Elul 25
Near
“יהוה is near to the broken-hearted …” (Ps 34:18 ISR)
We are now days away
from Yom Teruah, the Feast of
Trumpets, having worked our way through the month of Elul, and the season of teshuvah, of repentance. Our time has been spent in turning our eyes
inward, recognizing and dealing with areas of our lives that do not line up
with the divine instructions in moral and righteous living, the Torah. Perhaps you, like me, also realize what a
mess we humans are, with all of our faults and frailties, and how far short we
measure up. Brethren, our opening verse
is for us …
The
Hebrew word that has been translated as ‘near’ is the word qârôb (Strong’s H7138), and it is the
same word used in Lev 10:3, describing the Levitical priests that drew ‘near’
to minister to Elohim. We also find this
word used to illustrate family relationships, such as next of kin, in Num 27:11
and Ruth 2:22. However, in this verse
from Ps 34, as well as in Ps 75:1, qârôb
speaks of an intimacy, something that is more than just ‘near’.
‘Broken’
has been translated from the Hebrew word shâbar
(Strong’s H7665), and means to be shattered, broken, crushed, or even maimed
and crippled. Lêb (Strong’s H3820) is the word that is translated as ‘heart’,
and refers to the inner man, consisting of the mind, will, emotions and
understanding. Combining the two words,
we find an inner man that has been crushed and shattered.
Why,
then are we so crushed? It is because of
“the sin which so
easily entangles us” (Heb 12:1), that which we are attempting to break free
from, looking always towards our Master, Messiah Yeshua, ‘the Author and
Perfecter of our emunah, our faith’ (Heb
12:2). With those words, we understand that our Elohim
is ‘continuously at work in us,
completing what He began’ (Phi 1:6). He
will never leave us ‘half-baked’, still raw in the middle, “for we are His
workmanship, created in Messiah יהושע
unto good works, which Elohim prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Eph 2:10). And He is near,
intimately close to us – as near as a whisper.
“For You, יהוה, are good, and ready to forgive, And great in kindness to all
those who call upon You.” (Ps 86:5 ISR)
©2018
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