June 29, 2009
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Your hands made and formed me
Psalms 119:73-80 (Yud) Your hands made and formed me; give me understanding, so I can learn your mitzvot. (74) Those who fear you rejoice at the sight of me, because I put my hope in your word. (75) I know, ADONAI, that your rulings are righteous, that even when you humble me you are faithful. (76) Let your grace comfort me, in keeping with your promise to your servant. (77) Show me pity, and I will live, for your Torah is my delight. (78) Let the proud be ashamed, because they wrong me with lies; as for me, I will meditate on your precepts. (79) Let those who fear you turn to me, along with those who know your instruction. (80) Let my heart be pure in your laws, so that I won’t be put to shame.
You are not an accident of evolution. You were designed by a G-d who cares for you. He designed you. He made you. He knows what you need. He knows how you work.
Sometimes affliction comes because we’re going in the wrong direction. You will get caught.
An elderly rabbi, having just retired from his duties in the temple, finally decides to fulfill his lifelong fantasy to taste pork. He goes to a hotel in the Catskills in the off-season (not his usual one, mind you), enters the empty dining hall and sits down at a table far in the corner. The waiter arrives, and the rabbi orders roast suckling pig. As the rabbi is waiting, struggling with his conscience, a family from his congregation walks in! They immediately see the rabbi and, since no one should eat alone, they join him. Shocked, the rabbi begins to sweat. At last, the waiter arrives with a huge domed platter. He lifts the lid to reveal nothing else but roast suckling pig with a big apple in its mouth. “This place is amazing!” cries the rabbi. “You order a baked apple, and look what you get!”
In a world that has moved away from the truths of G-d’s Word, this Psalm is a great reminder of how important the Word of G-d is to our lives. Never forget that.
Comments (2)
I love the rabbi story. You can’t hide from God!
Kristianmomof3 – you can have no notion of blessing this post has been to me today, and I fear it would take far to long to explain here.
You are right – we live in a world that has indeed moved away from G-d’s Torah. Sadly many do not even begin to comprehend what Torah truly is and yet it is such that we are judged by those who have no understanding or compassion and no knowledge.
What is left for us then? Judged and condemned by the ignorant of this world; we can only submit with grace knowing that the Creator’s Hands did indeed form us and that when we obey His mitzvot we will have life.