Crystal Writes A Blog

I Stand Under

You Can Stand Under My Umbrella by Flickr User Linh H. Nguyen, CC License = Attribution, Noncommercial, No Derivative Works
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When you’re married, sometimes you speak in a language that only belongs to you and your spouse. For me and my husband, that can mean all sorts of things, but one of the things it sometimes means is backward talk. For example, instead of saying, “I understand,” one or the other of us might say, “I stand under.” I’m also fond of saying, “KO” instead of “OK.” I don’t know why.

In today’s reading from Deuteronomy 29:9 through Deuteronomy 29:11, we begin a new week and a new portion. The Hebrew title for this portion, Parashah 51, is Nitzavim, and it means “Standing” in English. This portion also begins another leap-year reading, so a few of the sections (like today’s) are extremely short. Since we have only three verses today, I’m going to paste the text here on the blog. I’m going to use the Easy to Read (ERV) version since the link above takes you to The Complete Jewish Bible (CJB). In the ERV & others, the verses are actually Deuteronomy 29:10-12…

Today all of you are standing here before the Lord your God. Your leaders, your officials, your elders, and all the other men are here. Your wives and children are here and also the foreigners living among you—the people who cut your wood and bring you water. You are all here to enter into an agreement with the Lord your God. The Lord your God is making this agreement with you today.

Moses has gathered every person who is ready to cross over into The Promised Land, and he is asking them to stand before God whether they are leaders or followers, men or women, adults or children, Hebrews or foreigners, masters or servants. The instruction from the throne of God to the people who will live in His promise applies to every person there, and every person there is expected to enter into an agreement of obedience to God’s requirements. It’s a Landlord/tenant agreement of the highest order.

So God asks us not only if we understand His laws, mitzvot, and rulings, but He also asks if we are willing to stand under them. Mercy follows closely on the heels of those who humble themselves before God and His requirements because God knows we are making our best efforts even when we fail. But, while mercy is a free gift to “whosoever will” receive it, Scripture also tells us in multiple passages that God resists the proud and arrogant but gives His grace to the humble. I like the way the Phillips New Testament quotes James 4:4-6…

“You are like unfaithful wives, flirting with the glamour of this world, and never realising that to be the world’s lover means becoming the enemy of God! Anyone who deliberately chooses to love the world is thereby making himself God’s enemy. Do you think what the scriptures have to say about this is a mere formality? Or do you imagine that this spirit of passionate jealousy is the Spirit he has caused to live in us? No, he gives us grace potent enough to meet this and every other evil spirit, if we are humble enough to receive it. That is why he says: ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ ” (Emphasis mine.)

It’s not always easy to be humble and yielding to God’s law or any law, but obeying Him is trusting Him. Trusting God is not just a thought process, but it will be followed by visible evidence. If He says, “My umbrella is over here,” we will move near Him to get beneath it for protection from the storm. If we truly believe that God has only our best interest at heart, and we trust that He will cause all we experience to work for the good, we can obey Him. Then, even before we understand what He is asking of us, or wanting for us, we can choose to humble ourselves and stand under His rulings–which also puts us under the shadow of His protective wings. Do you stand under?

       He will cover you with his feathers,
    and under his wings you will find refuge.
        His truth is your shield and armor.

         (Psalm 91:4–God’s Word version)

September 6, 2014 Posted by Crystal A Murray (aka CrystalWriter) | Bible Study, Nonfiction, Torah Commentary | agreement with God, Bible Commentary, Bible study, Complete Jewish Bible, Deuteronomy, I stand under, mitzvot, obedience, Scripture, standing, Torah commentary, Torah Portions, understanding | 2 Comments