Leverage from the Word - Samekh - Psalm 119:113-120

Samekh (Verses 113-120)

The letter samekh is a prop, support, fulcrum or lever, and it has a meaning of leaning upon something or supporting yourself with something. Leverage and support give stability. The closed circle also represents a shield used for protection. And, it is a visual image of the eternal spiraling of God’s Truth and ever-increasing glory.

113 I hate double-minded people,
     but I love your law.
114 You are my refuge and my shield;
     I have put my hope in your word.
115 Away from me, you evildoers,
     that I may keep the commands of my God!
116 Sustain me, my God, according to your promise, and I will live;
     do not let my hopes be dashed.
117 Uphold me, and I will be delivered;
     I will always have regard for your decrees.
118 You reject all who stray from your decrees,
     for their delusions come to nothing.
119 All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross;
     therefore I love your statutes.
120 My flesh trembles in fear of you;
     I stand in awe of your laws.

Trusting in a false worldview, like leaning on a splintered staff, will cause chaos and end in disaster. And this is exactly what happens to the double-minded man (113). Only those who are committed to God’s Truth will experience God as their refuge and shield (114), and God is well able to shelter and shield those who hope in his Word. The psalmist wants nothing to do with double-minded evildoers (115) because their ways will neutralize the leverage and support (116, 117) that God’s promises and decrees provide on this earth. The double-minded philosophies of man provide no true support or assistance, but instead splinter and collapse like weak levers, which should be rejected and discarded (118-119). It is an awesome thing to understand the looming danger of worthless worldviews when compared to the awesome potential of God’s word in our temporal world (120).


Galyn Wiemers
Generation Word
http://www.generationword.com