Psalms 119:25: “My soul cleaveth unto the dust, quicken thou me according to thy
word.”
“In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.” – Eric Hoffer
Most Christian commentators interpret the phrase; My soul cleaveth unto the dust as an expression of dying. However, the Jewish sages bring out something very interesting about that word cleave. In the Hebrew the word is davak which means to cleave but it also means to follow closely. It is from the same root as the word devekut which I have addressed on many occasions and represents a very close relationship with God, like you and God hugging. Of course we will not render this as David’s soul hugging the earth nor in this context and our Western thinking would we render the word as simply to follow. His soul would not follow the dust. Of does it? We must not forget that this is poetry so davak was likely used to express a certain play on words that writers such as David can and did make. There are a number of other Hebrew words David could have used as my soul lays in the dust, or seeks the dust etc. Why this word davak which could mean both a close relationship like a hug to simply following. We can only know from the context and just what is the context here?
There was an ancient belief that your soul passes through your feet. It was believed that when a master teacher walked, he left trances of his wisdom and knowledge in his footprints. His followers would seek to step in the footprints of their master in hopes that they would absorb some of that knowledge that was left behind. That is where the expression walking in his footsteps comes from. Sometimes they would roll in the dust that their master would kick up in hopes of capturing some of that wisdom and knowledge. The Talmud seems to express the idea that David was making an allusion in this picture. David is putting himself in the position a disciple or learner to his master – God Jehovah. Thus his soul is clinging or following the dust that God leaves, hoping to gain just a trance of Godly wisdom and knowledge.
The word cleave is spelled Daleth Beth Qop. Ancient Jewish teachings on this word tells us that the Daleth is a doorway to the Beth or heart of God and that the Qop tells us that sacrifice is the doorway to come closer to the divine. Jesus made it clear that there is only one sacrifice that will bring us closer to God and that is His own sacrifice of his life on the cross. The word for “dust” is ’aphar which is the word for dust or dirt and is the same word use for what God formed man out of and what man will return to . The word aphar is sometimes used for natural man. Now I do agree with the Christian commentators that this is an expression of death. That being the case, we seem to have a nice little package expression of the Messiah Jesus coming to earth in human form to sacrifice his life so that man can draw close to God and know His heart.
This is followed by the expression quicken me according to your word. The word quicken is chani from the root word chi which is life. David is literally asking for life from the Word of God. Odd, but the word according to is not found in the Hebrew. That is drawn from the Kap in front of the word davar which are words from the heart or in this case God’s heart. It is more appropriately rendered: like your Word. Did not Jesus say: “I am the Word of life.” Believe what you want but I believe buried deep within the esoteric nature of the Hebrew we see not only a picture of Jesus but also a prophecy of His coming.
So I really have two different applications for this Psalm which is entirely appropriate when dealing with poetry as it is with much of Western poetry. One has freedom to read their own message in a poem. So for me the first message is the Christian understanding that David is about to die and he is asking God to quicken or revive his life according to His Word. I am not dying so I cannot really make a personal application with that.
But consider this, our first thought when we hear Word is that it is a reference to the Bible. Indeed the Bible is the Word of God. Yet, the only Bible David had was the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. When David refers to the Torah, he calls it that. The word used here however is davar which is a word from the heart. David’s life is restored by a Word from God’s heart. That will restore anyone. Now that I can relate to.
But soft, I see another deeper meaning here and that is the one that many rabbis see. They believe this clinging to the dust is a search for the wisdom and knowledge of God. David is saying that he is rolling in the dust of God, or that he is seeking a personal Word from God.
People will purchase books, CD’s, listen to the radio and TV teachers, and travel to distant places to attend workshops and seminars, hoping to get a Word from God. Nothing terrible wrong with this. The learned can give us some wonderful words that we can all use, except like David, there does come a time when you need to get your own Word from God. That means seeking and searching for Him with all your heart, soul and might, not just listening to a CD. As the American Longshoreman philosopher Eric Hoffer said, “In times of change it is the learner who inherits the earth, not the learned.” The words of the learned are good, but during times of personal change or crisis, like David, we need to get our own personal Word from God. There are times we need, like David, to roll in the dust of God and not the dust of man. When was the last time you just rolled and rolled in bed or on the floor all night searching for that Word from God. The Bible makes it clear that it is not easy to obtain for we must search with all our hearts, soul and might. Then He, His Word will be found by you. Deuteronomy 4:29.
Recent Comments