Part 1 of Exegesis of Psalm 123: 1-2

Exegesis of Psalm 123: Song of Ascent

Exegesis is the Greek for an explanation. It is a working out and developing what has been said. Further, there is a dwelling upon what has been said that the impression may be deepened so that what one suggests the text is saying is added by way of good interpretation or Hermeneia. I used to just do all this study without writing it down, mainly because that takes a whole lot of extra work. I have to organize my research findings and articulate my thoughts. But this has become great practice for me and has been quite fun. I have always been very interested in the area of figures of speech and semantics when it comes to making good interpretation of the scriptures. Words and there meaning and how these are unique in different cultures fascinates me. This blog is intended to be a sort of crash course class for myself and others too who are following along to develop their own understanding of exegesis through identifying figures of speech. 

visual of Bible’s 63,779 cross-references

The divine word of the Lord, which was given to us in earthly terms, is by its divine nature extremely intriguing. For now we see in part but when the perfect comes we will see the whole. That is to say, heavenly things cannot be wholly expressed and understood in the earthly realm with earthly words. Not everything can be revealed until that time, yet what can be gotten at is laid out on the table for anyone to come and feast. 

So, if we want to truly understand what is being told us, we need to not just simply understand the words themselves but the principles which dictate their usage and figures. This is so important in getting at the deeper meaning of a passage and for knowing when to take something literal or figurative, which is so often grossly executed (by layman and scholar alike). 

Literary devices are at work in any written text as well as everyday speech. These figures increase the power of the words and meaning behind them. Even men desire other men to understand their heart behind their words or the spirit of their words with simply things. Of course the Most High, who must have the most perfect speech, being clever and intelligent, emotional and thoughtful desires we understand His heart and Spirit which cannot be expressed so plainly. Indeed "the words of the Lord are pure, like silver refined in a furnace on the earth, purified seven times over" (psalm 12:6). 

A figure will always give additional force and feeling to the words that are used. "For unusual figura is never used except to add force to the truth conveyed, emphasis to the statement of it, and depth of the meaning of it. When we apply this science [the systematic study of the structure of the laws governing language] then to God's word and to Divine truths, we see at once that no branch of Bible study can be more important, or offer greater promise of substantial reward. It lies at the very root of all translation; and it is the key to true interpretation" (Bullinger, vi). I whole heartily agree. There is something happening in the realm of figures and semantics. How these figures tell us something or make us feel something nothing so plainly said ever could! Spinoza said, "[the] object of (all scripture) is not to convince the reason but to attract and lay hold of the imagination" (Aussubel, 55). In this way, the gates of heaven seem to open up and the voice of the Lord beckons us in. I am the bride singing "draw me after You and let us run together" (song of Solomon 1:4).

So friends, may we find His words and eat them, that they be our joy and hearts delight (Jer. 15:16).

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A little bit on the topic of Poetic structure. Remember that the songs of ascents are clearly marked as songs - having musical notations and possible modes of intonation. Psalm is for the Greek ψαλμός (psalmos) which is defined as a set piece of musical or sacred ode. Nowadays we understand poetry to be a completely different form of writing than a song, usually having modes of intonation or meter yet without musical notation. But it could be, to the ancient Hebrew and Greek, possibly that they may likely have been one in the same. We won't be looking at or discussing any of the musical aspects at this time (though they do offer more information in meaning for the Lord created music which is a language itself). 

The psalms are somewhat misunderstood from their translation into the Greek - psalm from the Hebrew - mizmor. This word - mizmor, had a deep meaning coming from the word Lizmor - to trim, like to pull out weeds.

Why do we sing songs? No song is sung without having a spiritual direction (consider this when applied to the modern music society streamlines). Much more could be expounded on this tangent, but I will make the point clear now, in that these songs were recanted or sung with the intention of cleansing, or preparing a reverent heart to the Lord. To pray and to stand before the Lord, "to enter His courts with offering and to worship Him in wholly attire" (Ps 96). We note their specific purposes by categorizing them as praise psalms or thanksgiving or deliverance etc.

