While reading Psalm 27 tonight, I came across an interesting little tie-bit that I wanted to share. The Lord pointed me to my copy of the NET bible (a wonderful study bible where the translators notes are maticulously inscribed). What was interesting about this is that I rarely use this version anymore.
Psalm 27:8 is translated as
“My heart tells me to pray to you, and I do pray to you, O LORD.”
But, as I looked at the translators' notes, something amazing caught my eye! According to the editor, the literal Hebrew would be translated as…
“concerning you, my heart says, ‘Seek my face.’”
Then, they go on to state that this doesn’t make much sense, literally, because the verb “seek” is actually the plural form and “face” doesn’t make much sense either unless David is hearing the voice of The Lord, which he’s not because we’re told his heart is talking to him. As a result of these two issues, they chose to translate the verse as you see at the top, above.
So, here’s the interesting part…
If our belief that the Holy Spirit speaks the language of emotion in and through our hearts is true, then both issues suddenly resolve quite nicely. If David is actually hearing the voice of The Lord through his heart, then The Lord’s words could be better translated as, “Seeks my face.” Although that’s terrible English, it makes an interesting point. Let’s say it this way, “concerning you, we say, 'Seek our face.'”
What’s the take-away? A couple of things -
1. The Lord speaks in and through our heart in emotion
2. David knew how to listen and The Lord was eager to teach him more
3. We need to reconcile our understanding of the Trinity and seek the faces of The Lord
4. Any translation should be scrutinized and we need to set aside all assumptions and preconceptions about who God is and how He is operating
5. He so desperately WANTS to speak to us clearly and plainly
6. He made us for intimate fellowship with Himselves and will actively pursue us as we pursue Him (and even when we don’t).
-Shawn