"But whosoever looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this one shall be blessed in his deed." James 1:25
What is normative in the Scriptures may not be normative in practice. The Scriptures never attempt to chase the subterfuge embedded in human words, on the contrary, the Scriptures weigh human action. Human speech is also human action. Great good or great damage can come from human speech. The Bible is never dismissive of our actions. Our actions, including our speech actions are forensic.
James speaks to the community in a manner that some may not find to their liking. He is not being purposely abrasive but he is speaking the truth in love. I love the language of calling the Word of God the 'perfect law of liberty.'
In our text the word 'liberty' means complete or mature with nothing lacking. James tells the community the one who has a relentless commitment to expose himself to the perfect law of liberty as a prescriptive measure for himself will find that he will experience a powerful destiny.
First of all, he will not be a forgetful hearer. That is, he will not be guilty of spiritual negligence. This is the cause of much turmoil in the lives of the members of the community. But the fact is, spiritual negligence may be difficult to measure or detect, and it is not our duty to go around looking for it in the lives of others. We do well to attend to our own spiritual welfare.
The one who continues in the perfect law of liberty will find that his life is being transformed thereby, and that he has stepped out from the clinging muck of spiritual mediocrity. He finds that he has indeed laid hold of eternal life as a quality to be ever cultivate. The one who steps over into the realm of being a doer of the work of faith understands the immediate interpenetration of heaven and time. There is no more desire to live as though this world is all that there is.
The enemy of the faithful ones knows this and he therefore wants to snatch away the Word whenever one attempts to grow in Grace. He will steal the prayer time, he will mock the study time with fake phone calls, he will contend the time of meditation with bewildering problems that demand attention-now! He will introduce urgency where there is no urgency. He will harass and hinder as much as he can because he knows the power that we claim for ourselves when we spend time in the perfect law of liberty.
Beloved, when we spend time in the Word of God we gather nourishment for our walk of faith. We must continuously feed ourselves with the Word of God.. We have at our disposal the greatest documents ever written, and there is a mountain of evidence for their veracity and integrity. Great textual scholars, and biblical scholars have labored throughout the centuries to look into the perfect law of liberty and have not found it lacking.
We must come back to the sobering insight of James. He wants the members of the community to prosper in Iesous, and he knows that this can only happen if there is a radical commitment to look into the law of liberty. Life is filled with purpose and power when the Iesous is in control. He gives the uniquely blessed life. He has come that we may have life in superabundance.
For more information about Dr. Rich and his teaching ministry, please follow his blog and visit his website.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Friday, November 16, 2012
The Fate of the Stone Roller
"Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him." Proverbs 26:27
In the famous work entitled the 'Myth of Sisyphus' by Albert Camus the gods have condemned Sisyphus to the endless cycle of rolling a stone uphill to see it roll down, and fetch it without end. It is his perpetual task. It is what he must do to atone for his sins upon the earth. He is to bear the fate of absurdity for which the rolling of the stone is his reminder.
The ancient wisdom writers of the Proverbs knew that before there was mythos there was logos. The writer addresses logos with the above words. Or as one perceptive writer said he addresses a sphere of action that bespeaks one's destiny.
There are actions from which there is no recourse. We all know this to be true, and yet there are those who defy commonsense and wisdom, and set themselves out to ruinous journeys. There are journeys, and there are destinies, and such persons confuse the two with course and artless reasons. Yahweh has designed the world in such a manner that even if the authorities that are in place are righteous or nefarious a person will receive to himself the reward of his actions whether good or bad.
I realize that there are those who believe that they may do whatever they desire but even delusional reality has a terminus. So, what is the writer addressing in this statement? It is well known that in Hebrew theology act and consequence are one. In other words there is unity of action and result. This is inescapable and intensely sobering.
Those who sin against others will reap the results of their heinous deeds and treachery. Yes, there may seem to be no immediate consequences to what has been done, but know that the mind of God is not a mind of flesh. He is the final Judge and he cannot be bought.
