For the leader. On sh’minit [low-pitched musical instruments?]. A psalm of David:
Help, YHVH! For no one godly is left; the faithful have vanished from humankind. They all tell lies to each other, flattering with their lips, but speaking from divided hearts. May YHVH cut off all flattering lips and the tongue that speaks so proudly, those who say,
“By our tongues, we will prevail; our lips are with us. Who can master us?”
“Because the poor are oppressed, because the needy are groaning, I will now rise up,” says YHVH, “and grant security to those whom they scorn.”
The words of YHVH are pure words, silver in a melting-pot set in the earth, refined and purified seven times over.
You, YHVH, protect us; guard us forever from this generation — the wicked strut about everywhere when vileness is held in general esteem.
For no one godly is left; the faithful have vanished from humankind.
Have you ever felt this way?
It seems as though any direction you turn you are faced with compromised people -- and that’s in the church! We expect the lost and wicked to be distant from the Covenant, but we get totally surprised when those that are supposed to believe start to stray.
There is more power in man’s words than anything mankind has created. So it makes sense that this current generation has decided to use words to try and dismantle the world.
It’s becoming more commonplace these days for the “bold” and the “elect” to speak out about how the Church can (and will) take over the earth. Resolving to infiltrate families, churches, education, media, entertainment, business, and government. It is thought that if believers flood these spaces then we can “take back” the earth and, through our own hands, restore it back into the Garden.
If the Church can occupy these places of influence, the world will then have to bend to our will -- which we paint as the will of God.
“By our tongues, we will prevail; our lips are with us. Who can master us?”
But is this the will of God?
If you ever want a twisty, indirect, unclear, spiritualized answer from someone, ask them what God’s will for their life is.
More often than not, the answer swirls around what they want from life. In the end though, every good believer answers correctly and says that the only thing they want in their life is to be in God’s will. And they aren’t lying.
We know that being in His will carries supreme blessing and we are all blessing junkies. We can’t seem to get enough. Get something great today but come tomorrow we are on the hunt again. It’s a perpetual reach into the here and now for something that will make tomorrow better. Yesterday’s blessing of breath and life is a faded memory. Sure, we’re grateful when confronted with this statement, but when no one speaks, we get lost in the sea of more. That’s all we need, right? -- just a little bit more.
And how do we get it?
Lies, flattery, and divided hearts.
We have a contrast presented here that separates man’s words and God’s words on a few distinct points:
Man:
We know this isn’t good but what should we do instead? If this is what man does, the opposite should reflect more of God
Lies turn to truth, flattery turns to sincerity, division turns to unity. Truthful, sincere, unified. Sounds like who the Bride is supposed to be.
On the other end, we have an expression of what truthful, sincere, and unified words can do.
God:
“Pure words” is a bit abstract and that allows man to wiggle and squirm around what exactly this means. Given a head, it may even cause a church split. That’s something we do not want, so let’s see if we can gain some traction here.
The word “pure” is טְהֹ֫ר֥וֹת (te-ho-rot) is the plural form of:
H2891 טָהֵר taher (taw-hare') v.
The root of this word (tet resh) literally means:
Contain: Wall: The pictograph tet is a picture of a basket or other container, the resh is a picture of a man. Combined these mean "contain man". A wall that contains one for protection or as a jail.
Huh…a wall that contains one for protection or as a jail.
This sounds an awful lot like today’s argument among believers. Some say his Word is there for protection and some say it’s a jail. Ready for the hard part? They are both right.
Literally speaking, both arguments are correct. So which one should you follow? Depends.
(note: this could be a good time to stop reading)
Which do you think was the motivation behind Abba giving us His Word?
I’ve been told a few times that the “Law” is impossible to keep. As an example, some men say the menstrual laws don’t apply to them. Others say they aren’t farmers so the agricultural laws don’t apply to them. And still others say they aren’t priests, so the ceremonial stuff is irrelevant.
These are 100% all true -- except for the last one.
