Day 13: Soul for Soul
“And if you give yourself to the hungry (If you draw out your soul)
And satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
Then your light will rise in darkness
And your gloom will become like midday.”
God is giving us a second “if.” The first one was in the last verse “if you remove the yoke from your midst...” (v. 9). This if is much more personal and honestly one I need more time to apply to my life.
God says, “if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted… then.”
The Hebrew here is napse meaning throat, neck, breath, living being or soul. God is pressing us to give our heart, our very breath to those who need breath; to stick our neck out. It feels deeply powerful and deeply challenging. I’m not there.
To satisfy the desire of the afflicted is to follow through and risk. Desire of the afflicted is a word phrase akin to napse and sounds similar. Nepes, means nearly the same thing as soul.
“God is pressing us to give our heart, our very breath to those who need breath.”
It is as if God is saying the desire and satisfaction that the afflicted seek needs to become our own at the deepest level of whom we are – our very breath and soul.
The afflicted are those who are bowed down, or hunched down. These are the people who are filled when God’s people give themselves freely and offer food, hope, encouragement and a real connection of community. It’s not a turkey drive at Thanksgiving, or Christmas dinner baskets that come around once a year. For our light to rise, healing to come, and the yoke to be broken we must go beyond our need and satisfy the soul and desire of those who are afflicted.
Verse ten is a repeat of verse seven because we need to hear it again.
I re-read this verse in a variety of translations, but none give it the weight it deserves. It is a profound ask that God is bringing. God’s heart is so passionately drawn to the afflicted, the broken, and the destitute. Jesus came to release the oppressed from their prison, to give sight to the blind, to touch the lame, and open the mouths of the mute. In a word, Jesus breathes freedom, and the breath of His Spirit lives within us. How is your breathing?
Father, may our heart be bound to the hearts of those who are truly afflicted and broken.