I remember reading where one ancient banker in the city of Florence wanted God the Father on his rolls as a debtor. We humans roll some very interesting stones, and we forget that they roll back with awesome results.
The universe as designed by God is one of cause and effect. Our actions are creative force. They set in motion events that will carry the power of consequent action. Here is a powerful quality of the image dei, that is, the image of God in man. We are creators. Not in the biblical sense of having fiat creative power that is reserved only for God.
It is interesting today that the clergy in general defer to death as non-being. Sisyphus was sentenced by the gods in the afterlife to a punishment of absurdity. Today, some clergy teach the absurdity of the afterlife. We should not listen to such perverted teaching. They have forgotten that theology with an undeveloped eschatology (doctrine of last things) does not satisfy the sin-sick soul, and psychologies are not metaphysically neutral.
Camus wrote of the frightful visage of the one who rolls stones:
The biblical materials state that no one escapes the wrong that he has done. God does forgive our sin, but we suffer the consequences of our actions. Therefore we hear anew the prescriptive words of the Iesous when he says "go and sin no more" or give up those sinful practices that deconstructed the integrity of your soul.
Blessings to you.
For more information about Dr. Rich and his teaching ministry, please follow his blog and visit his website.
In the famous work entitled the 'Myth of Sisyphus' by Albert Camus the gods have condemned Sisyphus to the endless cycle of rolling a stone uphill to see it roll down, and fetch it without end. It is his perpetual task. It is what he must do to atone for his sins upon the earth. He is to bear the fate of absurdity for which the rolling of the stone is his reminder.
The ancient wisdom writers of the Proverbs knew that before there was mythos there was logos. The writer addresses logos with the above words. Or as one perceptive writer said he addresses a sphere of action that bespeaks one's destiny.
There are actions from which there is no recourse. We all know this to be true, and yet there are those who defy commonsense and wisdom, and set themselves out to ruinous journeys. There are journeys, and there are destinies, and such persons confuse the two with course and artless reasons. Yahweh has designed the world in such a manner that even if the authorities that are in place are righteous or nefarious a person will receive to himself the reward of his actions whether good or bad.
I realize that there are those who believe that they may do whatever they desire but even delusional reality has a terminus. So, what is the writer addressing in this statement? It is well known that in Hebrew theology act and consequence are one. In other words there is unity of action and result. This is inescapable and intensely sobering.
Those who sin against others will reap the results of their heinous deeds and treachery. Yes, there may seem to be no immediate consequences to what has been done, but know that the mind of God is not a mind of flesh. He is the final Judge and he cannot be bought.
I remember reading where one ancient banker in the city of Florence wanted God the Father on his rolls as a debtor. We humans roll some very interesting stones, and we forget that they roll back with awesome results.
The universe as designed by God is one of cause and effect. Our actions are creative force. They set in motion events that will carry the power of consequent action. Here is a powerful quality of the image dei, that is, the image of God in man. We are creators. Not in the biblical sense of having fiat creative power that is reserved only for God.
It is interesting today that the clergy in general defer to death as non-being. Sisyphus was sentenced by the gods in the afterlife to a punishment of absurdity. Today, some clergy teach the absurdity of the afterlife. We should not listen to such perverted teaching. They have forgotten that theology with an undeveloped eschatology (doctrine of last things) does not satisfy the sin-sick soul, and psychologies are not metaphysically neutral.
Camus wrote of the frightful visage of the one who rolls stones:
"A face that toils so close to stones is already stone itself."The poet of Psalm 7 wrote:
"He made a pit and dug it out, and has fallen into the ditch he made." Ps.7:15
The biblical materials state that no one escapes the wrong that he has done. God does forgive our sin, but we suffer the consequences of our actions. Therefore we hear anew the prescriptive words of the Iesous when he says "go and sin no more" or give up those sinful practices that deconstructed the integrity of your soul.
Blessings to you.
