PRÉCIS ON THE WEIGHTY HAND OF GOD ON THE CALLED

SCRIPTURE. “You have enclosed me behind and before, and [You have] placed Your hand upon me.” – PSALM 139:5, AMP

KEY TERM: “ENCLOSED.” ‘Tsuwr’ [צוּר]: “To confine, hedge, beset, besiege, bind up or assault; to fortify [for Divine purpose]; to secure or shut in; to delineate [lines or boundaries that are not to be breached]; to obstruct with a hedge or to obstruct in any manner; to surround for defense; to enclose for preventing escape.

QUOTATION. “There is good left in this world, Violet. We can’t expect Him to destroy every last inch of it just to rescue us. This isn’t the first time in history that His people have been cut down and destroyed. Remember Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? They were thrown into a fiery furnace. He rescued them. Will He not do the same for us?’ The mention of fire made her wince. ‘The furnace feels mighty hot right now’ … ‘But He’s right here with us in the fire. Don’t you see Him?’” ― VICTORIA LYNN, Once I Knew (The Chronicles of Elira), 2022; edited

COMMENTARY. “‘Thou hast beset me behind and before’ – The word rendered ‘beset’ – צור tsûr – means properly ‘to press; to press upon; to compress.’ It has reference commonly to the siege of a city, or to the pressing on of troops in war; and then it comes to mean to besiege, hem in, closely surround, so that there is no way of escape. ‘This is the idea here – that God was on every side of him;’ that he could not escape in any direction. He was like a Garrison besieged in a City so that there was no means of escape.” – JOSEPH BENSON, Notes on the Holy Bible, 5 vols., 1811-1818; edited

DK. When Almighty God clearly steered (or permitted if that suits your theology more comfortably) me through three firings in a row for not supporting Donald Trump, the very life was nearly crushed out of me, beloved. I was in utter confusion, despair, and comparative poverty for the first time in my entire Christian life.

This didn’t fit in well with the American Gospel’s promise of endless prosperity, promotion, and preeminence at all! Yet as He enabled me to stand fast against the sedition that was being promoted by some of the grandest Christian institutions on earth, I was to learn that being so ‘Hedged in’ was to lead to the Telos of my entire existence.

After three hellish years, I was brought to this CIRCUIT RIDE ENTERPRISE, and I tell you, I have never, ever had such a fire to get up in the morning and go to work. His work, on His terms, and in His time! If you feel you are shut in by that massive, weighty, largely Invisible Hand that Adam Smith wrote about in 1776 to describe free market conduct, it also applies here, beloved.

CODA. His Hand is heavy on the one wholly dedicated to Him, especially when in desperate need for steering toward something better toward The Purpose for which you were born. So do not faint when the Yoke of Christ pulls you this way and that, straining against your own present course. In time, His Yoke shall become deliciously easy, His burden both light and joyous and explosively fruitful.