Eye of the Beholder
I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. Psalm 139:14
A note: This went out yesterday. It wasn’t supposed to, but with plenty of time zones to traverse, I just got the day wrong. So here it is on the proper day.
Give thanks– When you think about who you are, how you got here, why you are here and how you are “fitted” for the task, does it make you glad, sad, joyful, frightened, energetic, guilty, mad, apathetic? Before you start the cognitive process of analyzing this verse, before you have time to think about it, what is your emotional reaction? Are you standing next to the poet, raising your hands to God in joyful praise of His awesome creation—you!? Or are you standing next to the poet, head cast down remembering all the failures of your life when you mismanaged God’s purposes? Does this verse seem like a completely positive paean of thanksgiving or is there a cloud over the horizon, hinting you need to be afraid of Judgment Day?
“I will give thanks” is ‘ô deka’, from the verb yādâ. No, it’s not Yod-Dalet-Ayin (yādaʿ– “to know”). It’s Yod-Dalet-Hey. It can mean “praise” or “give thanks,” but “the primary meaning of this root is ‘to acknowledge or confess sin, God’s character and works, or man’s character.’ The basic difference between this verb and its synonym, hālal, is that the latter term tends to stress ‘acclaim of,’ ‘boasting of,’ or ‘glorying in’ an object, while yādâ emphasizes ‘recognition’ and ‘declaration’ of a fact, whether good or bad.”[1] Further remarks on the difference between yādâand hālal are important.
The root verb is employed three basic ways. First, it was used to convey the acknowledgment or confession of sin, individually or nationally. The basic idea was clearly observed in David’s personal confession described in Ps 32:5 in which the poetic parallelism demonstrates that confession was making known the sin to God and not hiding it. It is important to note that the confession of sin is to be made to God. The epitome of national confession is found in the Day of Atonement . . . Second, this verb was predominantly employed to express one’s public proclamation or declaration (confession) of God’s attributes and his works. This concept is at the heart of the meaning of praise. Praise is a confession or declaration of who God is and what he does. This term is most often translated “to thank” in English versions, but such is not really a proper rendering according to Westermann: In the Old Testament … there is as yet no verb that means only “to thank.” ōdāh, which is usually translated as “to thank,” is not used in the Old Testament a single time for an expression of thanks between men. Thus it is clear from the start that this hōdāh cannot be equated with our “to thank,” which can be directed equally to God and to man. . . In view of these facts, it is clear that the o.t.does not have our independent concept of thanks. The expression of thanks to God is included in praise, it is a way of praising. (Westermann, Claus. The Praise of God in the Psalms. Richmond: John Knox Press, 1965, pp. 26–27.) . . . The best rendering of the term is “confession,”[2]
Now what do you think? Is the poet extolling God for His marvelous handiwork in the creation of human beings, or is he confessing human inadequacy?
If, sometimes, thanks is included in praise, then those numerous instances where yādâ is used to praise God or some act or thing may well be equated to our concept giving thanks, especially if a basic meaning of the root is “to acknowledge” as BDB suggests. r.l.h.][3]
When this poet “praises” God, is he at the same time acknowledging his faults, his failures to live up to the great expectation of being God’s human creation? When you first read this verse (perhaps years ago), did you imagine that you were at that moment confessing sin, or did you think, as Westerners tend to do, that this was all about God’s greatness?
Perhaps you need to read this verse again, and this time you might realize why the poet follows ‘ô deka’ with the verb yārēʾ (“to be afraid”). We’ll take a look at that multi-faceted verb next.
Topical Index: yādâ, praise, confess, Psalm 139:14
[1]Alexander, R. H. (1999). 847 יָדָה. 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.) (364). Chicago: Moody Press.
This makes sense in that our relationship with God is, well, relational. In other words, His greatness is in relation to our non-greatness. There is a reason why, when people are in the presence of the Almighty, they take off their shoes and fall on their faces or at least their knees. In fact, the majority of us who have found themselves in this place (at least in the Biblical accounts) tend to pass out from fright and have to be told “do not be afraid” before anything else can occur.
We are so small and weak and He is so big and strong, but that is not even taking into account the sin in us we are still identifying with (protecting as if it was ourselves). That sin identity makes us rebels to His face, but on the order of natives with sticks in front of a scud missile. Of course the natives are going to fall flat!
The Psalmist asks who can stand in front of the Lord? The answer is the one who has “clean hands, and a pure heart; and who has not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully”. (Ps. 24:2,3)
Apparently, only those who are already down where they belong can stand to face their King (I wouldn’t know, as I haven’t been there yet). The rest of us who still think (act like) we are ‘kings’ ourselves probably still need some more “come-uppance”; most likely in the form of “go-downance”. In the little kingdom (sovereignty) of me, He is great BECAUSE I am not. Any other understanding leaves me feeling like an idiot with a stick… My sovereignty exists only to acknowledge His.
Even though it appeared yesterday. I wasn’t looking for it. Thank you Miss Hayes oh, I have a question for you. As it was alluded in your comment, most believers have a self exalted view of themselves. I’ve been wondering lately, how I fit? Usually discouraged somewhat low self-esteem, but people admire the humility I exhibit. Some a little knowledgeable, but always down in the mouth so to speak. People have tried to cast a demon out of me. But they are the one who seem to be showing in uncharacteristic trait of pride and self-righteousness, and end of arguing with the leader of the group.. I don’t get it. Sometimes I seem resilient to Satan’s attacks, yet have difficulty getting to that place of.. Let’s say cleansed, or purified, or washed. Are there others like me do you think? If so do you have any advice? Your brother in Christ. Shalom and thank you.
