and allow me to abide near the still waters and green pastures of your Presence. I will give unto you my Abba, the glory due unto your mighty name. Teach me O Lord, to pray without ceasing. This prayer I offer because of Calvary and at your invitation. Amen.
Shalom Skip … I concur with the rendering of מְעַד … the use in the Psalms points to slipping feet, sliding steps as well as tottering loins! It would seem that these uses are certainly more tactical than abstract … more behavioral than mental.
What I find interesting is the pictograph construct of mem (chaos) – ayin (experience/see) – dalet (pathway/tent door) … (correct me anyone if this is off base)
Seems to me a clear construct that puts us squarely in the middle … a place where we need to choose between the path or the world. Obviously this is a decision that confronts us on a continual basis … we can not escape what confronts us … but we surely can stay the path despite our doubts and temptations. (Well as best as we can since we are always a “WIP – Work In Progress”)
How many times we have beaten ourselves up over unclean thoughts ( 🙁 ) … single mindedness for me is a desire of the heart that rarely plays out during the course of a day … yet my steps are far more controllable!
Nice message Skip … 🙂
“Mem is chaos. Daleth is door or path.”
Hi Drew,
I tend to think of Mem as the unconscious mind and Daleth as consciousness.
Our unconscious mind is a “cauldron of desires” (Freud) that continually yearns for self gratification.
As we mature, our conscious mind or lamp (Jesus) lights the way toward serving Others (Moral Action).
The evil impulses are always there, but I see no reason to feel guilt or shame unless we act on these impulses; why give them any unnecessary focus?
I love all the passages in Scripture that tell me “to do” something or not “to do something” (practical obedience) but what kills me most is when I think and therefore believe that I am first capable of doing what is right and avoiding what is wrong which leaves me mostly with just “striving” with God rather than “living” with and for God and in His power. Words such as “yielding” and “surrendering” come to mind as the foundation for sourcing and resourcing my capabilities to act in obedience to God’s instructions and will. Do I need all the information or justification for obedience before I obey? No. But do I need a heart that seeks after God and desires to obey? Yes. And I don’t believe that we can ever presuppose that our hearts daily seek after God and seek to obey Him in our lives until and unless we first recognize that we must surrender to His will and that only He can then impassion us with the desire to do so daily. I might “want to” but I can’t regularly obey without pleading for His help. So, Hebrew might be “action” (obedience) first “desire” later but only aligning our desires with His desire will ever sustain us for the long haul….I need God’s heart and power more than just my own capabilities to act and obey (or as we discover, disobey which comes more easily to us than obedience).
Take for example Psalm 51:12-13 “Restore to me the joy of YOUR salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.” (This is David’s post-Bathsheba, Nathan confronting, psalm of repentance). There is a recognition in this prayer that David needs regular restoration from a source outside himself and that he needs God to give him a submissively obedient “will” to sustain him, not just every once in awhile, but regularly….And of course, this is the most effective tool for ministry to others and assurance of true evangelistic success (forget the seeker and other church growth movements for evangelism) because verse 13 informs us of the outcome of the answer to the prayer in verse 12.
Or I think of that Psalm which basically says “Incline” my heart toward your word – meaning that my heart doesn’t naturally incline itself towards God’s word and even needs to be impassioned by God before receiving and becoming capable of obeying God’s instructions.
Or the passage in Hebrews that informs us to “fix” our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith and the Greek word for “fix” meaning not to “stare at” but rather to move my “eyes” from one place toward another, i.e. the author is already informing us that our eyes need constant re-adjusting…from our path towards Jesus.
If I only stay in the realm of “doing”, it presupposes that I am already capable of and want to “do” for God when in fact, I may not even have the capacity to “do” as God instructs or even the “want to”. I need to daily ask God to impassion me with His desires to obey and act on His instructions, recognizing that anything less is most likely either my efforts alone (“striving”) or Pharisee-like legalism (external “self-righteousness”). Best to start our prayers, Lord, I often don’t want to obey you…but please Lord, “restore to me the joy of YOUR Salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me” today.
David … very nice!
Lord, I often don’t want to obey you…but please Lord, “restore to me the joy of YOUR Salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me” today. …… Ahmein!
-we must surrender to His will and that only He can then impassion us with the desire to do so daily-
well-stated brother David. Another affirmation of the scriptures.. “for all things come of Thee and of thine own have we given unto thee.” (1 Chronicles 29.14) Even our desires to “do right” or the desire to do what pleases our Abba must come from G-d himself. It is Christ (who is) in us, (who is) the hope of glory (the certainty of beauty). “For it is G-d who works in us both the willing and the working according to His good pleasure.” (Philippians 2.13)
Now, if we realize and recognize the Source of this new desire (or passion), does it not inspire and inflame us to pray even more fervently, “here am I, send me?” (Isaiah 6.8)
my sister has dyslexia but she can live a very normal life eventhough she can’t read that much.**