There are a number of things I’ve been wanting to write about which have happened recently from trips out to special nature places, my back garden developments, to things that have been in my mind or thoughts in regards to what God has been saying to me personally but I haven’t found the time.
This morning I received something which was like manna from heaven and I wanted to share it. It wasn’t particularly new but it was fresh and inspired.
I had a dream… you know how it goes. I will put that aside for now. That was significant in and of itself and is connected to what I will say here. It was followed by a phrase which doesn’t come naturally to me as it was in a different language. The phrase was from a song I had heard on and old cassette I was given by a friend. The cassette was called L’chaim B’Yeshua. The phrase was – or so I thought – Chi hey olam shaz do! After some sleuthing with the help of Google, the Logos 9 app and changing some of the transliterated letters, I found that the phrase was in fact missing a part which I had forgotten to add Hodu l’adonai chi tov.
I eventually found the phrase on the Haggadot website. The phrase is from Psalm 136 and it’s verse 1.
A bit of back story. The previous day I had by chance come across a book with an intriguing title. The title caused me to open the sample in the Libby library app where I found it, called The Greatest thing on earth by Henry Drummond. You could say I succombed to click-bate! I only read a few lines to discover he was speaking about love and particularly the love of God.
The phrase in Hebrew I had remembered albeit slightly mangled is actually this (read from right to left) :
הוֹד֣וּ לַיהוָ֣ה כִּי־ט֑וֹב כִּ֖י לְעוֹלָ֣ם חַסְדּֽו
Transliteration:
Hodu L’adonai (actually Yhwh but most interpreters like to use Adonai due to the ‘unpronounceable name’ being a sacred name) k’tov, k’ le’olam chazdo.
One English translation is:
Psalm 136:1 (LEB): Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good,
for his loyal love endures forever.
What a thought to wake up with especially after going to sleep with the burdens of the day and anxieties of all that’s happening currently. No doubt you may feel similarly, take heart you and I and those around us are fully loved by God .
Faithfulness is something that has come to my attention this week. Often in Christian circles our faith is emphasised but throughout scripture both our faith and the faithfulness of God is evident. I like that Dr. Michael Heiser calls our faith believing loyalty, that has been helpful to me. The Bible Project has a good video on chesed which is a key word in the Psalm I’m talking about above and is often connected with the faithfulness of God.
When times are tough it is good that we have this to hang on to. When we feel we don’t have anything to offer faithful Yahweh or anyone else for that matter – Adonai is there much closer than we realise. That goodness which the verse refers to has a broader meaning than we have in English. Obviously it depends on context. It can also mean:
Merry, pleasant, desirable, in order, usable, efficient, friendly, kind, better, best, beautiful, handsome and fine.
Faithfulness is a family affair and always has been. His faithfulness cannot be disconnected from that. He is loyal to us but through a covenant relationship made possible by the Son, Jesus.
Psalm 117:1–2 (LEB): 117 Praise Yahweh, all you nations;
extol him, all you peoples.
2 For his loyal love is mighty on our behalf,
and the faithfulness of Yahweh is forever.
Praise Yah!