How many of us have been crushed – in a sense of a bruising of spirit? People are crushed by other people, whether through their death, relationships or the weight of daily life and circumstances, it is the interaction with people — both those we love and those strangers we rely upon to handle our precious business, that impact our inner beings the most.
We live in world now, where globally, the love of people is waxing (and has become cold as ice.) The care shown for another human being is quickly approaching an antique status, and for those looking for that care, they will have to go off the beaten path, looking in crowded attics, forgotten junk yards and overstuffed garages to find it. The care and compassion towards others, commanded of us throughout Scripture, is the backbone, the level and the gauge of how straight a society is. Communities, cities, towns and villages have become crooked through selfish attitudes and the “I am god” syndrome. Continually looking inward contorts the spirit of human beings, tragically and slowly transforming the earth into a world of cannibalistic zombies who view others as nothing more than objects to be used to meet their basic needs and desires. The veil of difference between humans and animals is increasing to an alarming rate of frailty and thinness. The basic nature of the Creator is love and that love that was originally breathed into mankind is vastly becoming more frigid, and the earth cannot and will not stand for another glacier age.
Yahuweh said in Malachi 4 that unless the hearts of the fathers and children turn back towards one another, then He has nothing left but to destroy the earth. If the work of Messiah in us, that should cause our love for many to wax ‘hot’, and the nature of the Creator Himself is not found on the earth when He returns, He will destroy it. If the very reason why Messiah came and the results of His first coming, being evident in the love we have for our brethren (see 1st John), is not seen by the Father, He has no choice but to destroy the earth.
Have we let the cares, burdens and crushing brought on by people, circumstances and just trying to survive, cause our love for others to grow dim and cold? Are we so crushed in spirit, and bruised that we no longer are able to focus on the needs and cares of other human beings? Has the cry of Yochanan’s (John’s) heart, ‘little children, please…have love for one another’, the focus of his writings in 1st, 2nd and 3rd John, originating from listening to the heartbeat of Messiah, become your cry and focus? Or has the love for others become an antique ‘feeling’, rusted and good for nothing but the trash heap?
As I sat down to read Psalm 146 in the Tehillim (Psalms), the ‘cure for the crushed’ became clear — trust and reliance upon another human being for our salvation (total wholeness, joy, deliverance, health) holds in its hands the guarantee of disappointment and sadness that will eventually wick away the moisture from our bones (Proverbs 17:22).
Though Yahuweh created other human beings as an extension of Himself into the earth – to be a tool used to help, love and care for others, even throughout their worst moments, His intention was never for us to mistake the creation (other people) as our source of salvation. The Creator is the source of salvation and not His creation. Ponder upon this deeply, and evaluate where your trust and hope lies…and in whom it lies.
Rivkah and I have had some beautiful friends which have brought us great help, encouragement and relief in our recent turbulent times. However, we must continue to rely not upon the help itself, nor through whom it comes, but only upon the One who has sent that help. Only Yahuweh is 100% faithful and consistent!
I leave Psalm 146 with you, and as I type it out now for you from the Tehillim, pay particularly close attention to the verses and words in bold. One of my favorite verses in all Scripture, is that Yahuweh is the one Who straightens the bent, the crooked. I’ve spent most of my life bent and crooked to His ways, and now, it brings me great joy to let Him reform me from a crooked and crushed being, to something straight and useful for His Kingdom. For that, I am most humbly grateful.
Psalm 146
HalleluYah! Praise Yahuweh, O my soul! I will praise Yahuweh while I live, I will make music to my Elohim while I exist. Do not rely on nobles, nor on a human being for he holds no salvation. When his spirit departs he returns to his earth, on that day his plans all perish. Praiseworthy is one whose help is Jacob’s Elohim, whose hope is in Yahuweh, his Elohim. He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them; Who safeguards truth forever. He does justice for the exploited, He gives bread to the hungry; Yahuweh releases the bound. Yahuweh gives sight to the blind, Yahuweh straightens the bent; Yahuweh loves the righteous. Yahuweh protects strangers, orphan and widow He encourages; but the way of the wicked He contorts. Yahuweh shall reign forever – your Elohim, O Zion – from generation to generation. HalleluYah!