As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God! Psalm 40:17 (ESV)
"The Lord takes thought for me." Isn't that a comforting reality? The New Living Testament (1995) wonderfully translates it, "but the Lord is thinking about me right now."
The Lord is thinking about me right now. How amazing! But the Hebrew root of the word is even more intimate. The word itself is chashab (חָשַׁב) and means "to think, consider, account or reckon." The first time it is used is when Abraham believed God and it was counted or reckoned as righteousness. But it is the root meaning of the word that stopped me in my tracks. According to Strong's, the root meaning is "to plait or interpenetrate, i.e. (literally) to weave."
Interpenetrate. That word is breathtaking.
"To penetrate between the parts or particles of (anything); to penetrate thoroughly; to pass through and through, permeate, pervade ... To penetrate each other; to unite or mingle by mutual penetration." -- Oxford English Dictionary
"To penetrate each other," to weave together. Brother Lawrencei called this weaving together a continual conversation with God.
"There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful, than that of a continual conversation with God ..."
A conversation is, ideally, an interpenetration, a mutual seeking. In the previous verse of Psalm 40, David proclaims:
But may all who search for you be filled with joy and gladness in you. May those who love your salvation repeatedly shout, "The LORD is great!" Psalm 40:16 (NLT 1995)
The word translated "search for" is baqash (בָּקַשׁ) and means to seek to find, to seek to secure, to seek the face of. It means to ask, beg, beseech, desire, inquire, get, make inquisition, procure.
We search for God, seek his face, we "ask, beg, beseech, desire, inquire" and He allows us to "get, make inquisition, procure."
I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart. Jeremiah 24:7
God penetrates our hearts, our soul, our thoughts. We interpenetrate each other. We are woven together. How incredibly amazing! There is a mutual seeking implied here, a mutual moving toward and into each other's hearts.
Search me (penetrate, examine me intimately), God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24
One Pursuit blog recently wrote this about John 3:16, For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
"In 16, the word in question is normally translated as "into," indicating the point reached or entered, of place, time, purpose, result. The Greek literally means "motion into which," implying penetration or union to a particular purpose or result. The most proper translation then would be, "so that everyone who believes into him may not perish but may have eternal life." The implication of this choice of words by John is enormous. A saving belief is then one that takes a person into Christ ... If we are to not perish but have everlasting life, we must believe into Jesus, not simply in him. The difference is striking. To believe in Jesus is to have an opinion about Him, to assent to the facts of the matter. To believe into Jesus is to believe deeply enough to be joined into Him. Remember that the Greek here is implying penetration or union to a particular purpose or result. Penetration. Union."ii
Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; Unite (to become one, join, unite) my heart to fear Your name. Psalm 86:11 (NKJV)
How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand—when I awake, I am still with you. Psalm 139:17-18
My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words. Don't lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body. Proverbs 4:20-22 (NLT)
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12
Now therefore, I pray you, if I have found favor in Your sight, let me know Your ways so that I may know You (become more deeply and intimately acquainted with You, recognizing and understanding Your ways more clearly) and that I may find grace and favor in Your sight. Exodus 33:13-14 (AMP)
Yes, Lord! Give me grace to go beyond mere belief, beyond even prayer. I want to be interwoven with you. I want to know you more.
i The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence (born Nicolas Herman, 1605-1691).
ii The New Covenant in Scripture https://1pursuit.org/2024/03/22/the-new-covenant-in-scripture-3/
Image, Basket Weave frontage on Guys Hospital. South London, by 35mmMan https://flic.kr/p/hLG42d
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