For more information about Dr. Rich and his teaching ministry, please follow his blog and visit his website.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Putting Away Lying
"Wherefore putting away lying, speaking every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another." Eph. 4:25
Paul always lays down a doctrinal platform before he proceeds to ethical mandates. It cannot be otherwise. New Testament ethics have a foundation grounded in the self-revelation of Theos in Iesous. Therefore we have a living foundation that abides forever more. The constantly believing ones are a new creation. They are anthropologically other and require an ethical standard that is consistent with their new identity.
Iesous is the Truth. There is no foundation other than He. There is no ethical hall of mirrors to which we subscribe, and neither do we follow situation ethics or moral relativism. We have stepped out beyond the groundless hubris of well written, and well argued obfuscation, 'full of sound and fury signifying nothing', that seeks to enslave through subtle disguise. Truth is rarely honored within a milieu that lifts up lying as the currency of the realm, and those who oppose lying may find themselves within a bullied minority.
Remember when lying was scandalous We are well beyond that sign post. Lying or falsehood rules. It is interesting to watch those who are given to lying. They are unaware that the physiology of their persons adapt to their soul's distortion by parallel physiologic-emotional contortions of the physical body. Lying introduces imbalance in the soul and in the body. In other words, when we are untrue or lie everything about us is thrown out of balance. I mean everything.
God has designed us to have balance. The opposite of truth is pseudos or falsehood. It takes great effort to build one's life around a lie. It is highly stressful. One has succeeded when one has so absorbed a lie that it becomes one's truth.
Lying destroys the person and reduces life to monstrous intrigue. One lie is used to hide another lie until lying becomes a state of being, being a 'Liar.' This is one of the greatest self-betrayals. I remember a woman who suffered from terrible headaches. She had gone to see a doctor about her headaches, and was given a prescription to her condition, but it did not work. She was a beautiful woman who lived in a very nice home, and she seemed to have everything.
However, when my wife and I met her husband we knew that something was not right with him. He had an attitude of haughty disdain and superiority, and everything he said bordered on clever repartee but his words were metallic and scolding. This man was the assistant pastor of a church we attended. One day he sat behind me at church and asked what I as reading. I told him and he began to laugh. It was later discovered that this person had 'fallen' in love with a teenage girl at the church, and began to live out his lie.
This person got one of his friends at the church to act as as witness to what was called his 'spiritual wedding' to the teenage girl. This assistant was caught, disciplined, and left the church, and his real wife's headaches disappeared. His real wife left him and moved on with her life. His real wife's spirit knew that something was amiss in their relationship, but she could not say precisely what was not right.
The liar believes his own lies. His self-molestation is complete. His idolatrous pathology of lying bespeaks the diseased condition of his soul. When Paul speaks of putting away lying it is not a suggestion. It is a prescriptive and imperative command to guard oneself from abysmal self-pollution that lying engenders.
If you have a lie that is destroying your spiritual freedom confess it to God. If you have been made party to a lie separate yourself therefrom and confess it to God. Lies distort, contort, twist, close down real relationships and enslaves the lying one.
The liar has no freedom. He has constructed his own prison. Iesous is there to give freedom to those whose lives have been ruined by lies and set adrift by the chaos thereof. The Iesous has come that we all may have life in superabundance. Ask him to set you free today.
Blessings to you.
For more information about Dr. Rich and his teaching ministry, please follow this blog and visit his website.
Paul always lays down a doctrinal platform before he proceeds to ethical mandates. It cannot be otherwise. New Testament ethics have a foundation grounded in the self-revelation of Theos in Iesous. Therefore we have a living foundation that abides forever more. The constantly believing ones are a new creation. They are anthropologically other and require an ethical standard that is consistent with their new identity.
Iesous is the Truth. There is no foundation other than He. There is no ethical hall of mirrors to which we subscribe, and neither do we follow situation ethics or moral relativism. We have stepped out beyond the groundless hubris of well written, and well argued obfuscation, 'full of sound and fury signifying nothing', that seeks to enslave through subtle disguise. Truth is rarely honored within a milieu that lifts up lying as the currency of the realm, and those who oppose lying may find themselves within a bullied minority.