Now there is a great deal to talk about concerning poetic structure and I don't want to take that on in this post. I add a generalization of poetic structure, that it organizes the thoughts and themes of the poem in a specific way, that we might feel certain things, ponder on certain things and have a direction for understanding and come to intended conclusions. 

The way in which a poet applies structure, like for instance with a Sonnet or Haiku or Pantoum, will force the attention of the reader to dwell on certain words or expressions for the intention of leaving a strong impression and making clear the poets main subject and thought. Consider this in retrospect of our exegesis of Psalm 121.   

Identifying and addressing a specific poetic structure will create space for interpretating the meaning of the words through the structure employed when looking at a psalm.

It appears that this short 4 verse psalm has a simple structure, having 2 Quatrains with 2 couplets each. As we identify figures in use, more concerning the structure through the device of correspondence comes to light. We will explore that further down. 

A Quatrain is a 4 line stanza and a couplet will have two lines and certain meter and rhyme schemes or play on words. What is immediately noticeable this psalm is the word play. With the first quatrain our attention is drawn to the words 'eyes' and 'look to' and in the second quatrain to the words 'mercy' and 'contempt'. 

Let us state that this is a deliverance psalm. This is the main and specific intention of this psalm. The poet is declaring he is waiting on the Lord. Help us, help us our poet prays. Without further ado, let us jump into the break down.

Side Note: The verses will now also have the link to them so you can go directly to biblehub to look at them. Also, forgive my Romanized spelling of the Hebrew. I am spelling them as I phonetically hear it.  You can also find the Hebrew by clicking on the verse links to look at the spelling if you wish. Here is a link to a website in which you can look up the figures of speech. 

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A Song of Ascents Shir ham-ma a lot

1 I lift up my eyes to You, the One enthroned in Heaven.	¹eleicha nasati et-einai hay-yosh'vi bashsha-mayim.
2 Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, As the eyes of maids look to the hand of their mistress, So our eyes look to the Lord our God until He shows us mercy.	²Hinneh che-einay avadim el-yad adoneihem, che-einay sifchay el-yad gevirtah, Eineinu el-YHWH eloheinu, ad shei- yechan-nenu

Okay, the first thing that stands out to me is the use of metonymy in the first verse which we discussed here in our psalm 121 exegesis. The idea put forth by this phrase 'lift mine eyes' is to be understood as - I will implore, I will petition, pray, go to/look to (inwardly). We see this exchange of phrases in Ezekiel 18 as well where it says, the righteous man "does not eat at the mountain or look to the idols of the house of Israel". Which is to mean, the righteous man does not make sacrifices to other gods nor does he petition them for help.

Related Verses:

Psalm 121 1 I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from where shall my help come from? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and Earth. Isaiah 40 26 lift up your eyes on high, who created all these things? He leads forth the starry host by number; He calls each one by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. Psalm 141 8 for my eyes are towards You YHWH the Lord; in You I take refuge; do not leave me defenseless. Psalm 25 15 my eyes are continually toward the Lord, for He will pluck my feet out of the net.

The first verse gives us an epithet instead of the Lord's name. The descriptive phrase used here is 'the One enthroned in heaven'. The quality/characteristic of the Lord it brings forth is Ruler. We see this brought forth in these related verses as well by other ways of acknowledging His greatness. 

The One enthroned in heaven = rules and reigns in heaven. By making use of an epithet like this, the one petitioning automatically gives reverence. This is a sign of respect and humility and in doing this the poet perfectly declares the Lord the ruler over himself as well as everything. Indeed, through this expression the poet is declaring the ultimate and complete sovereignty and rule that the Lord has over all dominions and thrones, earthly and heavenly.

The second thing that stands out to me, is the repetition of the words EYES and LOOK. Some figure is at play here.

Concerning the repetition of the word EYES, Anaphora is being used. This is the repetition of the same word at the beginning of successive sentences. "The figure is so called because it is the repeating of the same word at the beginning of successive clauses: thus adding weight and emphasis to statements and arguments by calling special attention to them" (Bullinger, 199).

