The other day on Facebook, I saw a posting from someone who said that their New Year's goal was to "follow hard after God".
While I appreciate their desire to pursue a relationship with God, the thought that came to my mind was, "What does that even MEAN?"
Well, I did a Google search of "follow hard after God", and it turns out that that phrase actually does exist in the King James Version of the Bible, in Psalm 63:8--"My soul followeth hard after thee, thy right hand upholdeth me."
While I appreciate their desire to pursue a relationship with God, the thought that came to my mind was, "What does that even MEAN?"
Well, I did a Google search of "follow hard after God", and it turns out that that phrase actually does exist in the King James Version of the Bible, in Psalm 63:8--"My soul followeth hard after thee, thy right hand upholdeth me."
Other versions translate the verse as follows:
New International Version: "I cling to you, your right hand upholds me."
New International Version: "I cling to you, your right hand upholds me."
New Living Translation: "I cling to you, your strong right hand holds me securely."
English Standard Version: "My soul clings to you, your right hand upholds me."
New American Standard Bible: "My soul clings to you, Your right hand upholds me."
So it turns out that "following hard after God" isn't necessarily the Christianese phrase I may have thought. I'm not as familiar with the King James as I am with other versions of the Bible; that's why I didn't recognize the term.
"Following hard after God," sounds like it means, "I cling to you, I hold on to you." I get the picture of a child holding tight to a parent's hand or a parent making sure that their child's hand is in theirs before crossing the street or climbing stairs or doing anything that requires caution.
I'm very, very sensitive to anything that sounds like "Christianese", and especially sensitive to something that sounds spiritual but may not have any deep or practical meaning. This week, for whatever reason, I've been especially fed up with ritualistic prayers and ritualistic religion--not that ritual is bad, necessarily, but "ritualistic" in the sense that you go through the motions but never stop to examine what those motions are or why you are doing those motions in the first place.
My original post was going to be a diatribe against yet more Christianese from Christians. I'm glad I decided to do a Google search on the phrase before I wrote this entry. Because "following hard after God" in the sense of, "I need to cling to God with all I have," is something good.
Now, how you do it or what it looks like?
That, I'm not sure how much of a clue I have.
Somehow, though, I get the impression that, if I do follow hard after God, He'll show me.
Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.
English Standard Version: "My soul clings to you, your right hand upholds me."
New American Standard Bible: "My soul clings to you, Your right hand upholds me."
So it turns out that "following hard after God" isn't necessarily the Christianese phrase I may have thought. I'm not as familiar with the King James as I am with other versions of the Bible; that's why I didn't recognize the term.
"Following hard after God," sounds like it means, "I cling to you, I hold on to you." I get the picture of a child holding tight to a parent's hand or a parent making sure that their child's hand is in theirs before crossing the street or climbing stairs or doing anything that requires caution.
I'm very, very sensitive to anything that sounds like "Christianese", and especially sensitive to something that sounds spiritual but may not have any deep or practical meaning. This week, for whatever reason, I've been especially fed up with ritualistic prayers and ritualistic religion--not that ritual is bad, necessarily, but "ritualistic" in the sense that you go through the motions but never stop to examine what those motions are or why you are doing those motions in the first place.
My original post was going to be a diatribe against yet more Christianese from Christians. I'm glad I decided to do a Google search on the phrase before I wrote this entry. Because "following hard after God" in the sense of, "I need to cling to God with all I have," is something good.
Now, how you do it or what it looks like?
That, I'm not sure how much of a clue I have.
Somehow, though, I get the impression that, if I do follow hard after God, He'll show me.
Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.
No comments:
Post a Comment