Word of the Week: Yahweh Tsuri

Justin Christofferson wrote this week's Word post. He is a freshman this year at UW-O, and got involved in TCF early on in the year. He has been in my and Rob's Lifegroup all year and we've greatly enjoyed getting to know him and his Cubbie-loving self :) This semester he has taken on the task of getting the room set up before TCF each week -- making sure people are scheduled to be there to help and then directing them to accomplish the task before students arrive for worship. Praise the Lord for his service, and for being a vessel that God can speak through! Check it out!

Yahweh Tsuri

This name of God comes from the Hebrew noun meaning “rock” or “stone.” Therefore, God has revealed Himself to us as the Lord My Rock. The Lord is a solid foundation in which we can trust at all times. When He gives us a promise, He is faithful and always keeps His promises. Unlike the things or people of this world, God is completely reliable, and He will never let us down.
“The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer, my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior—from violent men you save me. I call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies” (2 Samuel 22:2-4). According to these verses, the Lord My Rock will protect us when we call out to Him.
Remember when Saul repeatedly tried to kill David? David fled and hid in a cave. When Saul entered the same cave that David was hiding in, David was urged by his men to kill Saul right there. It’s only rational that David should have killed the very person who was trying to kill him, right? But David did not kill Saul because he trusted that the Lord would protect him; he “believed that the promises God had made were as solid as the rock he stood on.” Instead of striking out, David left it up to God to punish Saul. In the same way, when we are wronged by others, we need to leave it up to our ever-faithful Rock to deal with those people instead of retaliating against them.
The Lord My Rock is the strong foundation for those who put their trust in Him. “Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people both now and forevermore” (Psalm 125:1-2). No problem, whether physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual, is too big for the Lord! When we pray and give our problems up to Him, He will take our burdens off our backs.
So remember that when you build your life around Jesus, you are building on a solid rock foundation that will not crumble! “There is no Rock like our God” (1 Samuel 2:2).