Good Morning Yamon Ki Yesepar;
Psalms 16:7: “I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel, my reins also instruct me in the night sessions.”
There are some very curious choice of words and use of grammar in this verse. First David is saying that he will bless the Lord. This is a future tense in a piel form. It is not unusual for David to use the word bless in a piel form when he is speaking of blessing the Lord. He is saying that he will do everything he can to please the Lord. This is why it is in the future tense. God has already done something wonderful for him and as a result he is committing himself to do whatever it takes to please the heart of God.
Here we have this all powerful God who has done so much for us, what can we, lowly humans, do for Him? We can do what David did, please His heart. If you are truly grateful for all He has done, you would also put that in a piel form and say: “I will do whatever I can, I will make whatever sacrifice necessary, to please His heart.”
Why is David so committed to pleasing the heart of God? Because the Lord has given him counsel, or advice. That word is “ya’as” which is advice that comes through spiritual discernment (ayin) and humbling oneself before God (sade). Getting advice from the Master of the Universe, would be enough to make anyone grateful. Who would not want advice for God Himself. The problem is not having a desire for advice from God nor is it even a willingness to humble ourselves before God. The problem is, how do we get that advice from God?
Well, David says that “His reins instruct him in the night sessions. Now that is simple enough. You want advice from God, just let your reins instruct you at night. Now why can’t all our questions be answered so simply?
Maybe this will help, the word reins is “kalah” means kidneys. That makes it much simpler, let your kidneys instruct you at night. We’re not really getting anywhere with this are we?
Ok, it is about time we admit that we are dealing with a Hebrew idiom. Kidney is really a modern expression for kalah, which basically means internal organs or your inward parts. In ancient times soothsayers used to examine the bowels of an animal to foretell the future. Hence “inward parts” or “kalah” took on a metaphoric meaning of a prophetic instrument. Sort of like we would use the term “crystal ball” today. “The economist looked into their crystal ball today and said….” Of course they really did not consult a crystal ball, or at least we hope they didn’t, but the expression does get it’s point across.
So David is saying he receives prophetic advise in the night. Where did David get his prophetic advice from at night? The Talmud as well as Scripture teaches that prophets received their prophecies through dreams. David most likely received his counsel from God in dreams, as perhaps we do as well. Scripture is clear that God can speak through dreams.
Note, however, David is speaking of advice or messages from heaven. There is the a story in rabbinical literature of a rabbi would write out a question to God and place in under his pillow. That night God would give him a dream which would answer his question. It is called a dream question.
Ever wonder why God created us to require sleep? It would have been easy enough to have created us so that we would not require sleep. It seems such a waste of precious time to spend one third of our lives sleeping. Our spirit never sleeps, what does it do while the body is zonked out. Does our spirit just sit on the bedside watching the clock, waiting for that time to pass by until it can get back to work?
Perhaps, just a thought, There is much more going on at night than we are aware. It seems David had some insight into the night and he was ready to bless the Lord in a piel way out of gratitude for it.
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