Good Morning Yamon Ki Yesepar;
Psalms 66:12: “You have made men ride over our heads, we went through fire and water. You did bring us out into a place of abundance.”
Most commentators will say that the writer of the verse is speaking of the trials that Israel had gone through as a nation. They were overrun by invading armies, who set fire to their lands but God soon brought them to their place of abundance. That makes sense and is most likely the pashat. We can draw the personal application with the understanding that whatever mortal man throws at us, God will still bring us into a place of abundance. Moving deeper into a dresh, we understand that our security and abundance does not come from man but from God.
Looking at this word “ride” we may find something even deeper. The word is “racav” which is in a Hiphil form and is also used to express the bending of a knee. I suppose they get the idea of riding (a horse) from the fact that a horse bends his knees when running or walking. The word used for men is curious. It is not your standard word for men like “ish” or “adam” but it is “anash.” Anash expresses the idea of mortal flesh, that which is temporal and will die. It is something that is incurable, mortal or malignant or basically, hopeless, hence grievous, sorrowful. Finally the word “head” is “rosh” which has a broad range of usages. Ultimately rosh has the idea of a beginning, or that which is dominate. The word “over” is not in the text, the translators put that in so the phrase would make sense. The preposition used is “to” or “unto” He made men ride unto our heads does not read as well as “ride over” our heads, although neither make much sense unless you use an English idiom, like “he is going over my head, or my authority.” That, like I said, is an English idiom not a Hebrew idiom, although rosh can also express authority. Still, another way to read this is “He has caused our mortal flesh to bring us to our knees and dominate us.
“We went through fire and water” is literally translated as “We went in the fire and in the water.” Note the preposition (beth) is “in” and not “through” and is followed by the definite article “the.” Fire is a representation of the divine power or passion of God. It is spelled “aleph, shin” which represents God’s (aleph) divine power or passion (shin). Water is the symbol of God’s hidden knowledge.
Even though we are brought to our knees by our mortal flesh and it is or mortal flesh that dominates over us, if we go through in the divine power and hidden knowledge of God, we will enter an abundance. The word abundance is “ravah” which is used to express physical abundance. Ravah bares a picture of having an abundance to drink. It is a picture of wandering in a desert, about to die of thirst and coming upon an oasis where your deadly thirst is quenched. I believe Jesus was expressing the same idea in Matthew 26:41: “Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation: the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. The writer of this Psalm seems to be expressing that this mortal flesh will drag us down. It will dominate us so much that we focus on it trying to feed it, clothe it, and protect it, that we lose our focus on God. Pending layoffs, bills that we can’t pay, or a physical problem can strip us of our focus on God. But the writer is also saying that when we go through these things in the divine power and hidden knowledge of God we will come into a place of abundance.
The Jews listening to Jesus tell the story of the rich man burning in Hell who cries out for Lazarus to dip his finger in water and touch his tongue might have thought of this verse.
Perhaps this rich man who was so dominated by the flesh here on earth, was now being so tormented that he finally cried out to know the mysteries (water) of God, but it was too late. He was too busy serving his flesh while on earth to learn the mysteries of God. Jesus was most likely here saying that He and His salvation is the ultimate mystery of God that we must seek here on earth, There I go again finding Jesus in some obscure passage of Scripture. Yet, is it not through His finished work on the cross that through Him (water – hidden mystery) and divine power (fire) we can be eternally satisfied? Only through Jesus can we conqueror the mortal flesh.
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