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Monday, 22 May 2017
Psalm 131 - God perfects us

Psalm 131:1-2 "(A Psalm of Ascents for David) Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor my eyes lofty. Neither do I concern myself with great matters, nor with things too profound for me. Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with his mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me." NKJV

What follows is 4 negatives. These are related to the (haughty) heart, the (uplifted) eyes, not walking around (as a big shot into matters that don't concern me), and lastly, wonders that are too far from my abilities.

The Hebrew word for "wonders" is Pele (inside the word transliterated as Nif'la'ot) and this is the word that describes Yeshua in Isaiah 9:6 ("His name shall be called wonderful"). The use of this word here is saying we will not take on attributes for ourselves that belong to the Messiah.

Verse 2 emphasizes this further, saying, "Surely I have not equalized myself." The word Shiviti is first person past tense and means I have not made myself equal (the same or alike) with God nor compared myself to anyone else (as it is used here in the negative).

Now we get into some positives. I have quieted my soul, like a child that is weaned but quietly remains close to his/her mother. Then the verse concludes with one last word picture repeating the structure of the previous word picture. Like the weaned child who is at peace with [now the personal pronoun changes from third person (his/her) to first person (I/my) soul].

Let us purpose to allow the Holy Spirit to perfect us according to the will of God, our Father, through Messiah Yeshua.

Posted By Rabbi Michael, 10:00am Comment Comments: 0