Not Gibraltar
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Psalm 18:2 NASB
Rock – If you’re like most English readers, you will think that this is the translation of the Hebrew tsur, the usual word meaning “massive rock” or “mountain.” In other words, you will think of Jebel Tariq, the Arabic for “Jebel’s mountain,” later corrupted into the English “Gibraltar.” You will think David is comparing YHVH to the massive stone of places like Gibraltar. Therefore, it might surprise you to realize that David does not use tsur in his comparison. He uses the Hebrew sela’, a word that actually means a fissure in the rock, a cleft, a place of refuge within the mountain. David’s choice reminds us of Moses’ experience of the glory of the Lord. Moses was secured in an opening in the rock. He was protected from death in this fissure. Likewise, David considers YHVH not as a mountain of stone but rather as a place of safety, an opening in the massive threat of the world of stone-faced enemies. God is not Gibraltar. At least, not if you want to be rescued.
In the previous verse, David reminded us that strength is essentially feminine. It is only exceptionally masculine when attributed to YHVH. Now we see that David’s metaphor about the mountain is also a reminder that our conceptions of power are not God’s ideas of power. David’s God is a fissure, a place of safety, not a massive, foreboding presence. When God descends on Sinai, we encounter the God of power, but that God is dangerous and terrifying. David’s God is the God of raham, intimate love and connection, a God who protects and delivers us from the danger, even if that danger is found in Himself.
How often have we confused these two, wishing for a God of overwhelming power so that we might employ His strength as if He were our personal genie? How often have we read this verse and thought of granite edifices rather than clefts of safety? Do you suppose that our own desire for superhuman strength interferes with the reality of the Hebrew words? Do you think that maybe we are the ones who want the stone hammer of Thor in our hands rather than the tender caress of the mother for her unborn?
Do you really need a God of massive, stone-faced power? Do you need a God whose very presence threatens human life? Do you want a God whose holiness means your demise? Or are you hiding with David in the cleft of the rock, experiencing security as an unborn child surrounded by the womb?
Topical Index: rock, tsur, fissure, sela’, power, Psalm 18:2
Skip, I bought some of the lectures from when you were in Israel. I’m fascinated how we think as we’ve been taught from a translators perspective and not been given the chance to read what the text really says. I say all this to say, one, thanks! Two to say this reminds me of a song I believe it was by Eli who sang about dreaming of his mansion in heaven and getting there and it being a small shack. When he started asking around he was told, sorry that’s all the wood you sent. The whole picture I walked away with from the song was our perspectives are so opposite of what the word really says. Once again I’m in awe of how truly opposite YHVH is to what our logic thinks and the longer I’m around the more thankful I’m becoming about it!
“Do you think that maybe we are the ones who want the stone hammer of Thor in OUR hands rather than the tender caress of the mother for her unborn?” Great question! I love this question! I get really excited when I find a question like this, because it is a defining question, designed to reveal the thoughts and intents of the heart. Thank you, Skip!
I think that if I am motivated by the yetzer hara, which is a flesh response (reaction to) reality, then I am going to be perceiving reality as either an essential threat or as a potential opportunity; in other words, reality is something the flesh sees as already materialized and therefore needing to be either resisted or negotiated with. Both of those responses take power, but this would be the power of forces.
If, however, I am being motivated by the reflection of the Torah, I am going to see in that mirror either what I shoulda, woulda, coulda been (which are statements about the past, where I already screwed up and need forgiveness), or what I should, would, could be IN THE FUTURE (striving for that completion of connection, and therefore where I need the ability – which is the power (freedom) of CHOICE – to accomplish that). Both my (correct) view of the past and the future, however, are going to leave me with the same conclusion: I need help! I need my past sins washed away so that I can move again, for only when I am free to choose (move) can I get the power needed to choose rightly, but even when I do choose righteousness, I still cannot effect it, for I cannot generate the love (connection) that I am choosing, so I still need help! What I really need is a Saviour to free me from the death grip of my sin, and a Comforter (original meaning of the word (Webster’s 1828 Dictionary “1. To strengthen; to invigorate; to cheer or ENLIVEN.”) to return life (the power of the connection of love) to me so that I can accomplish that love in the world. A correct viewing of the Torah quickly leads us to the reminder that we cannot EVER do anything ‘on our own’! And we in the flesh don’t like to be reminded of that!
I don’t need a response to the past when I have been freed from that past by forgiveness, and I don’t need a way to manipulate or negotiate what I perceive WOULD BE the future, given the current trajectory. We are not supposed to steer our ship by the star of projection of that polluted past onto that future; oh, no. We are told that we are to walk by faith, and not by sight. The future, when it comes to love, is all about REWRITING the past, which is to say, fixing what went wrong in that past by super-imposing, or re-aligning the course of reality so as to return harmony back to the cosmos. This takes someone that is free to choose righteousness, but righteousness is the action of love that originates from far beyond me.
