Distress יֵּ֣צֶר

We are in chapter 32 of Genesis with our word for today used for the first time in the Bible. It is also used only once in the book of Genesis in our chapter. יֵּ֣צֶר the root word is צָֽרַר wrap, envelop, tie or lock up, be cramped, restricted. It is used 57 times in the Old Testament. It is used literally to tie or bind up something. Proverbs 26:8 Like one who כִּצְר֣וֹרbinds the stone in the sling is one who gives honor to a fool. Proverbs 30:4 Who has צָֽרַרwrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth?It is used in the context of a military battles. Judges 10:9 The Ammonites also crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin and Ephraim; Israel was in great וַתֵּ֥צֶר distress. 1 Samuel 13:5-6 The Philistines assembled to fight Israel, with three thousand chariots, six thousand charioteers, and soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Mikmash, east of Beth Aven. When the Israelites saw that their situation was critical and that their army wasצַר hard pressed, they hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns. Most of the time we find our word used to describe one of the results of sin against God. Judges 2:11-15 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the Lord to anger. They abandoned the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the Lord was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great וַיֵּ֥צֶר distress. Lamentations 1:20 “Look, O Lord, for I am in צַרdistress; my stomach churns; my heart is wrung within me, because I have been very rebellious.The good news is when we are in distress, even if we are the cause of it, we can go to God for help. 2 Samuel 22:7 In my בַּצַּרdistress I called upon the Lord; to my God I called. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry came to his ears.2 Chronicles 15:3-4 For a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest and without law, but when in their בַּצַּרdistress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them. Psalm 106:43-45 Many times he delivered them, but they were bent on rebellion and they wasted away in their sin. Yet he took note of their בַּצַּ֣רdistress when he heard their cry; for their sake he remembered his covenant and out of his great love he relented.In our chapter today Genesis 32 this is what we find Jacob getting ready to do which we will look at in the days to come. Our word is used in the sense to be or become afflicted with or marked by anxious uneasiness or trouble or grief. Genesis 32:7-8 Then Jacob was greatly afraid and יֵּ֣צֶר distressed. He divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two camps, thinking, “If Esau comes to the one camp and attacks it, then the camp that is left will escape.” So when we are in distress like Jacob we can call on God for help. I will close with this amazing Psalm that has as its refrain this very concept. Psalm 107:6, 13, 19, 28 So four times in this Psalm if you remember this was a song set to music. Here is what is repeated: Then they cried to the Lord in their בַּצַּ֣רtrouble, and he delivered them from their distress.