Honey Drop 64 – High and Holy, Crushed and Humble

eejoseph,

“For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy;
I dwell in the high and holy place,
with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit,
to revive the spirit of the humble,
and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” Isaiah 57:15

The scene

A soul sits in quiet exhaustion,
feeling small beneath the weight of the world.
He looks up —
and the heavens stretch beyond imagination,
a realm too high, too holy, too infinite to reach.
He looks down —
and finds his own heart cracked,
his spirit low,
his breath thin.
He assumes the distance is unbridgeable.
But then the impossible happens:
the High and Lofty One steps into the low place
and sits beside him.

The comfort – the tension

The Tension:
We imagine God far away —
infinitely above,
infinitely beyond,
infinitely holy.
The philosopher says He cannot move,
cannot descend,
cannot bend.
And our own brokenness seems to confirm it:
Surely the High One stays high.

The Comfort:
But the verse opens a wormhole.
The One who inhabits eternity
also inhabits the crushed heart.
The One who dwells in the high and holy place
also dwells with the humble and contrite.
He bends without leaving His height.
He revives without losing His holiness.
He is infinitely above —
and also with me.
Marvelous.

The Lexical Brief

  • רָם וְנִשָּׂא (ram v’nissa’) — high and lifted up.
    A double ascent.
    A mountain of transcendence.
  • שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ad) — inhabiting eternity.
    Not visiting.
    Dwelling.
    Eternity is His address.
  • אֶשְׁכּוֹן (’eshkon) — I dwell.
    Same verb for the high place
    and the low place.
    One God, two realms, one presence.
  • דַּכָּא וּשְׁפַל־רוּחַ — crushed and lowly in spirit.
    Not the strong.
    Not the triumphant.
    The undone.
  • לְהַחֲיוֹת… וּלְהַחֲיוֹת — to revive… and to revive.
    Two infinitives.
    One purpose.
    Revival is not a bonus —
    it is the mission.

The drop

The High and Lofty One inhabits eternity,
yet He dwells with the crushed and humble.
He bends without leaving His height,
and revives without diminishing His glory.
He is infinitely above,
and also with me.
My low place is His dwelling place.

The Poetic Flash: The higher He is, the nearer He bends.