For the 'eye' is put for the man himself by way of synecdoche in regard to vision both mental and physical. Synecdoche is the exchange of one idea for another associated idea. In this sense, the 'hand' could be understood by synecdoche to be a part put for the whole as well. But specifically, with the 'eye' as the part, what is being expressed is the person, for the whole. By using 'eye' we receive the expressed idea that the person is looking. This happens in both phrases.

In order to understand what figure is at play with the repetition of the word LOOK, we will at same time address the link between this expression 'I lift my eyes' and 'look to the hand'. As it is not the word LOOK that is being repeated but the phrase 'look to the hand'. These are related expressions, and parallelism is linking these two phrases and these four lines. Parallelism is the repetition of similar thoughts in successive lines, doubling over on itself to impress on the listener/reader the weight of the words. These two expressions and these two verses are thus saying similar things with a slight variation in order to enhance the message.

Now we discussed the meaning of 'the hand' by way of figure at length here in our second part to the exegesis of psalm 121. We will at this time only focus on how the hand is a symbol of authority and power by way of metonymy. Remembering the passages concerning Joseph in Potiphar's house, we think about 'the hand' pertaining to authority over a household, rules/manages the whole household.

So, I'm still learning how to differentiate between these three - metonymy, synecdoche & idioma. Whenever I encounter these figures, they feel very similar to me. Somethings are even idioma by way of metonymy or synecdoche. So, I may have gotten this wrong but to me this phrase 'look to the hand' is an idiom that also makes use of both metonymy and synecdoche. Idioma is the peculiar usage of words and phrases. So, what we have with this phrase is a peculiar way for expressing when one trusts in or relies on another's power or authority.

Different idioms carry different weight and focus. I was thinking about the expression 'being placed in the hands of' and how this seems similar. But actually, it shifts the focus and emotional expression. Our poet has repeated 'eyes' and 'looking to' 4 times in two verses. By doing this, we linger in the emotional state of being as one who is waiting on the Lord. I am looking to You Lord. I am waiting on You Lord. The use of the epithet makes the Lord great openly while, the underlying message of 'I am Your servant' gets received passively. 'I am the servant, You are the Master! it declares. It is YHWH's hand which our poet looks to. His power and authority. Then the similes tell us how our poet is waiting on the Lord - utterly dependent and utterly reverent. 

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I think it would be good to linger a little on the relationship between servants and masters. This is a wide topic, but I don't want to get sidetracked. Since our poet used a simile, which is a declaration that one thing resembles another, we can construe a pretty straight forward meaning. The use of parallelism also supports this. So I will restate that our phrases 'lift the eyes' and 'look to the hand' are related and expressing the notions - petitioning the Lord/looking to Him for help and relying on His authority & power/looking to Him for help.

A lot of what I have looked at concerning this passage has focused on the servants' duties and have taken this phrase to be saying something more like this - 'the servant looks to the master to tell him what to do' or 'the servant lives to please the master'. The master's authority is seen as a chain from this perspective. The focus would be on how a servant is oppressed in his position. But this has missed the mark and sorrowfully misconstrued the emotional expression! The poet is actually focusing on the Masters role in the servant's life and not the other way around.

A good master will have a good hand over the household, as is appropriate and right. This was actually written into the Torah, the importance of righteousness in being a good master. Many see first all the laws the servant must abide by and miss the laws the master must abide by. You can read more on what was legally entailed in the servant/master relationship in this article at Jewish Encyclopedia. You can also read this article that reflects on the word study of avadim here.

There was a standard for the master's provision and authority in his servants' lives. They were responsible for the needs and well-being of their servants. Food, water, clothing, shelter, judging on legal matters etc.

Our poet has already likened himself to the servant by using this simile. So it is then inferred that he is saying YHWH is his master. Indeed, it is Jehovah Jireh who provides, who leads, who manages and takes care of His household. The Lord God Almighty is the best master. How wonderful it is that He is our master for He will always deal with matters and needs fairly and righteously.  

