Double Time

Trouble and anguish have come upon me, yet Your commandments are my delight.  Psalm 119:143  NASB

Trouble and anguish – Sometimes English has difficulty capturing the full range of Hebrew even if multiple words are used.  ḥesed is an example.  But sometimes that fact that Hebrew uses one word when English requires more than one is just as important.  Such is the case here.  What Hebrew combines into a single idea, English separates into two ideas.  That makes it seem as though there are two distinct things occurring here, but if we realize that there is only one word, one combined, hyphenated word, then we discover that Hebrew doesn’t view these as two independent experiences.  “Trouble and anguish” are all mixed together.  Homogenized distress.

The combined single word is ṣǎrû-māṣôq.  The first part of this double word is ṣǎr.  It means “trouble, distress, anguish, i.e., be in a state of very unfavorable circumstances, implying emotional distress.”^[1]  But that isn’t enough for the poet.  He combines this with māṣôq.  “ṣûq refers to strong inner motivation or great external pressure.”^[2]  It’s interesting that another root spelled with the same consonants means “to pour out, to melt.”  Let’s paint the full picture.  Not only is the poet in some stringent circumstances, feeling the pressure from the outside, he’s also experiencing a strong inner force.  It’s as if his outside and inside world are both collapsing at the same time.  A double earthquake of circumstances and emotions.  While the English suggests that this is happenstance (“have come upon me”), that’s not how the poet feels.  His verb is māṣāʾ which means “to find.”  This terrible external and internal disaster has found him.  It’s as if it had been seeking him all along.  He’s been hiding from disaster but now his cover is blown and it’s burying him alive in trouble and anguish.

Before we examine his reply, we need to ask, “How is this possible for someone who is fully dedicated to the Lord and who meticulously keeps the commandments?”  Maybe sinners or reprobates or backsliders have this experience, but certainly not those “spirit-filled” dedicated souls totally sold-out to God.  If they can’t avoid the prowling lion, who can?  And if they can’t, why should we even bother to try to be good enough for God?  We’re still ravaged.

Of course, this is the up-close-and-personal version of the “why do bad things happen to good people” question.  The poet just dumps all the theoretical jargon and goes straight to the pressure point.  And he doesn’t give us any answer at all!  In fact, there might not be a humanly satisfying answer.  There might be theoretical, theologically affirming answers, but when it comes to the personal experience of collapse, those answers seem rather pathetic.  They don’t do a thing to stop the pain.  More likely, our pain is increased because we believe (even if we don’t say it) that God should protect us from the roaring lion.  And yet– ṣǎrû-māṣôq find us.

The psalmist is not a theologian.  He’s a journalist.  He reports his circumstances.  He describes his feelings.  He doesn’t attempt to make rational sense of it all.  What he knows goes beyond the demand for rational sense.  What he knows is that God’s miṣwot are his šǎ·ʿ^ǎšǔ·ʿîm.  God’s commandments, not The Commandments, but rather all that father-to-son instruction and nourishing, all that is his šǎ·ʿ^ǎšǔ·ʿîm, delight, that is, a state of happiness characterized by being cheerful.  Wow!

What’s the answer to trouble and anguish?  Laughing.  Laughing because God cares about me.  Laughing because in the end that’s all that matters.  Joy unspeakable.

Topical Index: šǎ·ʿ^ǎšǔ·ʿîm, delight, ṣǎrû-māṣôq, trouble and anguish, Psalm 119:143

^[1] Swanson, J. (1997). In Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.). Logos Research Systems, Inc.

^[2] Hartley, J. E. (1999). 1895 צוּק. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 760). Moody Press.