His merciful kindness is mighty(er) over us!

Don’t worry, the promised part 2 about my time in Spain is still coming. But today I want to share something else with you. The Messianic Jewish congregations in Germany have proclaimed today to be the Shabbat of Healing and Deliverance. They are focusing their prayers today on the Jewish people, that they may be healed and delivered from all pain and all that is not according to God’s order. I took that thought along in my prayer today, together with a very painful situation in my own life. And I would like to share with you the journey that God took me on in my prayer.

Already for some days the words High and Lifted Up accompany me: in songs inspired by Isaiah 6:1-4, where Isaiah sees God high and lifted up. This brings him to a place of deep worship. But also in the image that John paints in his gospel, of Yeshua being lifted up in His death on the cross (see John 3:14, 8:28, 12:32). Taking my time of prayer and worship in the Fountain of Tears today, I was surrounded by images of Yeshua crucified. It is in and through His cross, that Yeshua is high and lifted up! In and through His cross He will draw all to Himself: And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all to Myself (John 12:32). In and through His cross He is above all principality and authority and power and dominion (Eph 1:21), as Chris Tomlin also sings in his song Holy Forever. That means that Yeshua is high and lifted up above all our pain and sickness and trouble. This brought me to a place of deep worship, under the Holy, Holy, Holy of the angels (Is 6:3) and of deep weeping. It was a moment of deep comfort and submission: comfort for all that is so painful and also submission for what I do not understand in this. And I can submit, because I know that He is high and lifted up over everything! This brought me to a verse from the Psalms, that I would like to look at a bit closer.

כִּי גָבַר עָלֵינוּ ׀ חַסְדֹּו ׃ (Ps 117:2a)

This verse is often translated as For His merciful kindness is great toward us. The word translated with merciful kindness is chesed, which is so broad, that you can also describe it as lovingkindness, mercy, grace, faithful love, steadfast love, loyal love, unfailing love or unbreakable covenantal love. The word translated with great is in my opinion a lot stronger. You can also translated it with stronger than, mighty, mighty above, prevail (over enemies). From the same root the words hero, valiant man, strength, might and to overcome derive. Taking all of these meanings along, I would like to propose to translate this verse as:

For His unfailing, unbreakable covenantal love has prevailed over us, overcoming all for us!

This brought me to the last piece in the Fountain of Tears: The Empty Cup.

Here we see Yeshua embracing the Holocaust survivor, coming out of the stones that symbolize the perished. He lifts the cup of suffering up, once full, now emptied, drunk by both of them. It is the place of final and full comfort.

May we all, by looking upon [Him] whom we pierced (John 19:37) submit to Him and His work of salvation and enter deeper and deeper into this embrace with the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our trouble (2Cor 1:3-4)!

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