The Lord is My Rock

ByCarolyn E. Jacobs

The name Yahweh Tsur, The Lord is My Rock, is first used in Psalm 144.

Thank Yahweh, my Tsur, who trained my hands to fight and my fingers to do battle. Psalm 144:1, Names of God version

David knows he can rely on Yahweh, his Rock

In the Bible we find lots of words translated rock or stone or boulder. Tsur, H6697, is a boulder or rocky wall or cliff. Not something you throw, but something you take refuge in.

Moses used tsur for the first time to describe the rock at Horeb.

“Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. Exodus 17:6

The image above, taken from the Living Passages website, is of the boulder widely believed to be the rock Moses split. A rock of refuge and protection but also the source of life-giving water.

Moses uses tsur  again when he asks to see God.

Then the LORD said, “Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand  on the rock;
and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by.
And one more from the Song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32:

The Rock! His work is perfect,

For all His ways are just;

A God of faithfulness and without injustice,

Righteous and just is He. Deuteronomy 32:4

Think of everything Moses had gone through in his 120 years. And at the end of it all, he trusted in Yahweh, his Rock.

May this Psalms Project song bless you as you dwell on Yahweh Tsur Psalm 18

This year-long series is inspired by Ann Spangler’s Praying the Names of God for 52 Weeks

 

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