Tuesday, June 2, 2009

67: Rending Hearts

Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.
Joel 2:13


I stumbled upon this verse while looking for another one. (That happens quite a bit - my curious mind often distracts me from the task at hand.) For whatever reason it caught my eye and, not knowing what "rend" meant of course I had to look it up. Go ahead. Stamp "n-e-r-d" right on my forehead. Hey, I just noticed that "nerd" and "rend" have the same letters. Ah. Now you can go ahead and stamp "B-I-G n-e-r-d" up there.

Anyhow, this is what I got:


Rend
–verb (used with object)
1. to separate into parts with force or violence: The storm rent the ship to pieces.
2. to tear apart, split, or divide: a racial problem that is rending the nation.
3. to pull or tear violently (often fol. by away, off, up, etc.).
4. to tear (one's garments or hair) in grief, rage, etc.
5. to disturb (the air) sharply with loud noise.
6. to harrow or distress (the heart) with painful feelings.
(dictionary.com)


Wowsers - what a powerful word picture!

In the verse from Joel, the Lord was once again beseeching His people to return to Him, offering compassion for sincere repentance, an exchange of forgiveness instead of calamity. Rather than watch the people tear their garments as the traditional (and probably tired) means of showing grief, the Lord wanted to see REAL change.

Not a torn garment, but a torn heart.

Not a meaningless (or as it had become) outward show, but a distressing internal metamorphosis.

We are often critical of the "stiff-necked" Israelites who famously yo-yoed between their Lord and idols/foreigners/themselves. But I am the first to admit I can be pretty darn stiff-necked myself.

And how easy has it become to mutter a few "Please forgive me"s versus allowing our heart to be ripped at our inequity?

Rend our hearts, O Lord!

"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise."
Psalm 51:17

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