My heart is so burdened for so many in leadership positions (Dads, Moms, Sons, Daughters, Friends, employees, employers, pastors, teachers, etc – “all servant leaders”) who are actually struggling to maintain their dignity on the edge of difficult decisions(by the way, if you haven't figured it out, leadership encompasses every position in life … hold on!). How do you see that verse above that began this discussion? What words jump out at you? Do you see the “strength”, the “War”, the “Fight”, the “fortress”, the “high tower”, the “shield” and the “subdueth my people under me”? If these words jump out at you, there is a good chance your struggle at this time is very real; but the battle strategy and your part in it could be missed if you only allow for a casual reading of this passage. {Let me help you slow down and focus a moment!}
First things first: “Blessed be the LORD my strength” … let's take a Hebrew's look at this … “Blessed be the LORD my tsoor.” {TSOOR? A little help please} This word literally means a sheer rock cliff, and it could be the edge of the cliff or it could be the base of the cliff. Regardless, the one facing this cliff has no where to go. The emotion locked into this word is the reality of a binding, a confining, a besieging, a cramping, an adversarial defining, and a potential hostility toward it as a foe or enemy. WHAT? The psalmist must be out of his mind … He is saying - “I am kneeling here in humble sincere praise to Jehovah, who is my cliff, thus I am on the edge or my back is against the wall...I have no where to go... Praise God! HE IS MY CLIFF!” (What has he learned that we are missing?)
We may be thinking … “Why does God make it so hard to know what to do?” or “Why is it that no matter what decision I make it always seems to be the wrong one?” We may even be at the place where we are announcing “I AM DONE!” … “I AM FINISHED”. We are so close to where we should be, that if we can't turn our open eyes upward instead of our eyelids, we could be crushed. We could spend our lives thinking God offers snakes, scorpions, and stones instead of life giving bread.
The words we may have missed along the way in these two verses are “teacheth”, “goodness”, “deliverer”and “trust”. But the word missed most in this passage is the word that paints the true picture of hope … “MY”. These things prefaced by “my” belong to and are for the benefit of our lives and relationship with our LORD Jesus Christ. Only at the “CLIFF” can we truly find what is important to claim as ours. It all starts with my change of attitude towards the “Cliff”.
This is the place where I can end my struggle, and God begins the battle... if I let Him. This is the place where I will find Him as my goodness to be extended, my fortress of provision, my high tower of renewed vision, my deliverer from the fear, and my ever moving shield of protection. I will find at the “cliff” that He is all these and so much more.
He will tenderly teach us at the “cliff”(please let Him!). Our strengthened hands will welcome others who are also there, and our fingers will grasp their reaching to help them hang on as we all share the rescue. “He is My Cliff” is where all the bonds form that truly will matter for years to come. As a leader, my trust must grow. And as our trust grows, He will spread out, form, and strategically align my hands, my fingers and my people in a team of powerful servant-heart praise makers for Him.
In this moment while you are on the edge, or your back may be up against a wall … Praise Him, He is your Cliff! Lift up the eyes of your heart to Him, open up the strength of your hands and fingers to others, AND Breathe in all that He is for you. His Love found at the “Cliff”never fails.
HLFA,
Jeff