The Dual Nature of Flourishing: Four Hebrew words in a single Psalm— composed “For the Sabbath Day”: Pārakh (פָּרַח); Tsûts (צוּץ); Ra’ănān (רַעֲנָן); and Nûb (נוּב). Part I: Introduction

[Reading time: 5 minutes]

Introduction

“Flourishing”, it seems, has become such a part of our cultural language that we encounter its usage almost daily in seemingly countless domains, extending from overly zealous advertisements for hair products to “flourishing food” to vacations and “flourishing adventures”… to a sermon on Sunday.

And if those doesn’t get us closer to the reality of flourishing, there are, in the end, the 12 psychological techniques that will ensure its fulfillment, as well as “flourishing happiness centers” where we can continue to study “the science of well-being and flourishing,” and then, of course, self-help sites that motivate us along the way:

“Welcome to Flourish: The home of Empowerment, Inspiration and Fulfillment:

You deserve to feel fulfilled, to live on purpose, to live an inspired life.

You deserve to feel excited, confident and optimistic about your future.

You deserve to thrive, to have an abundance of time, energy and money.

You deserve to Flourish.”

Sounds wonderful, right?

And so from here we move from the language of the culture to the language of Scripture. And in so doing, we will find, as has already been our experience with so many Hebrew and Greek word studies, that there are two levels of meaning operating simultaneously in any given word. On on the initial level, flourishing can be fully and confidently understood in the terms of what Paul speaks of as “This Now Age” (ὁ νῦν αἰών); yet as we examine it on a deeper level through the lens of Holy Scripture, it becomes clear that there is a reality of flourishing that can only be apprehended in part—not according to This Age—but according to the life of the eternal Kingdom of God in Christ.

And thus, depending on the lens we use to view the reality of flourishing, so will the shape be of what we see. If it is through the lens of This Age then flourishing is something we can understand, seek after and obtain here and now by the means of this world (material prosperity, education, power, possessions, etc.). If, however, we employ the lens of the eternal Kingdom, then we begin to see, albeit as “through a glass darkly” (ἄρτι δι’ ἐσόπτρου ἐν αἰνίγματι) that the flourishing of the world and that of the Kingdom are vastly different: The one lasts but for a moment; the other endures for all eternity; the one operates through human technique; the other through vital humility, faith and obedience; the one opens us up, in the end, to eternal judgment; the other to everlasting communion and Sabbath rest.

And with that we introduce you to Psalm 92, which is very importantly entitled, “A Psalm for the Sabbath Day.”

Psalm 92

In this Psalm, as introduced above, we will be presented with two pathways of flourishing: The one will be visible and immediate yet altogether fleeting; it will “sprout up” only, in the words of the Psalmist, to “be destroyed forever” (92:7, cf. Mt 13:1-23). The other, in sharp contrast, will be hidden, growing up slowly, steadily over time, as the leaven of the bread of the Kingdom. And having been “planted in the house of the Lord,” these

Shall flourish (יַפְרִֽיחוּ׃ [Pārakh]) in the courts of our God.
They shall still bear fruit (יְנוּב֣וּן [nûb]) in old age;
Enriched shall they be and flourishing (וְרַֽעֲנַנִּ֣ים [Ra’ănān], 92:13-14, cf. Jn 15),

Three different words to express the simultaneous dimensions of flourishing in the penultimate verses that bring the Psalm to a close.

And what, in the final analysis, is the reason and purpose the Psalmist gives us as to why “they flourish”?

Very simply,

To declare that the Lord is upright

For, as the Psalmist declares in the closing verse,

He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him (92:15).

Flourishing, as presented to us in this Psalm for the Sabbath Day, is an eternal reality given to us in which we participate through vital humility and humble faith. It is not something we take, something we seize for ourselves in the moment, by our power so that we can, as per the advertisement above, be fulfilled, inspired, confident, excited, thrive.

Flourishing is a reality which is rooted in the trust, not in our technique, abilities, work, methods—or, for that matter, in anything human at all; but in a trust that is fixed fully and totally in God Who is our rock, Who is “our strength and song, and has become our salvation” (Ex 15:2). And this eternal reality rooted in our trust in the eternal God, Who lives and was dead, and behold, lives for evermore (Rev 1:18), is experienced in This Now Age as we begin to more fully enter into this eternal rest through our deepening experience of the Lord’s saving and finished work for us on the Sabbath Day.

It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;
To declare Your lovingkindness (חַסְֽדֶּ֑ךָ [Khesed]) in the morning,
And Your faithfulness every night…
For You, Lord, have made me glad through Your work;
I will triumph in the works of Your hands.

O Lord, how great are Your works! (92:1-5)

His name, His praises and His works—these are the grounds by which we are enabled to flourish.

There is absolutely nothing of us here; no technique; no work; nothing.

Only an openness to and humble praises of our God.

So the Psalm opens.

In our next post, we will move into the ensuing verses where we will encounter the dual realities of flourishing given not only in the words, Pārakh (פָּרַח); and Tsûts (צוּץ), but also in Ra’ănān (רַעֲנָן); and Nûb (נוּב).