Read Psalm 43 here (text coming …) or at Bible Gateway.
The Hebrew paragraph:
42:1-11 {p} In the face of trials and reproach, the Psalmist remembers why he has hope in God’s salvation.
For You are the God of my strength; why have You rejected me? Psa 43:2
Because the psalmist experienced trials, oppression, and reproach, he made a common assumption: the trials must mean that God has rejected him.
But is it true?
For YHVH will not cast off His people, nor will He forsake His inheritance. Psa 94:14
“But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the descendants of Abraham My friend. You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest regions, and said to you, ‘You are My servant, I have chosen you and have not cast you away.’” Isa 41:8-9
Thus says YHVH: “If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done,” says YHVH. Jer 31:37
“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.” Joh 6:37
To the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. Eph 1:6
To reject is in Hebrew, Strong’s H2186, זנח zanach, a primitive root meaning, “to cast aside, to reject.” The ancient pictographs are zayin + nun + chet.
zayin ז = mattock, thus tool, food, cut, nourish
nun נ ן = the seed, thus continue, heir, son
chet ח = the wall, thus outside, divide, half
The parable being told by the Hebrew Root Word is of that which is cut away (zayin) so that it does not continue (nun) with you, but is cast outside (chet).
There is a tension in the Scriptures between the promise of God’s enduring faithfulness toward His people, and the warning of being cut off from Him because of sin (see Gen 17:14, Exo 31:14, Lev 20:2-3, Num 15:30-31, Deu 31:16-17, 2 Chr 24:20).
But please do not miss that cutting off consistently begins with a willful decision on our part to forsake God. We initiate the rejection.
Secondly, the rejection is entrenched, persistent, and lifelong. For when a man repents, and returns to Him, God is quick to show mercy (2 Chr 30:9).
If the question of being cut off causes you anxiety, then rest your heart, you have not met the threshold. Those whose conscience troubles them, the Holy Spirit is working to convict of sin and righteousness (Joh 16:8), not those who shake their fist at God and dare Him to strike them with lightning.
If there are questions, this is a good resource:
God has accepted me – Christine Miller
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