Rolling Right Along
Commit your way to YHWH, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. Psalm 37:5 (Hebrew text)
Commit – The Hebrew language is wonderfully tactile. It’s a language formed from the land, full of nice, clean dirt under the fingernails, streams of water, sun on your back and wind in your hair. So, we don’t expect to find esoteric conceptualizations and cognitive abstractions here. When we encounter a word like “commit,” we expect to get some very earthy pictures. Galal fits the bill.
Galal is tied to some very concrete experiences. In Genesis 29:8, Joshua 10:18 and Proverbs 26:27, it describes rolling away stones. It is used metaphorically in Genesis 43:18 (throw against) and literally in Isaiah 9:5 (robes rolled in blood). The principal imagery of galal is “to roll.” So, how can this word be about commitment? For the answer, we must look at another context – the Song of Solomon.
Put me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death, jealousy is as severe as Sheol; its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD. Song of Solomon 8:6
Song of Songs places sexual intensity, passion, desire and fulfillment under the authority of the “seal.” At the conclusion of this great love poem, the woman instructs the man to “put me like a seal” over his heart and on his arm. The word translated “seal” is hotham. It describes a cylindrical piece of stone with an external carved inscription. When this cylinder is rolled over a soft material, it leaves a raised impression that establishes legal ownership over the object. Like a signet ring, the seal permanently establishes an unbreakable legal and moral bond. In the ancient near-Eastern cultures, ownership was established by rolling the cylinder over the possession. To commit is to be “rolled over,” to submit to ownership, an unbreakable covenant bond.
When the psalmist instructs us to commit our way to YHWH, he is telling us to allow God’s seal of ownership to make its permanent impression on our lives. He is telling us that God must take complete control of our very existence. From this point on, God owns us.
Did you notice that the psalmist separates “commit” from “trust”? We tend to think of these two abstract concepts as though they are merely synonyms. But once we see that “commit” is a mark of ownership, a deliberate, concrete act of allowing God to “roll over” me, then we see that “trust” is independent of this concrete act. I can be owned by another and still not trust him. The psalmist must have been familiar with slaves who were owned by a master but who never trusted the master. Not so with God. We must be rolled over and govern our behavior according to His reliability. There is more here, but that will have to wait.
There are signs of ownership rolled on to God’s people. Do you see His mark on you?
Topical Index: galal, commit, roll, Psalm 37:5
This is timely! I’m marked, having willing chosen His ownership (though I make a mess of obedience sometimes), but I’m struggling with the remembering the reliability part (trust). I accepted a new position and resigned my old job, but since then everything has gone crazy – missing paperwork, two sets of profiles with different social security numbers (slip of the finger, I guess… I don’t even remember making it), people who don’t answer their phones or call back and seem happy to take their time in the process, and it goes on… There is SO much riding on the quick and successful completion of this process (like being able to feed my family – literally), and it just seems like molasses. I KNOW that God has been faithful in the past. Yet, I am struggling daily to breathe and not freak out.
Yesterday, I was re-listening to an mp3 in the Hebrew Worldview series and Skip talked about Yeshua’s purposeful delay in going to see Lazarus when he was sick (dead, really) so that the miracle would be undeniably God’s. I feel like I’m there – 4 days later waiting for a miracle, waiting for salvation – reinforcements when the battle seems lost.
So, this is a good word to remind me that I have committed myself to YHWH. I am still learning to trust, I guess, but I must continue to give up the control I crave, even when it’s scary (terrifying, sometimes). He is goodness and faithfulness, and they cannot be separated from Him. Breathe, remember, trust, peace. I am not in control, my owner is.
I commit my way to YHWH, I trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.
Yeah God!
I pictured the act of rolling out dough. I don’t know if you are familiar with southern cuisine……but I like to “roll” my own dough for chicken and pastry. I roll it very thin and it almost melts in your mouth. There is a certain point where, if rolled too thin, it falls apart. If you cook it too long, it also becomes mushy and the consistency is less than desired. May I say that the One who gives us Bread of Life is working in your life RIGHT NOW, and He will make sure everything is PERFECT FOR HIS GLORY! Here is my email…I would like to bless you and your family: mer.snead@yahoo.com
Mary- you “are” a blessing!- I love to “consume” your words.