Remember when lying was scandalous We are well beyond that sign post. Lying or falsehood rules. It is interesting to watch those who are given to lying. They are unaware that the physiology of their persons adapt to their soul's distortion by parallel physiologic-emotional contortions of the physical body. Lying introduces imbalance in the soul and in the body. In other words, when we are untrue or lie everything about us is thrown out of balance. I mean everything.
God has designed us to have balance. The opposite of truth is pseudos or falsehood. It takes great effort to build one's life around a lie. It is highly stressful. One has succeeded when one has so absorbed a lie that it becomes one's truth.
Lying destroys the person and reduces life to monstrous intrigue. One lie is used to hide another lie until lying becomes a state of being, being a 'Liar.' This is one of the greatest self-betrayals. I remember a woman who suffered from terrible headaches. She had gone to see a doctor about her headaches, and was given a prescription to her condition, but it did not work. She was a beautiful woman who lived in a very nice home, and she seemed to have everything.
However, when my wife and I met her husband we knew that something was not right with him. He had an attitude of haughty disdain and superiority, and everything he said bordered on clever repartee but his words were metallic and scolding. This man was the assistant pastor of a church we attended. One day he sat behind me at church and asked what I as reading. I told him and he began to laugh. It was later discovered that this person had 'fallen' in love with a teenage girl at the church, and began to live out his lie.
This person got one of his friends at the church to act as as witness to what was called his 'spiritual wedding' to the teenage girl. This assistant was caught, disciplined, and left the church, and his real wife's headaches disappeared. His real wife left him and moved on with her life. His real wife's spirit knew that something was amiss in their relationship, but she could not say precisely what was not right.
The liar believes his own lies. His self-molestation is complete. His idolatrous pathology of lying bespeaks the diseased condition of his soul. When Paul speaks of putting away lying it is not a suggestion. It is a prescriptive and imperative command to guard oneself from abysmal self-pollution that lying engenders.
If you have a lie that is destroying your spiritual freedom confess it to God. If you have been made party to a lie separate yourself therefrom and confess it to God. Lies distort, contort, twist, close down real relationships and enslaves the lying one.
The liar has no freedom. He has constructed his own prison. Iesous is there to give freedom to those whose lives have been ruined by lies and set adrift by the chaos thereof. The Iesous has come that we all may have life in superabundance. Ask him to set you free today.
Blessings to you.
For more information about Dr. Rich and his teaching ministry, please follow this blog and visit his website.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Cure of Souls in The 21st Century
"And it came to pass, as Peter passed throughout all quarters, he came down also to the saints which dwelt at Lydda." Acts 9:32
These words are from one of the earliest documents of church history called "Acts." The title is most appropriate and cogently bears the compelling thesis of this document. This book records the post-resurrection ministry of the Iesous through human agency.
God is not in the human repair business, He is in the business of giving new life. The Greek word for life is 'zoe' and its meaning transcends any attempt to truncate it into some formulaic framework.
Zoe has to do with participation within the very life of Theos. This is not pantheism nor is it panentheism or some kind of animistic naturalism. Zoe is the very message that Peter took to the saints that dwelt at Lydda because it is what they collectively needed.
Aeneas, a poor man whose life was in decay because he had been 'sick' for eight years was to receive the zoe blessing through Peter. Peter went down to visit Aeneas who dwelt in Lydda. Of course this was not accidental or random on Peter's part. The resurrected Iesous led him to Lydda. But why, why did the Iesous lead Peter to such a place as Lydda?
The name Lydda means 'strife,' and this attitudinal aberration was embedded in Lydda. Strife is a curious term that bespeaks bitterness, heated violent struggle, to fight, and/or conflict. Peter stepped into a dangerous environment. Hostile people dwelt in Lydda.
Aeneas lived within the belly of the beast. Hostile environments create a host of related emotional disorders and spiritual malaise. Aeneas "kept his bed" in Lydda, and he was weak in his body. Eight years is a long time to be bed-ridden from an illness.
