This Psalm came to mind tonight in the midst of our Zohar discussion. If I might share parts of it with you.
One thing I have desired of Yahweh
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of Yahweh
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of Yahweh,
And to inquire in His temple.
For in the time of trouble
He shall hide me in His pavilion;
In the secret place of His tabernacle
He shall hide me;
He shall set me high upon a rock.
Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice!
Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
When You said, “Seek My face,”
My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.”
Do not hide Your face from me;
Do not turn Your servant away in anger;
You have been my help;
Do not leave me nor forsake me,
O God of my salvation.
Teach me Your way, O Lord,
And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.
Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries;
For false witnesses have risen against me,
And such as breathe out violence.
I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.
Wait on the Lord;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!
In the first part, when Kind David speaks of being hidden by Yahweh, being set high upon a rock, a recent teaching of our Beloved Tau Malachi's comes to mind.
Concerning the cleft, note that a person must go into the cleft, and then the Holy One puts them into the cleft and shields them, and passes by; going into the cleft, on one level, corresponds with repentance, and being put into the cleft corresponds with being received by the Shekinah - the shielding and passing by corresponds with forgiveness and measured blessings, giving to each spirit or soul what they desire to receive and are able to receive.
In our Zohar discussion this evening, we learned about raising our hands, or doing, in vain versus raising our hands in blessing, in zeal, with the Shekinah resting upon them. The former is in emptiness, and the latter is in fullness - our hands embodying something of the face of God. How curious that Kind David brings these two teachings together! Repentance and receiving, and seeking the Face of God, the attributes of God, giving blessing.
A few months back, Tau Malachi gave us a teaching on waiting upon the Lord, which seems to tie these contemplations together.
Devekut, "cleaving," is a very interesting word, for it can indicate dividing or separating, or it can indicate joining or uniting; to cleave can indicate a radical purification through cutting off or separating from negativity, but it can indicate a passionate attachment to the Holy One that leads to the experience of union.
It's similar to the word waiting, as in learning to wait upon the Spirit of the Lord." Waiting can indicate a state of stillness, rest or repose, but also action, work, serving; hence apparent opposite meanings, much like we find with the word cleaving.
In this one Psalm, we seem to have an expression of tonight's teaching: Being zealous for the Holy One in all of our doing, seeking the Face of God through our virtuous actions, raising our hands, seeking to draw in blessings for all!
May all wait upon the Lord!
With much gratitude,
Sheryl