Speaking of “rolling out the dough”, there is also the proper “time” to cook or bake it in the oven. (which is where Amanda find herself right now!..)
YHWH is (also) the Master Chef. (lol!- “to what will you compare me?” Isaiah 40.25) Praise His name- He knows “how hot” and “how long..” “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And G-d is Faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. (I Corinthians 10.13)
Yes, we (all) are going to feel some “heat.” (My daughter reminded me this morning- I use quote marks far too often… sorry!).
Remember the three young Hebrew men that were cast into the (s’more quote marks!) “fiery furnace.” Was it a real furnace? Yes. Was it a real fire? Yes. This event did take place- “back in the day.” (Sorry,- some habits are hard to break!)
N’vukhadnetzar became so utterly enraged that his face was distorted with anger against Shadrakh, Meishakh and ‘Aved-N’go. He ordered the furnace made seven times hotter than usual. (Daniel 3.19) Seven times hotter! Seven times. Seven- the number of perfection. A perfectly heated furnace. The “perfectly heated” furnace of affliction.
I love (love) this story. I’ve seen this same story repeated many, many times. To a “degree” it is repeated every day. Yes! We’re still (here they come again..) “feelin’ the heat!”
“In this world you will have tribulation.” (John 16.33) -I didn’t say it- He did. So, what is the “rest” of the story? Hallelujah.. “But,” (love those big Bible buts!) “be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16.33)
Fast forward a few thousand years to James. “Count it all joy when you fall into various trials- “knowing” the trying of your faith worketh patience (endurance). (James 1.2)
And (Amanda) do not forget the “fourth man” in the furnace! (BTW- “the fining pot for silver, and the furnace for gold!”) – Is G-d going for the gold? lol! -Rejoice!
Not only “how hot” but also- “how long?” The Master Chef has never burned a biscuit!- (not once!) “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” (1 Peter 5.10) Praise G-d!- there is an “after!”
Thank you guys for your encouragement and FABULOUS reminders of God’s greatness and purpose! If the fire is stoked to purify gold, even if it’s seven times hotter, then I will remember to praise Him for the work He does to purify my life, making me more like Him, and restoring me stronger, more firm and steadfast in His hands! And, thank you for reminding me that even in the midst of the furnace, Yeshua was there walking around with them.
Blessings to you!
–To commit is to be “rolled over,” to submit to ownership, an unbreakable covenant bond.–
And this is why, y’all, I support this website. Keep this word. A singular word “commit” (to submit to ownership). I submit the words Yeshua spoke are the keys and clues to life. “the words I speak unto you- they are breath and they are life. Pay attention (heed).. oops!- pay close attention- listen closely (not loosely) to the word(s) of the LORD. “Heed”- who knew? “Heed my words young man!” (what on earth does “heed” mean? – Our attitude?- (who knows.. and who cares..)- “Listen up!”- “Shema!” (are you listening?)- good! Now “hear” (taste it again for the first time) -the word(s) of the LORD..
Where are these life-giving, life-sustaining words found? “Your words were found, and I did eat them; and your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart: for I am called by your name, O LORD God of hosts. (Jeremiah 15.16) Have you “heard” the testimony of Jeremiah? Is his “story” – your “story?”
Do we “delight” and feast on the “breakfast of champions?” or is the Bible just another book, gathering dust on the shelf?
Thank you brother Skip, for this marvelous “feast” today! Our Father, gladly, fully, freely I submit and commit to your Sovereign ownership over me. In every area, and in every place. In every thought and in every action, I submit and commit my heart, soul, mind and strength to serving the ONE who gave His life’s blood for me on Calvary’s tree. Inhabit your habitation, spirit of the living G-d. Enable and empower me this very day, both to know and to do what is pleasing in your sight. This I ask, at your invitation, and because Calvary made this prayer possible. Amen.