Waiting for God (rewind)
Except the LORD build the house, they labor in vain that build it; Psalm 127:1a KJV
Except – In the Hebrew text, this two letter word is attached to God’s name. The expression is ‘im-YHVH. English separates what Hebrew sees as one single concept. The particle ‘im is translated according to the context. It can mean “if,” “since,” “when,” “whether,” or (as in this case) “except,” or “unless.” The idea is simple even if, as we shall see, the application is quite complex. The idea is that YHVH must be involved if the human task is to be successful. Of course, this doesn’t mean that we can’t do anything without giving credit to God. Human beings routinely ignore God’s involvement. But from a biblical point-of-view, that is nothing but blind ego. Without God’s grace and provision, humans accomplish nothing.
Most believers clearly understand this element of divine sovereignty even if the world fails to acknowledge it. But there is another side to this coin; a side that all too often affects believers with a theology that is just as deadly. It is the idea that God is the only One involved in building the house.
The doctrine of faith in God’s charity, [batahun], is not to be equated with the folly of the mystical doctrine of quietism, which in its extreme form exempts man from his duty of attending to his own needs and lets him wait in “holy” idleness and indifference for God’s intervention. This kind of repose is wholly contrary to the repose which the Halakhah recommends: the one which follows human effort and remedial action. Man must first use his own skill and try to help himself as much as possible. Then, and only then, man may find repose and quietude in God and be confident that this effort and action will be crowned with success. The initiative, says the Halakhah, belongs to man; the successful realization, to God. . . The Lord wants man to undertake the task which He, in His infinite grace, completes.[1]
This understanding of the cooperative relationship between God and Man is crucial to recognizing the difference between the Western-Greek basis of Christian thinking and the Ancient-Semitic basis of the Tanakh. Genesis 2:5 introduces this cooperative effort although it is already present in the Hebrew verbs of Genesis 1:26-27. God and Man need each other to complete the task of Creation. The idea that God requires nothing from Man to do His will flies in the face of the entire orientation of Scripture. Until the interpretive scheme provided by Augustine and Luther, God and Man was a mutual partnership. Paul reflects this halakhic view in his statement, “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who works in you.”
But let’s set aside the implications for the Christian idea of sola fide and rather look at what this means for reading God’s words. The illumination of the Holy Spirit is not a substitute for study. Those who approach Scripture with the attitude that all that is required is a devoted and open heart to the leading of the Spirit are adopting the same approach as the man who waits for God to harvest the field while he prays. ‘im-YHVH does not mean “while God builds the house.” It means that we get up and start building and we keep building until we come to the place where our efforts are no longer sufficient to finish the job—and then we discover that God has been building with us all along.
How will I know what God wants me to know about His revelation if I simply sit with my hands folded and my eyes closed and listen to “spiritual” silence while the histories, the grammars, and the lexicons wait on the shelf?
Topical Index: ‘im-YHVH, except, house, Soloveitchik, Psalm 127:1a