But never are you told to “do” the whole Torah. We are told to keep it. And here is where language gets us into trouble. (Yes, I’m going to bore you with definitions but it is necessary)
H8104 שָׁמַר shamar (shaw-mar') v.
So keep doesn’t mean to “do”, it means to guard or protect. Case in point:
Numbers 6:24 May YHVH bless you and keep (shamar) you. 25 May YHVH make His face shine upon you and grant you favor. 26 May YHVH lift up His face to you and give you shalom.
The context is clear here that Abba is not going to “do” you. He’s going to guard you. Similarly, we are to guard His Word. What does that mean? It means we don’t let anyone come along and say His Word is irrelevant, outdated, old, “doesn’t apply to me”, cruel, etc. We hold a line that says, “His Ways are far better than mine and I’m just going to trust He’s telling me the truth.” We set a guard around any edits that man may try to overlay and heed the following warning:
Deuteronomy 4:4 “Now, Isra’el, listen to the laws and rulings I am teaching you, in order to follow them, so that you will live; then you will go in and take possession of the land that Adonai, the God of your fathers, is giving you. 2 In order to obey the mitzvot of Adonai your God which I am giving you, do not add to what I am saying, and do not subtract from it.”
…
5 Look, I have taught you laws and rulings, just as Adonai my God ordered me, so that you can behave accordingly in the land where you are going in order to take possession of it. 6 Therefore, observe them; and follow them; for then all peoples will see you as having wisdom and understanding. When they hear of all these laws, they will say, ‘This great nation is surely a wise and understanding people.’ 7 For what great nation is there that has God as close to them as Adonai our God is, whenever we call on him? 8 What great nation is there that has laws and rulings as just as this entire Torah which I am setting before you today?”
Indeed, what great nation has laws and rulings that are as just as the entire Torah. Well, none. Not even Israel (the country). And hence injustice is rampant in the earth. Then we sit idly by and wonder why.
Enter the eager reformers of the 21st century. Seeking to upend the twistedness that exists in the world through a deliberate power move into those 7 areas that need to be changed in order to restore the earth back into its original state.
But that’s a whole other mess to unpack and you’re already tired of reading. So let’s go back to the adding and subtracting warning given in Deuteronomy.
Some people may say that book is forfeited as evidence because it is part of the whole thing that doesn't apply. Fair enough. So let’s find another example -- from the future (unless you’re preterist, of course ;-):
There is a warning given in the Book of Revelation on treading lightly with regard to His Word:
Revelation 22:18 I warn everyone hearing the words of the prophecy in this book that if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues written in this book. 19 And if anyone takes anything away from the words in the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the Tree of Life and the holy city, as described in this book. 20 “The one who is testifying to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon!’” Amen! Come, Lord Yeshua!
The argument you may now present is that this warning is restricted to the Book of Revelation and does not apply to the whole Bible -- this prophecy, right? Well, ok. Let’s just stick to Revelation:
Revelation 14:9 Another angel, a third one, followed them and said in a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives the mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he will indeed drink the wine of God’s fury poured undiluted into the cup of his rage. He will be tormented by fire and sulfur before the holy angels and before the Lamb, 11 and the smoke from their tormenting goes up forever and ever. They have no rest, day or night, those who worship the beast and its image and those who receive the mark of its name.” 12 This is when perseverance is needed on the part of God’s people, those who observe his commands and exercise Yeshua’s faithfulness.
Note that this is God’s people, implying it’s the Father’s people, who observe HIS commands. We can make this implication valid because it is in contrast to the usage of “Yeshua” in the same verse. But even if we decided it were Yeshua’s commands, we then have the following issues:
Matthew 5:17 “Don’t think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete. 18 Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah — not until everything that must happen has happened. 19 So whoever disobeys the least of these mitzvot and teaches others to do so will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But whoever obeys them and so teaches will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness is far greater than that of the Torah-teachers and P’rushim, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of Heaven!”
