I believe that the book of Psalms is closely connected to a fascinating Greek word, “phrane”, usually translated by a word like “sensible”, “sober”, or “wise”. Look up Matt. 24:45 in your Bible and see what adjective describes the faithful and “_____” slave who keeps the servants fed in the last days. Then check 2 Tim.1:7 to see how God has replaced a spirit of fear with one of “power, and love, and ‘____”‘; and you will have found a word or two your Bible uses to describe “phrane”. You will also have seen how important phrane is in these last days. It’s the spirit that replaces fear with God’s powerful gift; that enables last day saints to serve. If you continue to track this amazing word through the Bible, you will be more and more anxious to acquire it.
Phrane is the Greek word for your diaphragm, a very important piece of your internal real estate. It separates your chest from your digestive system. Today when we think about our sense of logic and our emotions, we would talk about our mind and our heart. In Bible days, anatomy was understood a little differently. A person thought with his heart (Prov. 23:7); and felt with his digestive system; his “guts”. When Paul wants to tell his Philippian friends to have mutual affection in Phil.2:1, he literally asks them to have “fellowship of the Spirit, guts, and compassion”. (It’s translated “affection” in the NASB)
Phrane, then, is the membrane that divides emotions from thought. It’s what separates that massive can of worms that we work to “keep a lid on” from our control center. It’s the filter that keeps us from saying stupid things. It’s what sanctifies our raw feelings and makes them the wind that fills our sails instead of a destructive tornado.
Your diaphragm makes you able to breathe. When it contracts, you take air into your lungs. When it relaxes, you exhale. The Greek word for “spirit” (pneuma) also means wind or breath. It is the word for exhaling. Pseuche is the Greek word for “soul”. Pseuche also means “to inhale”. Adam became “a living soul” when he inhaled what God breathed into him in Genesis 2:7. Phrane is the diaphram that separates your soul – the part of you that thinks, feels, and decides, from your spirit – the part of you that worships God and senses right and wrong.
To sum up, God seeks to help His children develop the ability to sanctify their feelings. That emotional mess deep inside needs to see the light of day and be exposed to God’s loving correction. “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my thoughts, and see if there be a wicked way in me; and lead me in the everlasting way”(Ps, 139:23-24). As God does this, worry can become prayer; fear can become humble dependence, pride can become quiet confidence, and so on.
That sanctifying of emotion is what the Psalms are all about. David, “a man after God’s own heart”, had an adventurous, turbulent life. He ran the gamut of emotions. He learned to turn them into prayers and songs. Harnessing our emotions and making them serve God is what the Psalms are all about. I hope you will join me as we single out some of those emotions and see how to make them serve their highest purpose.
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