Six by Nine
In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God for help; He heard my voice out of His temple, and my cry for help before Him came into His ears. Psalm 18:6 NASB
In my distress – batstsarli – “in my distress” – is the place of confinement. The narrow place. The place that constricts. The six by nine prison cell. God builds fences, but they surround the open spaces of His grace. Distress is that state of mind when I realize that I am the prisoner of my efforts to contain what haunts me. We build prison cells thinking that we can cage the beast within only to discover that the door is shut on us. Carefully we constructed the outside of the cell. Cautiously we invited the hidden self inside. But the door shut before we could escape and here we are, locked in with all that we feared.
Batstsarli—in my psychic prison I cried out. There was no other way. And if the Lord should not hear my cry, should not turn His attention toward me, should not notice my call, then the beast within will slowly devour me. It has already begun to eat.
By now we have learned that theology is not the solution. We may have all the right answers and still be lost, held captive in the prison of our secrets. If we treat the Bible as a theological text, it may provide insights into the nature of God and the structure of the universe, but it will not touch our hearts. For that, perhaps the most important action, we must hear the cry of those who found YHVH. The Bible must become a passport into the lives of men and women who were touched by God. Its stories must be read as our stories, the accounts of those like us who fought for integrity, honor and truth. Most of all, the Bible must become the book of permission—the permission to seek with all our hearts no matter what we experience in the process. One cannot find God where there is no room to cry.
Distress is constriction, according to Hebrew thought. Its opposite, peace, is the open place and in the open place there are no unacceptable emotions. We are allowed, in fact, encouraged, to feel the heartbeat of the Lord. That means we will encounter remorse, anger and disappointment. But we will also swim in pools of joy, deliverance and restoration. The rainbow of emotions will be our access points into the realm of the Spirit. With Paul, we can be angry, and not sin. We can experience the double peace of Isaiah and the sorrow of David. We will come upon the ecstasy of Song and the calamity of Jeremiah. We will feel life and revel in it.
The cure for distress is not escape. The cure is humbleness. Distress is the work of YHVH, the reminder that life is His, not ours. The struggles to escape the prisons we have constructed only lead us further into confinement. The way out is submission to His hand, falling face down before the Redeemer with the cry, “I am a prisoner to myself, Lord. Have mercy on me.”
Topical Index: distress, tsarar, confined, emotions, humility, Psalm 18:6
I treasure your writings , and the comments ,they are comforting -that I am not alone in my discoveries of YHVH , i am with you on the same path side by side even though we haven’t met ,contending for YHVH in these spaces ….I am in awe & wonder how many times you write on truths of shame, love , self, life,death in the same way & day the I am too!!! I love you Skip !♡
I am thankful for you Skip !!
Concur with cbcb. You are blessing Skip and I pray that the Almighty bless and keep you as you continue to do battle with the enemy from within the cell, and without. Shalom
Amen! And I thought he was writing only to me. 🙂
Break Every Chain
The Spirit of Adonai Elohim is upon me,
because Adonai has anointed me
to announce good news to the poor.
He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted;
to proclaim freedom to the captives,
to let out into light those bound in the dark;
to proclaim the year of the favor of Adonai
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn,
yes, provide for those in Tziyon who mourn,
giving them garlands instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
a cloak of praise instead of a heavy spirit,
so that they will be called oaks of righteousness
planted by Adonai, in which He takes pride.
They will rebuild the ancient ruins,
restore sites long destroyed;
they will renew the ruined cities,
destroyed many generations ago.
Strangers will stand and feed your flocks,
foreigners plow your land and tend your vines;
but you will be called cohanim of Adonai,
spoken of as ministers to our God.
You will feed on the wealth of nations,
and revel in their riches.
Because of your shame, which was doubled,
and because they cried, “They deserve disgrace,”
therefore in their land what they own will be doubled,
and joy forever will be theirs.
“For I, Adonai, love justice;
I hate robbery for burnt offerings.
So I will be faithful to reward them
and make an eternal covenant with them.”
Their descendants will be known among the nations,
their offspring among the peoples;
all who see them will acknowledge
that they are the seed Adonai has blessed.
I am so joyful in Adonai!
My soul rejoices in my God,
for He has clothed me in salvation,
dressed me with a robe of triumph,
like a bridegroom wearing a festive turban,
like a bride adorned with her jewels.
For just as the earth brings forth its plants,
or a garden makes its plants spring up,
so Adonai, God, will cause victory and glory
to spring up before all nations.
What is the Gospel (the Good News) of the Messiah?
Carl,
What happened to the agreement that we should all write shorter posts…per Skip’s request????
MILLIONS OF EYES ,CLOGGED
millions of eyes are clogged with a common tear
because of tangled fates – endless calamities.
God, pass me Your weapons!
let me slash through the gordian knots
of the idolatrous embroidery of people’s star-shaped fate!
No, I don’t want to wear Your fists!
I only beg, demand of You
that You tell bacillae ” do not murder”!
avert catastrophe and rampage,
chase away bloodthirst in man and beast!
hang me like a scarecrow
over the world’s volcanoes,
and make Yourself the Guardian
of pores of living skins:
let no bacillae enter!
I am responsible for You too
and demand of You – feel!
like us, like me.
if not, I’ll wonder around and scream
that God has forgotten His heart with me –
Abraham Heschel
Just that at times, (not for fear of condemnation) but I don’t really know how to express my emotions to YHWH, nor anyone else. : -( but, to seek for His Presence that He knows what’s going on. So, “One cannot find God where there is no room to cry.”
“The cure for distress is (definitely) not escape”, but running to ABBA.
“Its stories must be read as our stories, the accounts of those like us who fought for integrity, honor and truth.” Amein!