HEBREW WORD STUDY – SABOTAGE – SA’AD סעד Samek Ayin Daleth

Psalms 94:18: “When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O LORD, held me up.

During a run on my disability bus today I was talking with someone who was terrified of making a truly major decision in her life. She was so afraid of making the wrong decision that was not God’s will. I could not help but think of Psalms 94:18.

The Psalmist is saying that when his foot slips the Lord in His mercy holds him up. That is obviously a metaphor, I mean we slip all the time, and many times it ends in a fall. Unless you are elderly or fall just right, normally the most you suffer is an embarrassment. Last winter I slipped on some ice and landed on my keister. I am 69 years old going on 70 and I got right up and brushed myself off and my first thought was did anyone see that, I sure hoped not. Personally, I didn’t expect God to steady me, I mean there are some things we can do on our own. I don’t believe this verse is speaking of a physical slip of the foot.

The word foot in Hebrew is regal which means more than just the foot, it is also a word for taking a pilgrimage or taking a journey. The word slip in Hebrew is mote and means to totter, shake and slip. It is in a perfect form. The slipping has already occurred. This could also mean to go in the wrong direction. So, the Hebrew words themselves explain the metaphor. It does mean a foot slipping but it could also mean to take the wrong path on a journey.

What happens when you take the wrong path? The Lord will hold you up. That word in the Hebrew for hold up is sa’ad which means to sustain and to support but it also means to obstruct in the sense of sabotaging. That sounds like the opposite of support or sustaining, but when sabotage is used in the sense of supporting or sustaining someone it has a very positive meaning. In other words when you make the wrong decision or take the wrong path the Lord will sabotage or obstruct you from moving forward so you don’t have to make a big mistake. He will not let you make a big mistake unless you really fight it.

Take for instance Acts 16:6: “Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia,” Paul was ready to preach to Asia. I mean he was ready to do the will of God and bring the Gospel to Asia. He probably felt an urgency, how many people would die lost if he did not get into Asia, and bring the Good News. Yet God throws a sa’ad out an obstruction, a sabotage to prevent him from going. In the words of the English playwriter Ben Johnson, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” Sometimes something may seem so right and perfect that we don’t need to even pray about it. We figure it must surely be the will of God. Paul thought so about preaching in Asia. He would have gone to Asia and fell flat on his face had not God stopped him, put a sa’ad out there to obstruct or sabotage his intentions.

My friend was so afraid that she would make the wrong decision but she needed not to fear. In her very words, she longed to do the will of God. If you long to do the will of God, not your will or desires but God’s will as Paul desired, God won’t let you make a mistake. If your foot slips or as an alternative rendering for the same Hebrew words, if you make the wrong turn, God will hold you up or using the same Hebrew words to obstruct your journey.

Christianity is littered with the dry sunbaked bones of Christians who sought to do the will of God but let their desires of glory, success, fame and even fortune blind them and they make a wrong turn, God sends a sa’ad an obstruction and they say it is the devil preventing them. All the time it is not the devil but God who is preventing the journey. The problem was that they had not learned to hear God’s voice.

I recall a time I was about to be fired from a church position because I had some charismatic leanings. I desperately searched for another job and actually got an offer of the perfect job. I mean I figured I didn’t need to even pray about it. Surely, it was God’s timing and provision. Yet, there was a check-in my spirit. I prayed about it and turned it down because I did not feel peace in my heart. Thankfully, I didn’t take the job or I would have missed a revival in our little church. You can read about it in my book: Is This Really Revival?” It is free to all who join our Learning Channel.

Colossians 3:15: “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.” The word for rule in the Greek is brabeuto which means to arbitrate or umpire. I watch a baseball game where a runner hits the ball out of the park we all know it is a home run and the runner will be safe when he hits home plate. But if a runner touches Homeplate the same time the catcher catches the ball touches Homeplate you will have half the audience screaming: “Out!” and the other half screaming: “Safe!.” That is when you need an umpire, to call the close ones.

That peace in your heart is the Holy Spirit umpiring you. No matter how good, right, and perfect something seems, if it is a mistake, God will prevent you from making it. It may be just a lack of peace but if you are too stubborn to follow that, He will send a major obstacle to stop you.

Hi there! Thank you for reading this Daily Word Study. Can I ask a favor? Share this Daily Word Study with your friends on Facebook and Twitter by clicking one of the icons below.

Thanks & Blessings, it means a lot to me!