Search Me O God - Psalm 51
Published By: Maxine Carhill, ICEJ Autsralia
The 6th Hebrew month is called Elul, which according to Jewish tradition, begins a period of 40 days of searching hearts and lives before the LORD, and examining and repairing relationships with others.
Before Jesus began his public ministry and following his immersion in the Jordan River, he spent 40 days in a wilderness area. He went through a severe testing, standing against Satan’s tempting offers on how to bypass the suffering and become king. The Israelites also went through a period of testing in the wilderness – for 40 years. The number 40 is associated with testing, purification or preparation and is a common theme in Scripture. For example, 40 days of rain on the earth in the time of Noah (Genesis 7:4).
Elul is an ancient Akkadian word meaning ‘harvest’ and is related to an Aramaic word meaning ‘search’. It was the First Day of the 6th month that Moses ascended Mt Sinai again for a second set of tablets displaying the Ten Commandments. After the people’s sin in the shameful idolatrous episode of the golden calf, Moses broke the first tablets to symbolise the broken covenant. However, God was giving them a second chance. What a picture of the grace of God that we can appropriate. Sinfulness and failure is not the end, God responds to true repentance. He is the God of new beginnings.
Moses spent another 40 days on the mountain with God, and when he once again descended, it was the Day of Atonement, the 10th day of the 7th month. Therefore, the 40 day period beginning the First Day of Elul is considered within Judaism a time of preparing oneself for the Day of Atonement, (Yom Kippur), the day that the nation comes before God for forgiveness. The month of Elul is also known as – A Month of Mercy and Forgiveness. The previous two Hebrew months held dates that are sad anniversaries of various tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people. They are days of semi mourning customs, fast days and finally the sorrowful day of the 9th of Av, on which date extraordinarily, both temples were destroyed. But Elul introduces a pattern that is within the pages of the Bible. Following failure and spiritual disconnection, reconciliation waits the repentant heart.
In Jewish communities around the world, from the first of the month of Elul, the shofar (the ram’s horn) sounds each morning in the synagogue. Amos 3:6 reminds us: “Is the shofar ever sounded in a city and the people not tremble?” Indeed, the shofar is used biblically to evoke powerful emotions and in this case it is a wakeup call to spiritual sleepers to examine their lives, based on Isaiah 58:1, “Cry aloud, spare not; lift your voice, like a rams horn; tell my people their transgressions, And the house of Jacob their sins.” Paul warns in Romans 13:11. “You who are asleep wake up…”
It is good to pause at the sound of the shofar and remember its significance. Although the horns of other kosher animals are used, it is only the ram’s horn that is sounded at this time of repentance and soul searching. A ram was caught by his horns to become the substitute sacrifice for Abraham.
- The Torah was given to Israel with the sound of the heavenly shofar. Exodus 19:19.
- It is used as a musical instrument to praise the LORD; to announce the beginning of the festivals; to signal the assembly of the Israelites during war.
- The blowing of the great shofar ushers in the day of the LORD. Joel 2:1, Isaiah 27:13. Now that will be a wake-up call like no other!
Seeking God in prayer and repentance will intensify especially during and after Rosh Hashanah-the Biblical Feast of Trumpets, until the solemn Day of Atonement. These last 10 days are appropriately called the ‘Days of Awe’, a reminder that we indeed serve a Holy God. Hebrews, 12:28,29, “…Let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.”
This 40 day preparation period beginning with the first day of the 6th biblical month, can serve as a lovely reminder to Christians also. It is, to regularly examine our hearts, our relationship with God and others. Another beautiful tradition is to read Psalm 27 every day during this period and continuing into Sukkot. The psalm begins, “The LORD is my light and my salvation…”. The light of the LORD must shine into the hidden recesses of our lives, because as Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 2:4 NLT, “Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts.”
Following this season of repentance, five days later, the next moed – ‘appointment’ with the LORD on the biblical calendar is the joyous season of the Feast of Tabernacles-Sukkot. This is when a forgiven people can enjoy the presence of the LORD as they rejoice before Him according to His commandment, Leviticus 23:34. Ensuring God is allowed to regularly search our hearts as Psalm 139 advises in order to deal with anything blocking our walk with Him, will ensure that we can also rejoice in His presence at all times.
For more on this Jewish time period see. Mercy Triumphs over Judgement
