The Path Not Chosen
I have restrained my feet from every evil way, so that I may keep Your word. Psalm 119:101 NASB
Restrained – “When you come to a fork in the road, take it,” said Yogi Bera. Perhaps he was right. The rabbis taught that when a man wishes to follow the way of God, the Lord will assist him in his choices. But if a man wishes to follow his own ways, the Lord will not prevent the opportunity. The relevant issue is restraint. kālāʾ is the Hebrew verb that means “to withhold, to shut up, to keep back, to refrain, to forbid.” The derivatives include “imprisonment” and “enclosure.” “kālaʾ seems to indicate the interruption of what is in progress or would naturally be in progress.”[1] With this in mind, we can apply the rabbis’ insight. What is the “natural” progression of these events? kālaʾ is the interruption of this progression.
What does this mean? Well, let’s use an example. You’re strolling through the park. You see a man in an argument with a woman. As you watch, the argument becomes heated. Now there’s some pushing and shoving. Should you intervene? These are complete strangers. You could easily bypass the situation and take no personal risk. But it looks as if the confrontation could escalate. kālaʾ is the natural progression—in either direction. It could be the progression if you don’t interrupt or the progression if you do interrupt. How will you decide? What principles or values do you hold that justify either action? You must employ bîn, that is, the savvy of determining the right thing to do. Theory won’t help much here. Action is what matters. But you can certainly see the potential risks either way. Do you restrain the impulse to intercede or do you restrain the impulse to stay uninvolved?
The answer should be found in the second part of our verse—the desire to keep God’s word—and God has a lot to say about social responsibility for the other. Leviticus 19:18 comes to mind. How would you apply this commandment here? What does loving your neighbor mean here—for you and for the others? Keeping God’s word (the verb is šāmar) is more than personal purity and morality. It’s clarified in Yeshua’s description of Kingdom citizens: desperate for God, aware of my mortality, humble, in pursuit of righteousness, guided by ḥesed, cognizant of my own failings, willing to make peace for others, ready to be rejected for God’s name’s sake. In a word, the Beatitudes. Now what do you do?
There’s also the escalation of our choices to follow the inclinations of the yetzer ha’ra. That path generates its own velocity, often so much so that once it starts it’s almost impossible to derail. Again, kālaʾ, interrupting the process. We all have personal experiences with this. Luzzatto emphasized recognizing the first step along this path, and applying kālaʾimmediately, before the next step generates momentum. In either case, there is a strong connection between discipline (applying kālaʾ) and keeping (guarding) God’s word. It’s not that if you fail you’ll damage the divine words. It’s rather that you damage the reputation of the source of those words. That has consequences too.
Topical Index: kālaʾ process, interruption, šāmar, guard, keep, Psalm 119:101
[1] Oswalt, J. N. (1999). 980 כָלָא. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 438). Moody Press.
