Sivan 20
Perfection
“The Torah of YHWH is PERFECT,
restoring the soul …”
(Ps 19:7 HRVS, emphasis mine)
Noah Webster defines ‘perfect’
as “Finished; complete;
consummate; not defective; having all that is requisite to its nature and kind;
as a perfect statue; a perfect likeness; a perfect work; a perfect system.”[1] In other words, Torah is complete and
finished, lacking nothing. Nothing can
be added to it that would improve it in any way, and if we were to subtract
anything from it, we lose that which is already complete. We have the Hebrew nation to thank for the
preservation of the Torah; what we read today is fairly close to what was read
2000 years ago, during the time of our Messiah.
How many of us were
misinformed by well-meaning people, telling us that Torah is no longer valid
for today? Yet the entire B’rit Hadashah (New Testament) is filled
with instructions and commandments that have their origin within the pages of
Torah. Torah, within itself, has been
the foundation for many national documents and constitutions of countries worldwide, the U.S.
Constitution included[2].
Truly, it is a
work that is ‘perfect’.
Why would our ‘soul’
(nefesh, Strong’s #H5315) need
restoring? Our soul is our innermost
being, the part of you that makes you you,
and yes, it is very vulnerable. We have
all experienced life: problems within
the family environment, financial ups and downs, and even physical, health
related issues, just to name a few. All
of these concerns leave their mark on us, within our nefesh, some larger than others.
Nevertheless, we are told that it is Torah that will restore those
wounded and raw places within our being.
There is a
security found within the words of Torah, a security of knowing to whom we belong, and that our Creator is still in control, in spite of
all that is wrong in our immediate world.
Torah is our roadmap for every step that we take, and because Torah is
perfect, we understand that as long as we follow the path that is laid out for
us, we will never go astray. We may have
little control over circumstances and situations that come our way, but as long
as we look to Torah for instructions on how we are to act (and react) through all
of these, again, we understand that we will not go wrong.
But first, we must
read it, study it, read it some more, then walk it, all the while continuing in
our study of all that is written within the pages of Torah. Only then we will have “good success” (Jos
1:8).
“I have treasured up Your word in my heart, That I might not sin against
You.” (Ps 119:11 ISR)
©2018
[1]
American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828
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