HEBREW WORD STUDY – I DESIRE – CHAPATZETI חפצתי  Cheth Pei Sade Taw Yod

Hosea 6:6: “For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. “

Is it not odd that a pronoun “I” is used in the first phrase but the noun “God” is used in the second phrase. Why did He not say “knowledge of me?” I believe this is a remez, a hint of something much deeper. But first let’s examine the pashat or literal meaning.  The meaning is quite clear, God isn’t interested in all our outward forms of worship, only that which comes from the heart.

I once asked a rabbi how they could worship God when the temple was destroyed and they could no longer offer their sacrifices. He gave me this passage and explained that worship really comes from the heart and not from the performance of certain rituals.  He explained that this is why so many Jews go into medicine and other humanitarian works, this is their form of worship  

To most Christians worship is going to church on Sunday, singing a few I like God songs and lifting your hands and then magically you have performed worship. God calls his angels over and says: “Hey, what a nice performance, come on now nice round of applause.” But worship is not the music, not the lifted hands, not even being in a church building. Jews for almost 2,000 years have been deprived of their place of worship and the tools of worship, yet they still worship God, every day in their prayers, in acts of mercy and in their study of Torah. 

After I finish my four or eight hours of study in the Word of God, I try to have a time of worship. Yet, this verse is telling me that I have been worshipping God all along. This morning in my disability bus I had three people that I took to the Illinois Medical District, a half hour drive. Two were God loving Christians, I am not sure where the third one stood. It didn’t matter, we just talked about God Scripture and what He was doing in our lives.  When the third woman got off my bus she asked if I would pray for her. We were really worshipping God. I was worshipping God just as much as if I were in a beautiful chapel and not a disability bus. I was worshipping God just as much as if I were surrounded by the sweet smell of incense as I was surrounded by the fellowship of other believers. I was worshipping God just as much as I would with uplifted hands as I did with hands on a steering wheel. I have worshipped and felt the presence of God in some very beautiful buildings and among some very beautiful, healthy people.  I have also worshipped and felt the presence of God in my disability bus with people who were not healthy or beautiful. 

 

 

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So what is this hint of something deeper?  The syntax is very ambiguous here but it is generally agreed and rightly so that God is saying he desires mercy and lovingkindness from us rather than our sacrifices of time, money or however else we can make a sacrifice. Yet, the syntax is ambiguous and leaves room for another rendering.   The use of the pronoun “I” suggest something very personal, to me at least.  On another level I render the syntax as this: “I desire to offer lovingkindness rather than receive sacrifices.   God does not need our sacrifices to offer his lovingkindness, he just wants the opportunity to offer his lovingkindness and for us to accept it and for us to give others the opportunity to receive it as that third woman on my bus received. 

I remember years ago when I was a chaplin in a nursing home I was trying to minister to a woman who had Alzheimer. She had become confused and for whatever reason, she felt everyone was trying to steal her little packet of sugar. She was very agitated, loud, frightened and in a general state of panic. After about 15 minutes a CNA and I managed to reassure her and calm her down. It was like she suddenly made a decision to trust us and acceptance our reassurances. Once calm she handed the packet of sugar to me and said; “Here, you can have it.” Sure, I was touched that she would entrust to me this little packet that seemed to have such great value to her. It was torn and the sugar was leaking out, making my hands sticky. Once I left the room, I promptly toss this packet of “great value” in a trash can. That packet of sugar meant nothing to me, in fact it was a nuisance.  Yes, I was touched with her act of entrusting me with this most valuable packet of sugar, but more important to me was the opportunity to show her lovingkindness and the joy that was not in the packet of sugar, but in her acceptance of my reassurances. The mind may have been fading but her spirit, that part of her that was in touch with God was still alive and vibrate. As long a one has breath, there is a spirit in that person that God can still reach.

I began to think how much I was like this confused and frightened little elderly woman, clutching protectively to a packet of sugar. All the time God is trying to calm me down, reassure me, surround me with His lovingkindness. I remain agitated until, like my elderly friend, I make the decision to trust God and accept his offerings of reassurances.  I feel I must give Him something so I give Him my packet of sugar which is absolutely worthless to Him but of great value to me. I am sure He is touched by my willingness to entrust Him with this most valuable possession, but He just shakes His head, more pleased that I accepted his offering of lovingkindness.

Perhaps we spend too much time trying to give our offerings to God rather than just receiving His offerings of lovingkindness to us.

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