A servant gets all his help from the master. Indeed, only the master can resolve grievances. So we see that this relationship is a two-way street and our servant poet has come to collect on what the master can do for him. This psalm highlights the benefits in the equal exchange of rights and provision for life and service from the master to the servant.

The similes tell us in which state of being or heart place the servant petitions. And this is one that is utterly grateful, utterly dependent, utterly reverent.

So what is notable here? If David is our poet, then we have a king making himself out to be a servant. He is also going through the correct legal process to deal with a matter by taking the matter to the master. Thus he is also going through the spiritually correct legal process by taking it to the Lord. We note that he makes the request for retribution after giving reverence and from the position of a servant - not a king coming in and making demands. 

Truly in these moments of deep pondering on this I see how David was always meant to foreshadow Jesus. The ways that these men made themselves as servants before the Lord, I can't explain the way it makes me feel when I begin to ponder on my relationship with the Lord as His servant. And just as equally, when I ponder on the greatness of the Lord as my master, I feel things that can't be told and understand things that don't have words. These men valued the position of servant to the Lord. Even something in living from that position of servant to the Lord satiates the soul in inexpressible ways, a spiritual bread or water. For indeed, a good master will always provide bread and water. 

Through pondering on these things, I believe we can say that as for this deliverance psalm, we have gone through the cleansing part, and it seems that the poet leads us through cleansing oneself of pride.

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There is another figure used that points to this interpretation of the similes. This figure is Asterismos. The 'behold' or 'hinneh' is used to draw attention to what is being said. The calling attention to a thing by making a mark or star (*). Behold - look greatly at. This indicates a great significance or weight to the words; this is usually done to encourage a sense of awe and wonder or reverence/fear. Bullinger notes "the word 'behold' is not a mere interjection, but is really a verb, telling us actually to look and see, observe and note attentively" (Bullinger, 926).

By applying this figure here, the poet is able to release reverent pathos very strongly. It is saying, 'Look Lord! I am your servant! I am waiting on You! I need Your help!' This poem immediately gives great reverence or kowtowing to the Lord. Immediately multiple figures of speech are employed that specifically mark everything with great importance. The poet by offering this sacrifice of deep reverence is cleansing his heart before the Lord. This is done before the request for mercy is made.

Now onto the third thing that stands out to me. Which is, the repetition of similes. This indicates that another figure of speech structurally is at work. I want to explore the idea that it could be chiasmus, though in truth it may only be correspondence. Let's investigate!

Our similes are the two phrases - as the eyes of the servants look to the hand of their masters and as the eyes of the maids look to the hand of their mistress'.

A Simile is when a declaration is made that one thing resembles another. This is the Latin name of the figure from similar, resembling closely, or in many respects. This figure is usually much truer to fact than to feeling. "Simile differs from comparison, in that comparison admits of dissimilitudes as well as resemblances. Simile differs from metaphor in that it merely states resemblance, while metaphor boldly transfers the representation... Simile is destitute of feeling. It is clear, beautiful, gentle, true to fact, but cold and too deliberate for passion... [Similes] abound throughout the Scripture and impart to it much of its beauty and force" (Bullinger, 727).

In the Hebrew it is usually marked with the Kaph ﬤ. Bullinger notes that this figure has no Greek name and that it's not really a figure because it's so plain and straightforward. It's not an unusual form of expression to be sure. It is one of the most common forms of expression used. "They require no explanation. They explain and are intended to explain themselves" (Bullinger, 727). However, "when this resemblance is not apparent or is counter to our ordinary perception of things, it jars upon the ear" (Bullinger, 726). Just because it's a plain and simple and overused figure doesn't mean it's not a figure. Bullinger obviously agrees because he does make a category for it in his figurative language book.

Bullinger does proceed to say some similes are actually used figuratively when they imply more than just the resemblance but the thing itself. This happens when the expression is used, marked by a change from the word 'like' with 'as'. Then there is also a distinction between similes that make use of 'as' and 'so' together. Which happens to be the case with these similes.