Peter is there to speak the word that transcends all other words to him. The Word of God can go where we cannot go. The word that Peter carried to Aeneas was charged with resurrection power or Zoe. Peter knew that he stepped into a hotbed of hostility.
Hostility can become a type of emotional drug but it destroys the soul and body of the individual. Peter said to the beleaguered Aeneas, "Iesous, the Christos, maketh thee whole (iatai)." This word, whole or iatai in the Greek means: to effect, cure or make completely whole, and the removal of the controlling and destructive power of sin.
Aeneas stood up from his former condition and received new life through the powerful word. The powerful word was medicinal and unleashed the zoe that Aeneas needed. The word compelled Aeneas to stand up and walk in newness of life.
Those who live in the 21st century need this powerful 1st century word too. The zoe message of the Cure of Souls does not change. The basic need of the human soul does not change. If you live in Lydda today there is One who offers you the opportunity to step out of the old life and into a new one filled with the presence of God.
The Word of God can heal the sin-sick soul. The Word of God can make you whole or cure effectively. This is the message that will change individual lives, homes, communities, and countries.
God is still changing lives through the power of the Spirit. Do you need Him to change your life today? Ask and you shall receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened.
Blessings to you.
For more information about Dr. Josiah Rich's teaching ministry, please follow this blog and visit his website.
These words are from one of the earliest documents of church history called "Acts." The title is most appropriate and cogently bears the compelling thesis of this document. This book records the post-resurrection ministry of the Iesous through human agency.
God is not in the human repair business, He is in the business of giving new life. The Greek word for life is 'zoe' and its meaning transcends any attempt to truncate it into some formulaic framework.
Zoe has to do with participation within the very life of Theos. This is not pantheism nor is it panentheism or some kind of animistic naturalism. Zoe is the very message that Peter took to the saints that dwelt at Lydda because it is what they collectively needed.
Aeneas, a poor man whose life was in decay because he had been 'sick' for eight years was to receive the zoe blessing through Peter. Peter went down to visit Aeneas who dwelt in Lydda. Of course this was not accidental or random on Peter's part. The resurrected Iesous led him to Lydda. But why, why did the Iesous lead Peter to such a place as Lydda?
The name Lydda means 'strife,' and this attitudinal aberration was embedded in Lydda. Strife is a curious term that bespeaks bitterness, heated violent struggle, to fight, and/or conflict. Peter stepped into a dangerous environment. Hostile people dwelt in Lydda.
Aeneas lived within the belly of the beast. Hostile environments create a host of related emotional disorders and spiritual malaise. Aeneas "kept his bed" in Lydda, and he was weak in his body. Eight years is a long time to be bed-ridden from an illness.
Peter is there to speak the word that transcends all other words to him. The Word of God can go where we cannot go. The word that Peter carried to Aeneas was charged with resurrection power or Zoe. Peter knew that he stepped into a hotbed of hostility.
Hostility can become a type of emotional drug but it destroys the soul and body of the individual. Peter said to the beleaguered Aeneas, "Iesous, the Christos, maketh thee whole (iatai)." This word, whole or iatai in the Greek means: to effect, cure or make completely whole, and the removal of the controlling and destructive power of sin.
Aeneas stood up from his former condition and received new life through the powerful word. The powerful word was medicinal and unleashed the zoe that Aeneas needed. The word compelled Aeneas to stand up and walk in newness of life.
Those who live in the 21st century need this powerful 1st century word too. The zoe message of the Cure of Souls does not change. The basic need of the human soul does not change. If you live in Lydda today there is One who offers you the opportunity to step out of the old life and into a new one filled with the presence of God.
The Word of God can heal the sin-sick soul. The Word of God can make you whole or cure effectively. This is the message that will change individual lives, homes, communities, and countries.
God is still changing lives through the power of the Spirit. Do you need Him to change your life today? Ask and you shall receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened.
Blessings to you.
For more information about Dr. Josiah Rich's teaching ministry, please follow this blog and visit his website.
