Now the Enemy Shows Up
You will pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me, for You are my strength. Psalm 31:4 NASB
Net– Caught! Tangled up! Trapped! In the mind-body-spirit combination of nephesh (person), feeling captured in one area always affects the rest of life. Often we have freedom of movement but are imprisoned inside. We struggle to get loose but the net only tightens. Our efforts are futile because the real solution is not of our making. Change your circumstances? Break off a relationship? Move to another place? Practice a new discipline? Nope! Doesn’t work. The same “you” is still there—in the net. Hebrew’s metaphorical use of ordinary life experiences shows how the language is tied to practical concepts. The net that catches birds becomes the feeling of being caught—by enemies or by our own destructive acts.
It’s important to recognize that this word, rešet, is a derivative of the Hebrew verb yāraš. The verb expresses a great deal more than the physical bonds of a net. It’s umbrella covers “take possession of, dispossess, inherit, disinherit, occupy, seize, be an heir,” and “impoverish.”[1] It plays a crucial role in Israel’s covenant relationship with YHVH and the land. The metaphor of the net brings the reality of our sense of liberty to the foreground. When we feel constrained by outside or inside forces, we need help, and for David, that help must come from God.
“You will pull me out” is a translation from the verb yāṣāʾ. It means, “to go out.” We find it in the description of the exodus. Going out implies release from prior captivity. It’s about open spaces, the internal and external ability to be fully alive. David needs rescue from conspiring enemies, but notice that he doesn’t ask for deliverance. He simply proclaims that YHVH does deliver. Just as David’s previous words extolled the tender and loving character of the Lord, so now he highlights God’s desire to save. Pleas, repentance, contrition, penitence are not foremost in David’s proclamation. He isn’t on bended knee, wringing his hands and shedding tears in hopes that God will hear him. He is praising the integrity and moral uprightness of his God. That is enough.
But is it enough for us? Have we come to the place of total confidence in God’s character so that we don’t need to remind Him of His obligations toward us? Or are we still constrained by the long tradition teaching us that God only responds when we practice rituals of penance? Do we think God needs to be convinced to be God? So it seems if we observe religious practice. Of course, there are times when we will fall to our knees. There are times when we will cry out in pain. There are times when the crush of the world erupts in salty streams. But if we think that these are necessary before God will rescue, then perhaps we’re still serving the pagan gods of appeasement.
Topical Index: reset, net, yāṣāʾ, go out, yāraš, rescue, Psalm 31:4
[1]Hartley, J. E. (1999). 920 יָרַשׁ. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer, Jr. & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament(R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer, Jr. & B. K. Waltke, Ed.) (electronic ed.) (409). Chicago: Moody Press.
Just understood that a close friend of mine would rather continue to study Biblical Hebrew as opposed to conversational Hebrew. Although I do not understand all the depths that you share. I think this post is a excellent post to share with her, and hopefully her eyes of her understanding will open to the wisdom and the knowledge of Messiah through his word.
Brother Brett, please encourage her to look into paleo-Hebrew as well. The ancient hieroglyphics help us understand the meaning of the words. Jeff Benner and Frank Seekins have both done exceptional work regarding understanding them.
Thank you Leslee, it’s not the knowledge we contain it’s the wisdom we share.
P.S. I am intrigued by the way you spell your name. I have a sister Leslie I didn’t see it spelled any other way.
You are welcome, Brother Brett. My parents named me after my grandfather, spelled Leslie like your sister, and spelled it Leslee, they told me, because #1 I’m a girl, and #2 they wanted me to be different. I have only seen it spelled so a handful of times. And I’m curious: do you all pronounce her name Lez-lee? Being named after my grampa, I grew up with it pronounced the way it is spelled. I learned in my adulthood (from a good man sharing wisdom) that Les-lee is the masculine and Lez-lee is the feminine pronunciation. I’ve also seen it Lesley (women only), and one of our community here at TW spells it Lesli.
That good man freed me from the intolerance of “misspellings” and “mispronunciations” I’d spent my life until then correcting. Such a valuable lesson as I’ve walked this “way of faith”. Blessings to you!
Leslee,
From what I can see
You are not “Less than Lee”
Whoever he may be.
Nor do you claim to be
“More than Leigh”
Whoever she may be.
But You are THE one Leslee
who has happily joined
with the We
who are also worshipping
the One and only HE.
Good morning! A lot of thoughts raced through my mind as I repeatedly read today’s word and your comments Skip! Maybe we get trapped by what we allow, we want to experience freedom without surrendering that which keeps us in the fracas. The enemy is no fool. I once heard a sermon based on the scripture ( Psalm 14:1) that says, “the fool says in his heart there is no God”, but he changed it to the fool says, “no, God!”. I think so often we come face-to-face with the fact that God does not change! He has no need to change! We are the ones who are being changed from 1° of glory to another, although, that changing doesn’t always feel glorious! …..afterwards, it reaps the peaceable fruit of righteousness! Thank you for that word, I needed it today, more than I knew !
“Maybe we get trapped by what we allow, we want to experience freedom without surrendering that which keeps us in the fracas.”
Hear, hear, Larry!
When I think of begging, I think of a child wanting to get his or her ‘way’ without compliance. The whining is a judgment, in essence, on the parent. The whining says “it’s not fair”. In my house, this parent’s ears could not hear whining. Praise and trust, however? I would do anything for that child!