The More the Merrier?
Lord, how my enemies have increased! Many are rising up against me. Psalm 3:1 NASB
Have increased – I want to take this out of context. Why? Because there’s something important here that is not related to the physical enemies David faced. There are other kinds of enemies. Most of us don’t live in a war zone, don’t face treachery, don’t risk losing a kingdom to a rebellious son. We struggle against private enemies, secret ones that have attacked and invaded our spiritual fortifications. They are perhaps the most dangerous for the fact that they can’t be easily recognized, and even when they are, we soon discover that they are us—some part of who we are that stands in opposition to full dedication to YHVH. Judaism labels these enemies under the collective yetzer ha’ra, an appropriate way to acknowledge the rebel within, but I’m of the opinion that yetzer ha’ra is a bit too technical. Those words allow us to create a small space between myself and the yetzer ha’ra, like Paul’s description in Romans 7 of that almost alien force disrupting even my best efforts. I like the idea of the yetzer ha’ra because it shifts my thinking away from the standard “original sin” of Reformation Christianity. But I don’t like thinking that the yetzer ha’ra is me!
“My enemies have increased” writes David. I could say the same. It seems that the longer I live, the more I am confronted with this powerful yetzer ha’ra enemy contingent boring into the spiritual recesses I thought were protected. It takes only the smallest opening. Like those silver fish that show up in my bathroom. I don’t know how they get in. I try to close all the tiny cracks but they still find a way. There must be a tiny hole in my thinking. The Hebrew verb is rābab. It means “to become many, much.” Interestingly, there is a second Hebrew root of the same consonants that means “to shoot,” as an archer shoots an arrow. Attack mode. Piercing weapon. Dangerous. Yes, that’s how I feel about rābab. Its derivatives include “ten thousand.” Of course, you will know rab, “great.” David may have meant that his enemies were growing in number. Mine are growing in intensity. What can I say? God knows. That’s the intention of this opening verse. God knows. He knows the power of this conflict, the desperation in the intensity. He knows the despondency, the hopelessness of fighting against myself, the endless restlessness of “not understanding what I am doing; for I am not practicing what I want to do, but I do the very thing I hate.”
“Enemies.” The word is ṣâr—to bind, make narrow, cause distress, besiege. What is an enemy? Anything that ties me up, holds me back, diminishes my zest for life, restricts my ability to stay in tune with God. Oh, there are a lot of them when I think about it. Some much more powerful than others. All intent on separating me from my love of God (not His love for me, fortunately). Maybe David knew this kind of enemy too. How many things, ideas, behaviors, attitudes bind me, cause me distress? Quite a few, I’m afraid. Maybe this psalm is more appropriate than it first appeared.
Topical Index: enemy, ṣâr, rābab, many, much, yetzer ha’ra, Romans 7:15, Psalm 3:1
It is in truth that for freedom Christ has set us free. At the same time, our freedom is experienced in the context of enslavement; that is to say, as bondslaves to Christ.
In this existential condition—that of life as Christ’s bondslaves made effectual by the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit emancipating and empowering us—we are made recipients of the same inheritance as Christ, the Son, even so as to be called children of the Father alongside the Son. However, it is also in this existential condition that we, too, stand exposed to every vile and demonic threat and attack that is set against our Master and Lord. Despite this, we are called to persist, being faithful alongside him who is the Father’s elect and anointed Lord and Saviour…though we remain in the presence and active pursuit of his (and now also our) enemies.
“So if the son sets you free, you will be truly free.” (Cf. John 8:36); “For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.” (Cf. Galatians 5:1); “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” (Cf. 2 Corinthians 3:17); “Live as free persons, and not using your freedom as a covering for evil, but as slaves of God.” (1 Peter 2:16)
“Moshe Chaim Luzzatto wrote in Derech Hashem that “Man is the creature created for the purpose of being drawn close to God. He is placed between perfection and deficiency, with the power to earn perfection. Man must earn this perfection, however, through his own free will… Man’s inclinations are therefore balanced between good (Yetzer HaTov) and evil (Yetzer HaRa), and he is not compelled toward either of them. He has the power of choice and is able to choose either side knowingly and willingly”.[1616]Way of God, Moshe Ḥayyim Luzzatto, 1998. “He has the power of choice, and is able to choose either side, knowingly and willingly, and possess whichever one he wishes. Man was therefore created with both a Good Urge (Yetzer HaTov) and an Evil Urge (Yetzer HaRa).”
According to the Talmudic tractate Avot de-Rabbi Natan, a boy’s evil inclination is greater than his good inclination until he turns 13 (bar mitzvah), at which point the good inclination is “born” and able to control his behavior.[6] Moreover, the rabbis have stated: “The greater the man, the greater his [evil] inclination.”[7].
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Babylon – Remember
Skip Moen June 7, 2023
“Counterintuitively, Adam and the woman become fully human when they exercise the choice to obey their yetzer ha’ra. Potential is not existential until it is converted into the actual, but once it becomes actual the consequences alter existential reality. When we choose, we become different persons. We construct our own identity, one choice at a time. Watchfulness is choosing to change direction, to go in the direction of God’s animating breath, one step at a time. The second time in the Garden should not be the first time again.”
This was the conclusion of the post in 2023. Reading the whole post gives the context if the conflict.
Skip, I know this is a long reply but is was difficult to get all the thoughts out and need to review writings and select coherent texts. The conclusion being that the yetzer ha’ra is necessary to activate free will and to drive one to the yetzer ha’tov to draw closer to God and doing His will. Consequently, the closer one draws to God, the greater the yetzer ha’ra..“The greater the man, the greater his [evil] inclination.”
Thank you, Bill, for providing a substantial summary review of Skip’s posts relative to this one… providing the context. Your thorough reply helped me to have a more accurate understanding of what Skip was communicating today.
Thanks Richard. I have been following your postings for sometime but have not been active in posting myself for a long time. I am wanting to be more active.