Let the Beloved of the Lord Rest Secure

The Lord brought this Word back to me when I was struggling with anxiety recently. It is a prophetic blessing that Moses gave to the tribe of Benjamin just before his (Moses') death:

“Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him,
    for he shields him all day long,
    and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders.” ( Deut 33:12 NIV)

Benjamin was the favored brother that the Hebrew Patriarch Joseph fawned over (as did Jacob - Genesis 42:4, 38; 43:29-34; 45:14). There has often been special affection in the Bible's story-line for Benjamin (Genesis 35:16-18), so it makes sense that Moses would use Benjamin's blessing to launch into a wider, deeper blessing that is linked to the Fatherhood of God. God is blessing his people through Moses like Jacob/Joseph blessed Benjamin. This blessing now comes through Jesus to all of his friends, those who are trusting in Him.

Interesting side note - "the one the Lord loves" - almost the identical phrase is used to refer to Jesus' friend Lazarus after he died (used by his sisters in John 11:3). Next time when you're praying try using this - "Lord, the one you love is _________ " (sick, hurting, needy, sinful, thankful, etc.)

Some affirmations that bubble to the surface:

• I am beloved, and I rest secure in the love of Yahweh who is with me.

• His love shields me all day long, through every moment, conversation and circumstance. Nothing can separate me from this love.

• I am beloved of the Lord and am invited to rest against his mighty chest (between his shoulders). Upon his shoulders he bears the government of the world (Isaiah 9:6) and my life as well as all outcomes. I can trust my "little kingdom" to him.

• I can rest. I can stop managing my life and trying to get people to do things. I can stop trying to make things happen and receive my life as a gift of God.

May we drink from the Trinitarian well before us! Disciples of Jesus are safely immersed in God.

We Are God's Beloved (book excerpt)

This is an excerpt from Henri Nouwen's book, Life of the Beloved. Please consider these truths for yourself; they deeply resonate with me and my age-long battle against self-hatred. - Scott

“Over the years, I have come to realize that the greatest trap in our life is not success, popularity, or power, but self-rejection. Success, popularity, and power can indeed present a great temptation. When we have come to believe in the voices that call us worthless and unlovable, then success, popularity, and power are easily perceived as attractive solutions. The real trap, however, is self-rejection. As soon as someone accuses me or criticizes me, as soon as I am rejected, left alone, or abandoned, I find myself thinking, “Well, that proves once again that I am a nobody.” … [My dark side says,] I am no good… I deserve to be pushed aside, forgotten, rejected, and abandoned.  

Maybe you think that you are more tempted by arrogance than by self-rejection. But isn't arrogance, in fact, the other side of self-rejection? Isn't arrogance putting yourself on a pedestal to avoid being seen as you see yourself? I know too well that beneath my arrogance there lies much self-doubt, just as there is a great amount of pride hidden in my self-rejection. Whether I am inflated or deflated, I lose touch with my truth and distort my vision of reality. Not seldom, self-rejection is simply seen as the neurotic expression of an insecure person. But neurosis is often the psychic manifestation of a much deeper human darkness: the darkness of not feeling truly welcome in human existence. Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us the "Beloved." Being the Beloved expresses the core truth of our existence.

We are intimately loved long before our parents, teachers, spouses, children, and friends loved or wounded us. That's the truth of our lives. That's the truth I want you to claim for yourself. That's the truth spoken by the voice that says, "You are my Beloved." Listening to that voice with great inner attentiveness, I hear at my center words that say:

I have called you by name, from the very beginning. You are mine and I am yours. You are my Beloved, on you my favor rests. I have molded you in the depths of the earth and knitted you together in your mother's womb. I have carved you in the palms of my hands and hidden you in the shadow of my embrace. I look at you with infinite tenderness and care for you with a care more intimate than that of a mother for her child. I have counted every hair on your  head and guided you at every step. Wherever you go, I go with you, and wherever you rest, I keep watch. I will give you food that will satisfy all your hunger and drink that will quench all your thirst. I will not hide my face from you. You know me as your own as I know you as my own. You belong to me. I am your father, your mother, your brother, your sister, your lover, and your spouse ... yes, even your child ... wherever you are I will be. Nothing will ever separate us. We are one.

From Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World, (New York: The Crossroads Publishing Co., 1992), 31-37