Recycled Parts...

On Monday night, I dragged into our weekly small group Bible study, struggling with exhaustion and a semi-poor attitude about studying the book of Genesis. We recently moved out of the book of Ruth (which I loved) and when we were choosing our next study, let's put it this way...I kept my opinion to myself. That said, it was one of the more amazing studies I've ever walked away from!

Here's how it works: we pick a portion of scripture - a book of the Bible, a Psalm, a couple select passages - and we walk through them step by step asking ourselves questions like:

Who wrote this?
Who was it written it to?
What was the current environment?
What is the purpose/theme of these verses?
Are there any words or ideas that repeat themselves?
And most importantly, we have learned to ask the question: How is this applicable to my life?

Well, back to last night...

As I mentioned, we are studying Genesis and in my limited Biblical knowledge, I thought the word "Create" simply meant "to make". As I learned on Monday, there are actually 4 versions of the Hebrew word "Create" (stick with me):

1. Bara (said like "Buh-rah") - which means to form from nothing
2. Asah (said like "Ah-sah") - to make from something existing
3. Yatsur (said like "Yat-sir") - to form
4. Kun (said like "Coon") - to establish

Then, after we walked through all of the different meanings of the word "Create", our Bible study leader had us flip over from "When God created..." in Genesis to Psalm 51:10, a passage of the Bible that was written by David. At this point in his life, he had seen Bathsheba on the rooftop and had her brought to him despite the fact that she was married. When she got pregnant with his child, he had her husband sent to the front lines of battle so he would die and David could take Bathsheba as his own and "cover up" what he had done. David is at the point where he is finally "breaking" under the weight of all of his wrongs, so he cries out to God with these words:

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a right spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence,
and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.

As I learned, in the original language of Hebrew, this particular mention of "create" that David used was the "Bara" version of the word which means "to form from nothing". I sat there with chills as I realized that David was asking that God not use any of his old self or old nature but to change him completely by using new parts. David didn't want any part of his former self, not even recycled parts...he didn't ask God to "asah" or "create from existing", he asked him to "bara" or "create from nothing", to create brand new.

Oh, I have chills now just writing about it again and I sit here wishing that this didn't lose so much impact as I try to translate it from the experience into the written word. All I can tell you is that I'm dying to have all of the parts of myself that are old, displeasing, and ugly...the parts that don't honor God removed and tossed away. I want it replaced with the brand new!

Bara in me a clean heart, Oh Lord...