Thank you for that gutsy, earthy response. Very helpful. A lot of verses come flooding back to me. Romans three where Paul speaks about there is none righteous, no not one, we’ve all turned away and done our own thing but God has laid on him all of our rebellion, wrongs and stubborn self will. David said, “he knows our frame he remembers that we are but dust“. Bottom line is he is our righteousness. So I’m not only aware and hopefully somewhat sorry for my own personal complicity, but also for the sins of my father’s of which I seem to be entangled.
Psalm 139 has always been one of my favorites but it has tended to be very sensory to me.
It’s difficult facing up to truth and reality and moving away from my need for dualistic thinking.
Thank you all for helping me stay connected to the body, as broken as it may be. It speaks to me about who WE are and our need for HIM.
Thank you Skip.
PS. You are not alone out there Brett! We are community, members one of another. The peace of the Lord !
This was meant for Laurita!
Once again, I love your writing, it blesses, instructs and provides me with some humor which is very necessary ….
I will respond to today’s word before I have read the whole thing. I will go back and read the rest once I have responded to my feelings on the verse before any explanation or attempt at understanding.
My first “reaction” is in changing the words to fit how I feel. This is just a initial reaction so don’t be too alarmed. I guess I would change the wording and say “I WAS” fearfully and wonderfully made, opposed to, “I AM” fearfully and wonderfully made insinuating that somebody messed up the original. Recognizing that I didn’t have, or I can’t remember having much time having a sense of innocence. It was corrupted early on. From a very early age I wondered what is wrong with me. Carrying that “sense” with me the rest of my life until fairly recently, especially through today’s word, through which I am gaining a new understanding and appreciation of God‘s intentions toward me. It’s easy though, and maybe a pitfall, to get caught up in yourself. Micromanaging, analyzing, “figuring out“ myself. The original, I suppose, was wonderful, beautiful etc. until man got his hands on it. It (I) got broke, so to speak.
Like I said, just an initial reaction or response. I will go back and read more. I’m so grateful for this community of people!
Bro, Brett, I am an expert in nothing. I am ‘behind’ everybody here in at least some (a lot of) places. Let’s get that straight, first. So, take me with a grain of salt. Please! I don’t know you, either, so I can’t speak to you directly. Failing that, I have to speak from my own experience or very general observations. Hit and miss. Take what you like and leave the rest.
Low self esteem is not a virtue any more than an exalted self esteem is. Esteem is relational, too; which is to say esteem is established BETWEEN persons (in other words, we can’t just arbitrarily establish high or low esteem for ourselves). For example, the Bible says to esteem others higher than ourselves. This is funny, because I cannot love others in ways I am not loving myself correctly, first. Self esteem is a way of viewing (loving) myself. Order of operations (the Two Great Commands) tells me to esteem (as we are talking about esteem, plug in “esteem”) God first. When He comes first, I bow before (esteem) Him supremely. Then, following those Commands, I am to turn around and esteem myself the way He esteems me. He says I am the apple of His eye, wonderfully made, etc. (Notice my worth is established by HIM, not myself.) When I accept that, then I turn around and value the worth of others with the same yardstick. He put me ‘first’ (before Himself), too, so I do the same with others. That did not make Him a low dog, by the way; so me putting others first the way He did for me does not make me a low dog, either. Humility does not necessarily equal low worth: humility is just acknowledging reality. In reality, my value is established by how I value others, but that is established by how I accept God’s value of me.
Writing on this subject in Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis says we will know we are in the right place because we won’t be looking at ourselves at all. In that place we will forget ourselves because we have our eyes on Christ. He is the source of our value.
Any self focus, including low OR high self (notice the word SELF) esteem can be a sin, yes it can, if it takes our eyes off Him. When I look at Him, I am humbled, but that does not diminish my true worth (which is not established by me, by the way, but by Him). Paul says he looked only to Christ, but surely he was able to stand tall before Nero and other kings because he had bowed low first before the King of kings. Like Paul, we are called to be representatives of the King. We are to treat others as our King treated us. He values us of infinite worth, which is much BETTER than self worth, by the way; not less than! Halleluah!
Chin up, Bro Brett! I esteem you highly!
This is soooo helpful! Skip’s TW also really helps me. I often picture myself at His feet in tears or reverent fear. I have a strong sense of my sin and His holiness. It’s nice to hear that might actually be a good thing.
P.S. In my experience I have found that folks who tend to go around pointing out faults in others suffer from those faults themselves. If we weren’t already suffering from (secret) low self esteem, we wouldn’t have to try to establish high self esteem by picking on the self esteem of others. You get where I am going with this.
I agree Laurita…my husband used to say, “If you spot it, you got it.” ?
While I’ve never fallen victim to substance abuse, like most everyone, I have my own ‘demons’. More than a few times I’ve reflected on the first two [and sometimes three] lines in Pete Townsend’s confessional “Empty Glass” (below). The rest of the lyrics I could adapt (I don’t have a star-seeking persona—quite the opposite, in fact), perhaps conflating with another Townsend song (as recorded by The Who) titled “I Don’t Even Know Myself” (Don’t pretend that you know me, ‘cause I don’t even know myself, and etc.).
In my discussions with my family members, we call it being on the outside looking in. It would seem that most are quite happy to just go along in life while we are consigned to wondering why. 🙂
Most all my life, my preferred method of relaxation and escape was listening to music of all sorts (hence, why I quote lyrics quite often). I get frustrated at others’ lackadaisical attitude about important things as they drone in their inane activities: incessantly watching ‘the game’ (I’m fairly athletic, played sports, but rarely watch professional sports), watching favorite TV shows ad infinitum, talking about much of nothing, etc. The alt/punk band Minutemen had a song titled “The Roar of the Masses Could be Farts”…