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John 12:44 Yeshua declared publicly, “Those who put their trust in me are trusting not merely in me, but in the One who sent me. 45 Also those who see me see the One who sent me. 46 I have come as a light into the world, so that everyone who trusts in me might not remain in the dark. 47 If anyone hears what I am saying and does not observe it, I don’t judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 Those who reject me and don’t accept what I say have a judge — the word which I have spoken will judge them on the Last Day. 49 For I have not spoken on my own initiative, but the Father who sent me has given me a command, namely, what to say and how to say it. 50 And I know that his command is eternal life. So what I say is simply what the Father has told me to say.”
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John 15:9 “Just as my Father has loved me, I too have loved you; so stay in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will stay in my love — just as I have kept my Father’s commands and stay in his love. 11 I have said this to you so that my joy may be in you, and your joy be complete.
And before we think that maybe God the Father changed His commands:
Malachi 3:6 “I, YHVH, do not change”
So which is it?
Well, if you shamar (guard/protect) His commands, then you would likely view His Word as protection. And if not, you may claim that His Word is a prison. Opposite of prison is freedom and this is the language people oftentimes use with regard to His Word: Free from the Law. And the proof-text is usually Romans 7. But Pauls clearly gives the following statement right out of the gate:
Romans 7:1 …for I am speaking to those who understand Torah…
Meaning if you don’t understand the Torah you may fall into Peter’s observation of Paul’s writings with regard to what is written here in Romans:
2 Peter 3:15 And think of our Lord’s patience as deliverance, just as our dear brother Sha’ul also wrote you, following the wisdom God gave him. 16 Indeed, he speaks about these things in all his letters. They contain some things that are hard to understand, things which the uninstructed and unstable distort, to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.
But we can appeal to our broader understanding of the goodness of God to help us settle this battle within our spirit, and hopefully, our churches as well.
David seems to paint a bit clearer picture on this terminology:
You, YHVH, protect (shamar) us; guard us forever from this generation — the wicked strut about everywhere when vileness is held in general esteem.
This is exactly the cry of most believers today: “Guard us from this generation for the wicked are walking about boldly because evil is being called good.”
It’s His Word that will protect us, not imprison us.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning.
In stark contrast to imprisonment, His Word will set us free:
Luke 4:16 Now when he went to Natzeret, where he had been brought up, on Shabbat he went to the synagogue as usual. He stood up to read, 17 and he was given the scroll of the prophet Yesha‘yahu. Unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written,
18 “The Spirit of Adonai is upon me;
therefore he has anointed me
to announce Good News to the poor;
he has sent me to proclaim freedom for the imprisoned
and renewed sight for the blind,
to release those who have been crushed,
19 to proclaim a year of the favor of Adonai.”
The people weren’t imprisoned by the Torah. They were imprisoned by those that changed the Torah. This includes both the Torah-teachers and the Adversary that had come along and twisted God’s Word. (For a treatise on the Torah-teachers, read all of the warnings and woes in Matthew 23)
Genesis 3:3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any wild animal which Adonai, God, had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You are not to eat from any tree in the garden’?”
This is literally the oldest trick in the book and the entire point is to keep people in bondage.
BUT!
“Because the poor are oppressed, because the needy are groaning, I will now rise up,” says YHVH, “and grant security to those whom they scorn.”
Did you see it? Well, of course not -- it’s hidden behind the english.
“and grant security (yesha) to those whom they scorn.”
Much to your chagrin, this calls for one more definition (but it’s a good one):
H3468 יֶשַׁע yesha` (yeh'-shah) n-m.
Rescue: When one of the flock is in trouble, the shepherd rescues it.
The root word (shin ayin) carries this meaning:
Watch: Shepherd: Delight: The pictograph shin is a picture of the teeth used for devouring or destruction, the ayin is a picture of the eye. Combined these mean "destroyer watches". The shepherd carefully watches over the flock and the surrounding area, always on the lookout for danger. When a predator comes to attack, the shepherd destroys the enemy.
Yeah, salvation. Yeshua. The Word. Your protection. Not prison.