Both to be forgiven and to be a conduit of love require submission, but also a willingness to take responsibility for the mess, which includes, but is not limited to, repentance. I don’t need to be ‘backed up’ in my will: no, that would be Thor’s hammer, or that Gibralter rock. No, my will needs to be hidden, or eclipsed by, His. If I have been safely separated from my sins, and from the sins of others, then, and only then, is He going to answer my prayer, which is to annihilate that sin. He can only nuke the place when I have been tucked away, out of the line of fire. We don’t have to put up with sin, which is the only place that we are powerless. We have the way to get rid of sin, and thus be returned to the full expression of the power of His love through us. Halleluah!
Don’t be quite so harsh about the yetzer ha’ra. After all, it is the MOTIVATION behind you doing anything at all, including turning to God. The yetzer ha’ra is not the BAD guy here. The problem is not the motivation or the force to survive. The problem is DIRECTING that force through active choice. Those who have been affected by the sinful nature idea of Augustine often think of the yetzer ha’ra as if it is some sort of resident evil, but that just isn’t the case. Christian theology wants radical “ha’ra-ectomy.” Jewish thinking wants peace. There is a difference.
Thank you, Skip. I will take that to heart. So when we are instructed to YOKE up, is that talking about lining up our motive force with His? Kinda like a re-direct of energy instead of a squashing of it? To continue to want happiness, but now want Someone Else’s above my own as the re-definition of what makes me happy? i know that to love means what makes you happy makes me happy. Happiness changes focus, from me to you. I still get to be happy, but for different reasons. Am I getting warmer?
Yes, indeed.
A wonderful Savior is Jesus my LORD,
A wonderful Savior to me;
He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock,
Where rivers of pleasure I see.
He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock,
That shadows a dry, thirsty land;
He hideth my life in the depths of His love,
And covers me there with His hand,
And covers me there with His hand.
A wonderful Savior is Jesus my LORD,
He taketh my burden away,
He holdeth me up and I shall not be moved,
He giveth me strength as my day.
With numberless blessings each moment He crowns,
And filled with His fullness divine,
I sing in my rapture, oh, glory to God!
For such a Redeemer as mine.
When clothed with His brightness transported I rise
To meet Him in clouds of the sky,
His perfect salvation, His wonderful love,
I’ll shout with the millions on high.
He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock,
That shadows a dry, thirsty land;
He hideth my life in the depths of His love,
And covers me there with His hand,
And covers me there with His hand.
(Frances J. Crosby, pub.1890)
Dear Miss Crosby, — Which one of us is blind?
~ to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Me ~
(Acts 26.18)
I once was lost,
but now, am found
was blind,
but now I see.
I love how you brought out this cleft in the rock. A place of safety. So, if God desires to create a safe place for us to learn, be trained and grow in righteousness, then, we His people, should create safe places for others to learn and grow! Places where they feel they can open up and share and be vulnerable.
Hopefully, this is one of those places.
This revelation from Skip made me look again at the Psalm verse and this is what I saw:
Ps.18:2 mystery of “The Echad”
YHWH
my sela (m – Father)
(and) my fortress (f – Mother)
my deliverer [Pey/Lamed/Tet] (m – Son)
Elohim in whom I trust (is my)
tsur (m – Father)
shield (m – Son)
horn (f – Mother)
rescuer (m – Son)
high place (m – Father)
Interesting, but I am not sure you can make much out of the gender of nouns. After all, the Hebrew for foreskin (‘orlah), definitely a MALE apparatus, is a FEMININE noun. There are plenty of other examples of gender confusion in Hebrew. Like virtually all gender based noun languages. So, interesting, but, perhaps, irrelevant.
Technically, the female bit is removed, as a token of the covenant (bĕriyth – f), leaving the male bit (basar -m)
But, maybe just interesting.
Is anything in the scriptures irrelevant?
Right now, I need God to move a mountain. I’m in that place where I’m frustrated by things beyond my control. I need to rest and regroup in the cleft of the rock. I need to be there to seek wisdom. I need to trust that God will bring His plan to pass; I need to be still and know that He is God. That’s really hard sometimes. I imagine that David struggled in a similar manner, yet He still said YHVH was his rock, fortress, and deliverer. Thor’s hammer won’t help me; only God can change the minds of people.
Aren’t we in that sort of similar place at one time or another; but may ABBA grant you your heart’s desires, to see you through this difficult times. Our prayers are with you. Shalom!