Monday, November 5, 2012
God Is Greater Than Our Heart
"For if our heart (kardia) condemn us, God (Theos) is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things." 1 John 3:20
One perceptive brother has rightly said that there are times when we are on the battlefield, and then there are other times when we are the battlefield.
We are masters of making ourselves hostages of spiritual perfection or some other self-righteous standard that is contrary to the Word of God. We may be tempted to believe that it somehow makes us more spiritual to fabricate an intense protocol of behavioral mandates for appropriate self punishment.
We may be fighting a conscience that is over whelmed by a sense of unworthiness because of an old sin or old sin pattern that once had claim on us. The sin may be old, but the regret of it is present tense (i.e. I am imprisoned by shame, and I dare not share it or reveal it to others. I have an intense dislike of myself, and therefore I use some form of addictive behavior to hide from myself).
Hiding me from me is a full time job, and some people may confuse my shame-based behavior with full blown narcissicism. And not only am I filled with shame, but my heart incriminates me about me. It is a merciless and truly vicious cycle.
Beloved, one must learn to practice the following truth: " ...if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things." Divine truth contains enormous power. In fact, it is power. Divine truth is our power source over the lies that seek to overthrow our lives.
Lies are unrelenting and determined in their resolve. Therefore we must in turn be resolved in the relentless study of and application of spiritual truth to our circumstances.
When my heart becomes a witness against me, and I know that I have not been engaged in a practice that deserves the discipline of the Spirit, then I must go before my Merciful and Faithful High Priest, the Iesous, for courage and support.
Unresolved conflict of the heart is not God's design for me. Therefore I must go before him and let him know when the inner brutality that I am suffering is not because of some secret sin or ungodly practice.
'God is greater' is truth that destroy's my misery and sets me free to worship Him. 'God is greater' is prescriptive and medicinal. It is redemptive and it restores my soul. It leads me to the waters of quietness. God's Word is true medicine. It is the balm that heals the weary soul.
Beloved, today remember 'God is greater.' Now go out and live free in His Love.
Blessing to you.
For more information about Dr. Rich's teaching ministry, please join his blog and visit his website.
One perceptive brother has rightly said that there are times when we are on the battlefield, and then there are other times when we are the battlefield.
We are masters of making ourselves hostages of spiritual perfection or some other self-righteous standard that is contrary to the Word of God. We may be tempted to believe that it somehow makes us more spiritual to fabricate an intense protocol of behavioral mandates for appropriate self punishment.
We may be fighting a conscience that is over whelmed by a sense of unworthiness because of an old sin or old sin pattern that once had claim on us. The sin may be old, but the regret of it is present tense (i.e. I am imprisoned by shame, and I dare not share it or reveal it to others. I have an intense dislike of myself, and therefore I use some form of addictive behavior to hide from myself).
Hiding me from me is a full time job, and some people may confuse my shame-based behavior with full blown narcissicism. And not only am I filled with shame, but my heart incriminates me about me. It is a merciless and truly vicious cycle.
Beloved, one must learn to practice the following truth: " ...if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things." Divine truth contains enormous power. In fact, it is power. Divine truth is our power source over the lies that seek to overthrow our lives.
Lies are unrelenting and determined in their resolve. Therefore we must in turn be resolved in the relentless study of and application of spiritual truth to our circumstances.
When my heart becomes a witness against me, and I know that I have not been engaged in a practice that deserves the discipline of the Spirit, then I must go before my Merciful and Faithful High Priest, the Iesous, for courage and support.
Unresolved conflict of the heart is not God's design for me. Therefore I must go before him and let him know when the inner brutality that I am suffering is not because of some secret sin or ungodly practice.
'God is greater' is truth that destroy's my misery and sets me free to worship Him. 'God is greater' is prescriptive and medicinal. It is redemptive and it restores my soul. It leads me to the waters of quietness. God's Word is true medicine. It is the balm that heals the weary soul.
Beloved, today remember 'God is greater.' Now go out and live free in His Love.
Blessing to you.
For more information about Dr. Rich's teaching ministry, please join his blog and visit his website.
