Resh
Look at my affliction and rescue me, for I have not forgotten Your Law. Psalm 119:153 NASB
רְאֵה־עָנְיִ֥י וְחַלְּצֵ֑נִי כִּֽי־ת֜וֹרָֽתְךָ֗ לֹ֣א שָׁכָֽחְתִּי
Look at my affliction and rescue me, for I have not forgotten Your Law.
רִיבָ֣ה רִ֖יבִֽי וּגְאָלֵ֑נִי לְאִמְרָֽתְךָ֥ חַיֵּֽנִי
Plead my cause and redeem me; revive me according to Your word.
רָח֣וֹק מֵֽרְשָׁעִ֣ים יְשׁוּעָ֑ה כִּֽי־חֻ֜קֶּ֗יךָ לֹ֣א דָרָֽשׁוּ
Salvation is far from the wicked, for they do not seek Your statutes.
רַֽחֲמֶ֖יךָ רַבִּ֥ים | יְהֹוָ֑ה כְּמִשְׁפָּטֶ֥יךָ חַיֵּֽנִי
Great are Your mercies, Lord; revive me according to Your judgments.
רַבִּ֣ים רֹֽדְפַ֣י וְצָרָ֑י מֵ֜עֵֽדְוֹתֶ֗יךָ לֹ֣א נָטִֽיתִי
Many are my persecutors and my enemies, Yet I do not turn aside from Your testimonies.
רָאִ֣יתִי בֹֽ֖גְדִים וָֽאֶתְקוֹטָ֑טָה אֲשֶׁ֥ר אִ֜מְרָֽתְךָ֗ לֹ֣א שָׁמָֽרוּ
I see the treacherous and loathe them, because they do not keep Your word.
רְאֵה כִּי־פִקּוּדֶ֣יךָ אָהָ֑בְתִּי יְ֜הֹוָ֗ה כְּחַסְדְּךָ֥ חַיֵּֽנִי
Consider how I love Your precepts; revive me, Lord, according to Your faithfulness.
רֹֽאשׁ־דְּבָֽרְךָ֥ אֱמֶ֑ת וּ֜לְעוֹלָ֗ם כָּל־מִשְׁפַּ֥ט צִדְקֶֽךָ
The sum of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgments is everlasting.
(all translations NASB)
Rescue – A Moment’s Notice
We might have expected “Save me.” The psalmist used those words before. We learned that the term yāšaʿ, the root of “salvation,” is about reinforcements in times of impending danger. It’s not escape to a better life. But now the psalmist uses a different, and unfamiliar, word: ḥālap. It means “passing away, pass on, pass through.” That seems quite odd. What does a word that is used for whirlwinds, conquerors, and ghosts have to do with rescue? To answer this question, we will have to think like ancient Hebrews, not modern Westerners.
Remember that yāšaʿ isn’t about getting “saved” for Heaven. Hebrews thought of salvation as a very tangible, temporal experience. Someone or something is threatened with immediate danger. Salvation eliminates that threat, or at least prepares to overcome it. ḥālap operates in the same context. The threat must pass away, or pass on, or I must be able to pass through it. Once again, rescue isn’t escape. It’s dealing with the circumstances and overcoming them.
Harris examines this word used in Job to propose evidence for the idea of life after death. Here’s what he writes:
This last usage is of special interest for it bears on Job’s concept of a future life. In despair, Job had longed for death (3:11–15). Then he pleads for relief from God who seemed about to destroy him (10:8–9). Then in a difficult verse he affirms his hope (13:15) and his assurance of vindication (13:18). In chap. 14 he gives explicit consideration to life after death. First, he cites the case of a tree which when cut down will put forth a second growth (v. 7, Hiphil of ḥālap). Not so with man. Of more value than a tree, he dies and does not rise. Job finds this unthinkable and raises the poignant question, “If a man dies, will he live again?” He answers his own cry with a declaration of faith drawn from his tree illustration. Job will wait for his “second growth” (v. 14, ḥălîpâ) to come. He is sure that God will have respect for, will long for Job the creation of his own hands. Interpreted by consideration of the key word ḥālap the passage prepares for the more famous passage on the subject, Job 19:23–27.[1]
I’m not sure this is a proof text for the idea that there is another life after death. After all, the second growth of the tree doesn’t come from a dead tree. It comes from a tree that appears destroyed. Nevertheless, Harris’ remark about ḥālap in Job underscores the immediate danger context. Job feels as if he is about to die. He is threatened by circumstances from all sides. His plea for rescue doesn’t demand that he enter into the world beyond. Rather, it demands that God intervene and deliver him from his current state. Frankly, isn’t that what we need? Our troubles are now, in the present. If rescue means dying and entering into another existence, then the threats win. And of what comfort is it to know that after I’m dead things will be better? Of course they will. I won’t be threatened by these things anymore. No, I think the psalmist has a much more urgent request. He wants to make it through the night. So do I.
Topical Index: ḥālap, pass on, pass through, Job 19:14, Psalm 119:153
[1] Harris, R. L. (1999). 666 חָלַף. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., pp. 291–292). Moody Press.
