HEBREW WORD STUDY – RIGHEOUS CRY – TSA’AQ צעק   Sade Ayin Qop 

Psalms 34:17-18: “The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. (18) The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.”

I would like to examine verse 17 from a different angle than I did in an earlier study and from the usual interpretation. I would like to examine this verse in light of the following verse where we learn the Lord is near to the broken hearted.  I believe embedded in this passage is a glimpse of the heartache of God. 

The word righteous is not in the text. It is simply “they cry.”  Who are they? Well, verse 15 seems to indicate that God is speaking of the righteous where in the prior verses He was speaking of the “poor man” who cries to God in his trouble.  Now it is the righteous. Another clue might be in the word for cry.  This is not the usual word to use for cry. The normal word used would be qara’.   This word is tsa’aq which is closely related to tsadeq which is the word for righteous.

What is a righteous person?  It is one who does right or does the right things. Romans 3:22 tells us “This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile.”  In other words through Jesus Christ we are righteous, He makes us righteous. Hence if we are in Christ, we are the righteous who cry out when in trouble.

From my previous study I indicated that this trouble is the word tsarah which is an emotional trouble.  A fear, worry, anxiety over a crisis or problem. It has such control over us that we cannot even pray or read God’s Word.  We can’t enjoy any pleasures in life.  This trouble has such control over us that it separates us from the love and presence of God. So, when we cry out the Lord hears or shema.  In Hebrew shema means to listen intently, with great interest and attention. It means to obey or respond.  So, God listens to our cry very intently and responds by delivering us. The word deliver is natsal which means to free or release from control.  God releases the control that this problem or tsarah has over us so that we can once again enjoy God’s presence and love. 

Here is what really captures my attention. The very next verse tells us the Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart.  Why is a broken heart singled out here?  The word nigh in Hebrew is qarav which does mean near but near in the sense of time and kinship.  The word broken is shavar in its root form but it is found in a Niphal participial form.  Many Hebrew scholars believe that the Niphal could express a reflexive nature.  This give me real pause.  I am led to render this as; “The Lord relates or has a kinship in real time to those who have a broken heart.” What this would be saying is that God is also suffering a broken heart and he fully understands what it is like to have a broken heart, he has a qarav or a kinship with a broken hearted person. 

So, what has caused His broken heart.  A righteous person who cries out in times of tsarah or trouble.  Why would this break God’s heart?  There are two reasons, actually. Let’s look at this from the standpoint of a parent. When a child’s heart is broken, is not the parents heart also broken?  Sure, God feels empathy and it breaks His heart when the righteous cry to God in tsarah.  But let’s examine this further for another reason really considered. A child cries out in the night in fear.  The mother or father comes to the child’s bedroom and says there is nothing to fear he or she is there but the child pulls away still in terror. The parent tries to reassure the child that they would never let anything happen to him. Still, the child trembles.  What goes through that parent’s mind.  Why can’t my child trust me and believe in me?  I have done everything possible to assure his safety and still he cries out.”  The parent continues to console the child, explaining what is going on and the protection he has until the child finally believes he is safe.

What does that parent feel during this time when the child doubts?  I believe it strikes to the very core of a parent’s heart. After devoting their lives to this child, the child refuses to believe it is loved enough to be protected.  The child is basically saying, “You really don’t love me, you will abandon me.”  Such words or even the hint of such words would break a parent’s heart.

When trouble or tsarah comes into our lives do we immediately look up and say; “God, you have done everything to convince me that you are by my side and that you will never let anything come into my life that I will not be able to handle. This crisis is really bad, but I will let you have your way with it. I will trust you because I believe without a doubt you love me and will take care of me.”  Then like a little child hugging it’s parents, clinging to them you just reach out to God let Him handle it. If a child does this it will cause the hearts of those parents to rejoice over this trust and acceptance of their love. So too, will such trust and belief bring joy and delight to God’s heart.

However, when tsarah comes and you cry out to God in fear, worry, terror, does it not hint at the idea that maybe you don’t really trust God, you don’t really believe He loves you?  What does that do to God’s heart? Yes, it breaks His heart yet He will still work  to deliver you, but he does it with a broken heart. A heart broken because you would actually question His all consuming love for you. 

God is close to the broken heart because we break His heart all the time.

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