A simile alone isn't particularly interesting, that is true. The reason why these similes are interesting is because of the succession of them and the interweaving expressions together by them. This is called Syncrisis or repeated simile. From the Greek σύν (sun) - together with and κρίσίς (crisis) - a judging or deciding. "Hence, syncrisis is the judging or comparing of one thing with another...Another name for this is parathesis...a putting beside. It was called in Latin comparatio: i.e. a bringing together and comparing" (Bullinger, 734).

These repeated similes are actually identical thought expressions except that one is the masculine and the other feminine. The poet has given us both when one neutral plural form would have sufficed. This continues to back up my claim that the poet is very intentionally wanting the feeling of utter dependence and reverence from a servant's position to come across. I believe it also brings a wonderful maturity in that women and men have such a different experience and there is more to be felt and understood. It creates a complete emotional spectrum of depth. There is more pathos available to meditate on and be moved by. Because it is done by syncrisis we understand them to be being compared and made equal with each other. We can see that mapped out to us by the diagram below. 

So let's look at the diagram to our right.

diagram 1 & 2

A] I look to You Lord

B] as a servant looks to his master

C] as a maid looks to her mistress

D] just like this, the nation looks to You Lord

We note the turning upon with verses 1&2. We see the comparison made of A:B. Then the repetition of similes tells B=C. And We are given another comparison C:D. Looking at diagram 1, if we express this through logical analogy we get: A is to B as A is to C because B=C. Thus B is to D as C is to D. So then D is also = to A because D is to B and C, as A is to B and C. 

Or we could say A is to B as C is to D and B is = C and the rest is inferred without any extra need for deduction. We see this flow out in diagram 2.

As we continue forward, it appears that parallelism isn't the only device being used and it is not the main figure being used to link the subjects of each couplet together. When we look at the structure of the poem, it shows correspondence at work. With correspondence, we see repetition with subjects rather than with lines. With correspondence "each of the subjects occupies a separate paragraph and these we call members. These members may be any length; one may be very short and the other quite long. A longer member might be divided up and expanded, as each member possesses its own separate structure. [Correspondence] enables us not merely to perceive the symmetrical perfection of these passages, but to understand its true sense; to see its scope and thus be guided to sound interpretation" (Bullinger, 363-4). 

In my research I find conflicting suppositions. While Bullinger suggests that this psalm makes use of a simple form of correspondence, I want to explore the possibility that this is correspondence by chiasmus.

Chiasmus for the Latin and chiasmos for the Greek. The best way to describe what a poem with chiastic structure looks like is to start by looking at a picture of its layout. If we look at the diagram to our left, we will see that this type of poem is so named for its shape like that of the Greek letter chi. The layout is structured so that A and A prime would agree in thought B and B Prime would agree in thought and C would be the emphasized point. This is the main model, but variation will occuer.

The Greeks also called this figure Allelouchia from αλλήλους (allelous) - together and εχειν (exein) - to have or to hold, which is a holding or hanging together. Bullinger defines chiasmos as introverted correspondence and makes it clear that to be considered in use it would have a very specific structure in which "if there are six members, the first corresponds with the sixth, the second with the fifth and the third with the fourth and so on and so on" (Bullinger, 374).

Whether it is truly chiastic or just by correspondence, I will let each reader decide for themselves. These are the pieces we have - two subjects or thema, two members.

Repeated and similar idiomatic expressions, repeated similes, repeated parallel lines give us a strong, strong, strong message. This also gives us a clear voice. The theme of the first member is completely about this servant master relationship, specifically emphasizing the type of heart space our poet is coming from as he makes his petition.

Upon seeing the layout like this, I notice that our first member and second member repeated the active voice statement twice. For the first member that is the - I look to the Lord petition and for the second it is the - deliverance plea, be gracious to us. But in the first member it is our A] and it is split apart. In the second it is our C] and it is said twice in a row. Then each member gives us a repetition 3x. in the first, it is how the poet petitions 'like this' 3 times. And in the second it is what the poet is asking deliverance from, 'from this' 3x. Interesting, cool, cool, cool.

