Psalm
23 :1-6 NKJV The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2
He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.
3 He restores my soul; He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s
sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will
fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table
before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup
runs over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.
VERSE 4…though I walk through the valley of the shadow of
death, I will fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
Comfort:
nacham….Strongs #5162 …to comfort, to console; extend compassion, sigh with one
grieving ; to repent…translated has
meaning of regrets of a transgression……..so this word does not describe a
casual sympathy, but describes empathy. It is actually one who will weep with
another who weeps!
Love is when one comes to: help, to motivate, those in love
will actively watch with sorrow and pity
Empathy is getting down in the ugliness of deep darkness, no
light, “hey this trench is deep” of
despair, no help, but panic! Empathy is the action of understanding, being
very much aware of and sensitive to experiencing the feelings of others in
thoughts and in experiences……….whether
to the past or to a present moment. The one with empathy knows the experience
as their own experience. He was willing to avenge their distress of ailments,
sickness because of His love…that is anchored in the depths of empathy,
proactive on the scene to suffer as those He came to suffer for on the Cross…
Mark 3:1-4 NKJV and He entered the synagogue again, & a
man was there who had a withered hand. 2 So they watched Him closely, whether
He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3 And he said
to the man who had the withered hand, “Step forward”. 4 The he said to them,
“Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to
kill?” But they kept silent.
5 And when He had looked around at them with anger, being
grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your
hand.” And he stretched it out, & his hand was restored as whole as the
other.
Another passage using the word Nacham: Psalm 119:75-82 Amplified Bible 75 I know, O Lord, that Your judgments are right & righteous, & in faithfulness You have afflicted me. 76 Let, I pray You, Your merciful kindness & steadfast love be for my comfort, according to your promise to Your servant.
Comfort: He prays…: You in Your merciful kindness and
steadfast love be for my comfort…
Psalm
119:77 Let Your tender mercy and loving kindness come to me that I
may live, for Your law is my delight. 78 Let the proud be put to shame, for
they dealt perversely with me without a cause; but I will mediate on Your
precepts. 79 Let those who reverently and worshipfully fear You turn to me, and
those who have known Your testimonies. 80 Let my heart be sound (sincere and
wholehearted & blameless) in Your statues, that I may not be put to shame.
81 My soul languishes and grows faint for Your salvation, but I hope in Your
word. 82 My eyes fail, watching for [the fulfillment of] Your promised. I say,
when will You comfort me? Comfort:nacham
From Psalm 119 and verses 77-82 every display of the tender mercies of God is like a fresh transfusion of life to the hard-pressed saint. From verse 79 it is a spiritual instinct to seek the fellowship of those who know and love the Word of God. But truly how often do we ask the Lord to lead those who fear God across our pathway? The believer may be afflicted but not crushed; perplexed but not driven to despair; persecuted but not forsaken; struck down but not destroyed ( 2 Corinthians 4:8-9) Even though eyes grow dime with searching for the fulfillment of God’s promise of deliverance, he does not pray “Will you comfort me? But he prays “When will you comfort me?”
Empathy and No Trenches : Identifying with Heartache………Jesus was on the front lines to confront the enemy: Us! Philippians 2:5-8 – Jesus Christ, who being in the very nature of God did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage. Rather he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant (left his home), being made in human likeness. And being found as a man, humbled himself even further by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Identifying with others in a heartache is identifying with those in need. Jesus drew no tears from His own griefs but He sweat drops of the blood for mine. (author: Charles H. Gabriel) Jesus held a sacrificial mind, the selfless mind, and the serving mind. Jesus consistently thought of others. Yeah, He got it from His Father!
Jesus is empathy’s perfect example. He did not come to earth to save us as God, detached and gazing down in sympathy and pity. He came as man, born into the trenches, to live and suffer as a human. His empathy makes Him the perfect sacrifice. The perfect bridge between God and us. Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin”
But we are not Jesus. So how can we identify with others going through situations that we have never encountered face-to-face? How can we walk trenches we have never been pushed into? Because based on the way Jesus lived his life, that’s what I believe He’s asking us to do as Christians. To put away sympathy and embrace empathy. That’s where true comfort lies.
Jesus didn’t have a trench: Breaking Barriers
1. Initiated
grace to the least of them: the broken, the lame but also the one who hung on the Cross next to him
2. Served
those who dishonored him the most: Judas
3. His
beliefs were not fables or fickle
4. His
opinion was not swayed: He was on His mission for Salvation who kept the future
focus, faith and determination: It is Finished He spoke from that bloody Cross!
5. HE acted on complete conviction!
2
Corinthians 1:3-5 Amplified Bible 3 Blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of sympathy (pity and mercy)
and the God [Who is the Source of every comfort [(consolation and
encouragement). 4 Who comforts (consoles and encourages us in every trouble
(calamity and affliction), so that we may also be able to comfort (console and
encourage) those who are in any kind of trouble or distress, with the comfort
(consolation and encouragement) with which we ourselves are comforted (consoled
and encouraged) by God. 5 For just as Christ’s [own] sufferings fall to our lot
[as they overflow upon His disciples, and we share and experience them]
abundantly, so through Christ’s comfort (consolation and encouragement) is also
[shared and experienced] abundantly by us.
Now this passage is a favorite of mine. I have spent some time
on it in the past ten years meditating it. Paul bursts into thanksgiving to God
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul addresses the full title of God. As
we saw in the Old Testament: the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, or the God
of Jacob. Paul is brought news from Titus in Macedonia. In all Paul had in
afflictions, he was conscious of God’s comforting presence. As Paul was
comforted, he comforted those around him. It is a comfort that comes as the
form of encouragement and exhortation. We are not comforted to be made
comfortable, but to be comforted to fly to the aid of him on “death’s bed” or
one who is home under Dr.’s care!
Our association with Jesus Christ brings from others: suffer
that is brought on by reproach, by rejection, hostility, hatred, denial,
betrayal, and much more. But we to them in His name. We appear as His hands,
His feet and speak His words!
This came through Jesus…to comfort us.
While we
still walk on earth, might we initiate grace to the least of
them like Jesus did? Might we serve those who dishonored Him the most? His beliefs were not fables, nor a fairy tale but
truth held in His heart. He was sent by the Father, manifested to be heard and
to be seen with eyes. He was manifested and bear witness of eternal life which
was with the Father and manifested to the apostles indeed.
He was on His mission for Salvation who kept the future
focus, faith and determination in His speaking. He always acted on a complete
conviction. He came, would face persecution and die for many. He came to
comfort those in need of a Comforter! The Message heard, from Him and was declared
to us that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. We walk in light as
He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus
Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
Comforter, Helper, or Companion, Holy Spirit You are a
wonderful gift to us. You mentor us and teach us. You are our treasured Friend.
Thank You for taking time to talk with us today, to converse the thoughts of
the Father and to reveal instructions to us. Forgive us when we have shown a
short fuse for anything of the world. Forgive us for failing to heed Your
instruction just when we require it the most.
Please un-clutter
us of distractions so that we may hear Your voice and obey You without
question. In Jesus’ holy name. amen and
amen!
New teaching at: Voice of Prayer
Oil of Intimacy
