Psalm 54 – Take Hold

Last night we celebrated the first year of Austin New Church. It was an amazing time of worship, reflection, celebration, and commissioning. As I sift through all my emotions, more than anything, I just felt comfort. Seemed strange to me really… I try to be really aware of “feelings”… and that’s honestly where I was. Then I read Psalm 54 this morning:

Behold, God is my helper;
The Lord is the sustainer of my soul.
Psalm 54:4 (NAS)

When I first read this verse, it sounded like the focus was on us... my help... my sustainer. It sounds as if it’s almost written to communicate God as fuel for our agenda. But it’s not. And since our nature is to so easily make things about us, I thought I’d dig in a bit

Here’s what I found:

The Hebrew word (azar) translated into the phrase “my helper” actually means to “surround and to protect”. The word “sustains” (camak) means to “take hold of” or to “uphold”. And if you look into the NAS instead of the NIV, you see that it says not only does the Lord, “take hold of” us, He takes hold of our “soul”.

The focus is celebrating God's effort, not ours. The emphasis is on His love nature and ability, above all others, to surround and protect. The victory is found when He takes hold of our very soul. This is where true comfort comes from. When God surrounds and upholds our soul. This is true sustenance.

Father, the word “sustain” has been a big theme for me lately. I know there are all kinds of surface things that keep that in my mind, some more selfish than they should be. But I also have a great desire to find my sustenance in you alone. I desire to find comfort in you. Thank you that you are able. Thank you that you are love. And thank you for making a way through Jesus to live in a restored relationship with you. Amen.

Nehemiah 5 - House Divided

Chapter four ended right. They were doing the work of God. Although it came with great opposition, they worked with a sword in one hand. I would imagine working with one hand would slow down their pace, but none-the-less they pressed on. However, in chapter 5 there is no mention of work, only strife.

One commentary read, “A great outcry of the people and their wives against their Jewish brethren meant one group fought against another. When God’s people fight one another they certainly are neither fighting the REAL enemy nor getting God’s work done. The enemy could not stop the work of God by direct attack, but the work stopped when God’s people weren’t unified and working together.”

So there is no mention of advance in chapter 5, only mention of internal fighting. I wonder today what their greatest sin was, the controversy among themselves, or the fact that it kept them from doing what they were called to do. This is an eye opening part of the journey.

“Now the men and their wives raised a great outcry against their Jewish brothers. Some were saying, "We and our sons and daughters are numerous; in order for us to eat and stay alive, we must get grain."

Others were saying, "We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our homes to get grain during the famine." Still others were saying, "We have had to borrow money to pay the king's tax on our fields and vineyards. Although we are of the same flesh and blood as our countrymen and though our sons are as good as theirs, yet we have to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but we are powerless, because our fields and our vineyards belong to others."- Nehemiah 5:1-5

So they were in a famine. People were trying to mortgage their property (and I would imagine taking 2nd mortgages). Taxes had to be paid. Money was slim. Sounds like January 2009. And it was following a season in which they had given much of their money and time to this service project of faith. Seemed like the most inopportune time for a provisional downturn and almost foolish to continue making such sacrifices for the greater good. Yet God is proven a faithful provider (again) through giving Nehemiah favor among the nobles and officials.

“For every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.” – Psalm 50:10

I'm thinking today about the greater good we are vested in. Whatever that may be in the Kingdom. We may not be building the wall around Jerusalem, but our mission is great. Strife will come, in fact it's here for many, maybe now is not the time to back off and get cautious. Maybe now is the time to truly trust in God's provision:

“And if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.” Isaiah 58:10-11

"Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it." Malachi 3:10

Psalm 3 - Selah

“Many are saying of me, "God will not deliver him." Selah. But you are a shield around me, O LORD; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head. To the LORD I cry aloud, and he answers me from his holy hill. Selah.” – Psalm 3:2-4

This is the first of over 70 verses that use the word Selah in the Old Testament. The overwhelming majority is found in the Psalms. It’s a common use in the suspension of music, a pause by definition. But the root of this word means to “hang” or to weigh. To not just pause… but to pause for reason. To take it in. To soak up what was said. To not take it lightly, instead to fully absorb it’s value or significance.

This day I pray we can each “take it in”. To find a moment to pause and soak it up. Or as one of the Psalms says in just 31 more chapters, “Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.” – Psalm 34:8