In noticing that there is a repetition of the petition split apart, this could be a possible use of Koinotes or combined repetition. The Latin calls it complexio or combination. "This is when two separate phrases are repeated, one at the beginning and the other at the end of successive sentences or paragraphs. It is a combination of anaphora and epistrophe; but affecting phrases rather than single words" (Bullinger, 345). Wow this poem is amazing. In our first couplet we see anaphora used and in our second couplet we will see epistrophe used and in between we see a figure that combines them both! Now, if it is a stretch to say this figure is at work it doesn't negate the fact that a figure of speech is still behind this repetition, and if it is not koinotes then it is simply parallelism.

In the first member, the second time our action is voiced, it has shifted from first person singular 'I' into first person plural 'our' and then combined with the simile by the word 'so'. It additionally gives us the second theme 'mercy'. Telling us finally, what the poet is petitioning the Lord for through the figure of speech anadiplosis.

Anadiplosis links verse 2 with verse 3 and verifies the second theme. Anadiplosis is when the last word of the first verse is the first word of the second verse. the words that link these verses is mercy or chanenu. "The words so repeated are this emphasized as being the most important words in the sentence, which we are to mark and consider in translation and exposition" (Bullinger, 251). You may find it interesting that this is the first figure of speech employed in the Bible.

2 So our eyes look to the Lord our God until He shows us mercy. Eineinu el-YHWH eloheinu, ad shei- yechan-nenu 3 Be gracious to us, Oh Lord, be gracious to us  For we have had much more than enough of contempt. chanenu Adonai(YHWH) chanenu, ki rav sahvahnu buz

We will look deeper into this figure when we exegete verses 3&4 in the next post. So let us wrap up with a conclusion on the first member verses 1&2, first by ending on discussing what verse 2 is telling us. 

What is notable is this transition from the 'I' to the 'our'. Are we to understand that the poet knows the whole nation is making prostrated petitions from the same heart place as he is? You may take this further in your own meditations but for the sake of brevity I am going put forward what I came to.

What we have is a king making petition for his nation. This 'our' is still being made from a first-person singular voice. We are being told through this word exchange that the poet is standing in the gap and making this plea for the nation. Thus, what we are also being shown is that the nation is a servant of the Lord (A=D).

It is the king who is making petition for the people. Whether the people are as reverent and bowed down as he is or not. This is of course another foreshadowing of Jesus. And everything it brings up in my heart and spirit, concerning these kings who made themselves servants and laid down their lives for the people, has been extremely emotional and deep. I hope you dear reader will take a moment to meditate on the love these men showed to the people and the Lord and the humility it takes to be a servant.

This is also something very biblical but kind of misunderstood or lacking in the church today. Which I call, standing in the gap for others. I will address it a little more in the context which the Lord has had me meditating on. In Leviticus chapter 10 we see that it is important for the priests to eat the offerings as it was their due. But more than that, "it is most holy, and the Lord gave it to you to bear away the guilt of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord" (v 17). The priests by eating the offerings make atonement for the people. In this way, our king poet makes petitions for the people. This has had me thinking a lot about communion and how we the body of Christ (the royal priesthood) can make atonement for our nations by eating of the body and blood. So too can we also stand in the gap and make petitions for our country and people.

CONCLUSION:

This is a deliverance psalm. The first member verses 1&2 focuses on the cleansing part. Our poet cleanses himself of pride by declaring himself the servant who is utterly dependent and reverent to the Lord Almighty. The second member verses 3&4 is where our poet asks to be delivered from prideful oppressors.

It is interesting how we find in deliverance psalms a congruency between asking the Lord for help and making oneself small before Him. Or rather, making Him bigger. This is a distinctive aspect to deliverance psalms. Oh, I didn't realize this till now, but there is a figure for that which we did actually see employed in the first couplet. It is called Meiosis - " A lessening of one thing, by contrast, to increase the greatness of another" (Bullinger, 159). Another example of this is here in Isaiah 40:15 "surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are considered a speck of dust on the scales; but look! The Lord lifts up the islands like fine dust".