Friday, November 2, 2012
Sacred Silence in the Midst of Too-much-ness
"Truly my soul silently waits for God; from Him comes my salvation." Psalm 62:1
The poet of this psalm knows that there are times when the solace that we need cannot originate within our common milieu. This life and its many problems and trials may at times push us to the very edge of reason and then beyond, and then we dread the woeful tyranny of the irrational.
The test that we are experiencing right now is filled with the smarting demand of "too-much-ness" and we fear collapse before its awful claims upon us. There is the desire to find respite and refuge until our season of unapologetic disquiet is over. Alas, however, the too-much-ness that seeks to devour increases its terrifying pounding upon the doors of faith.
"Will I have to see this experience to the end?" asks the person of faith, or "I've been so faithful," or "I have wept over this situation so often is there no answer for me?" There are no more clever spiritual answers to call upon because they proved inadequate and insipid.
You see that the people around you have accumulated experiences that have wearied their resolve to face this life with unbending courage but their eyes reveal another story. The mysteries of life have a way of sculpting us into mysteries unto ourselves when we are overtaken by its too-much-ness.
The poet of this psalm removed himself from all other sources of 'comfort' because he found himself molested by their inherent limitations. Experiences do not come to us custom made or tailored to fit our preconceptions. The poet knew this to be true. He said that his soul silently waited upon Elohim.
Elohim means the "Strong One." In Hebrew pictograms, El is represented by an ox or bull symbolic of a strong one. The poet is very specific in his choice of names for God. He knows the 'face' of God that he needs at this time. The language is telling: "Truly my soul silently...for Elohim." He is in that sacred space and sacred time that buffers the outside events that buffeted him, and insulates him so as to suspend anxiety.
He is now able to wait for the Strong One with remarkable expectation. 'Truly my soul waits in silence,' offers powerful insight into the spiritual discipline of the poet. He knows that Elohim will come to him, and provide his great spiritual need. Silence is not easy when one is in great need, but silence, sacred silence in the midst of 'too-much-ness' is necessary.
Blessings to you.
For more information about Dr. Rich and his teaching ministry, please follow his blog and visit his website.
The poet of this psalm knows that there are times when the solace that we need cannot originate within our common milieu. This life and its many problems and trials may at times push us to the very edge of reason and then beyond, and then we dread the woeful tyranny of the irrational.
The test that we are experiencing right now is filled with the smarting demand of "too-much-ness" and we fear collapse before its awful claims upon us. There is the desire to find respite and refuge until our season of unapologetic disquiet is over. Alas, however, the too-much-ness that seeks to devour increases its terrifying pounding upon the doors of faith.
"Will I have to see this experience to the end?" asks the person of faith, or "I've been so faithful," or "I have wept over this situation so often is there no answer for me?" There are no more clever spiritual answers to call upon because they proved inadequate and insipid.
You see that the people around you have accumulated experiences that have wearied their resolve to face this life with unbending courage but their eyes reveal another story. The mysteries of life have a way of sculpting us into mysteries unto ourselves when we are overtaken by its too-much-ness.
The poet of this psalm removed himself from all other sources of 'comfort' because he found himself molested by their inherent limitations. Experiences do not come to us custom made or tailored to fit our preconceptions. The poet knew this to be true. He said that his soul silently waited upon Elohim.
Elohim means the "Strong One." In Hebrew pictograms, El is represented by an ox or bull symbolic of a strong one. The poet is very specific in his choice of names for God. He knows the 'face' of God that he needs at this time. The language is telling: "Truly my soul silently...for Elohim." He is in that sacred space and sacred time that buffers the outside events that buffeted him, and insulates him so as to suspend anxiety.
He is now able to wait for the Strong One with remarkable expectation. 'Truly my soul waits in silence,' offers powerful insight into the spiritual discipline of the poet. He knows that Elohim will come to him, and provide his great spiritual need. Silence is not easy when one is in great need, but silence, sacred silence in the midst of 'too-much-ness' is necessary.
Blessings to you.
For more information about Dr. Rich and his teaching ministry, please follow his blog and visit his website.
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