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More on the poetic structure. We also see that these two Quatrains make an octastich (however, this is when it is translated in English and may not be so in the original text). An octastich is a stanza with eight lines and is used to expand a particular theme. It will have a specific metrical pattern/rhyme scheme. But again, metrical pattern and rhythm is different in the original text. Here is another link of the Accents and Phrasing of Psalm 123  structure of this poem in the Hebrew.

What does the use of almost 10 figures of speech by repetition tell us? Honestly, this is crazy to me. This psalm is so short but has so many figures by repetition at play. It is as if each figure by repetition is a punch in the face to us to imprint the poets words and heart. We will look at more of these repetition figures in the next post concerning the other two verses.

Something else I wanted to note, is that looking at the analogy made in the first 2 verses, I saw an Aristotelian syllogism pop out (AAA-1). I am not suggesting that this syllogism is actually put here by the poet. I don't have enough information to substantiate that. I also just don't think it was intentional...it's just what my eyes see.

(All of me) I look to YHWH for help (Major Premise)

as (all) servants look to their masters (Minor Premise)

(All our eyes) the nation looks to YHWH (Conclusion/Consequent)

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Personal meditation questions and exercises:

🌷Read Matthew 18:23-35 and consider the parable of the king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants in light of our considerations on spiritually legal ways to resolve a matter.

• Have you ever considered that there are spiritually legal and illegal ways of dealing with matters? What do you think these are or look like? Can you identify any in your life that have become patterns of behavior?

• When you have a situation, who do you look to? Are you your own master? When you do go to the Lord for help, do you immediately start asking for things? Or do you enter his courts with sacrifices of thanksgiving and in holy attire (ps 96)? What do you think this means?

• How often do you stand in the gap for others and pray for the needs of others? Or do you blame them and demand your own retribution first?

🌼Consider and meditate on how David and Jesus took on the role of servant in the house of the Lord. What does it mean to be a servant in the Lord's house? What does that look like in your daily life? Here is a link to ways in which Jesus was a servant - Servant Leader. Here is a link to looking at David as a servant David, My servant. Look at these passages about being a servant.

• What does it mean to be a servant of God? Is the role of a servant too belittled? Would being a servant be beneath you, is it unacceptable or does it make you less valuable? Do your actions and thoughts match your heart position on the matter? Consider and read Psalm 119:1-40, aleph-he. Here is another link to bible verses and contemplations on being a servant.

• Consider the story and message of Jesus to be a bold declaration to everyone from the Heavenly Father of all the blessings and care He as the master will do and give if you enter His house. read Matthew 6:25-34, Isaiah 53, Isaiah 55. " Whoever loves his life will lose it, but whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If any one serves me he must follow me; and where I am, my servant will be also. If any one serves me, the father will honor him" (John 12:25). 

• Read and consider the parable about the servants and the talents Matthew 25:14-29. "His master replied, well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share in the joy of your master".

🌻 In Psalm 107, which is a Thanksgiving for deliverance psalm, it says, "He satisfies the thirsty, and fills the hungry with good things". This word satisfy is from the root for the word used in verse 4 'Savah', we look more deeply at this word in the next post. The second word here 'fills', means to be made complete, confirm, accomplish or consecrate. Before we look more deeply into this in the next post, begin by considering how one becomes satisfied or complete through stepping into their role as a servant of the Lord.

• What does it mean to be spiritually satisfied? What do you think about this contemplation, that one way for spiritual satiation is through fulfilling this position as servant to the Lord? 

WORKS CITED:

Bible, Multiple translations pulled from https://biblehub.com/

Bullinger, E.W. Figures of Speech used in the Bible. 1989.

Martino Publishing. Eyre & Spottiswoode London

Ausubel, Nathan. The book of Jewish Knowledge. 1964.

Crown Publishers, INC. New York