Hased - Virility Part 2
Hased - Virility Part 2
Karen Connell
“For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.” (1)
“And David danced before the Lord with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod. 15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the horn.16 As the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart.” (2)
Rejoice: to spin around under a violent emotion; be glad, joy, be joyful, dance (3)
Virility: (from the Latin virilitas, manhood or virility, derived from Latin vir, man) refers to any of a wide range of masculine characteristics viewed positively. Virile means “marked by strength or force”. Virility is commonly associated with vigor, health, sturdiness, and constitution, especially in the fathering of children. In this last sense, virility is to men as fertility is to women. (4)
Virility synonyms: manliness · masculinity · maleness · manfulness · manhood · machismo · gallantry · chivalry · valor · valiance · fearlessness · bravery · intrepidity · stout-heartedness · lionheartedness · boldness · daring · heroism · mettle · spirit · strength · vigor · toughness · robustness · powerful build · muscularity · muscle · brawniness · sturdiness · ruggedness · heftiness · huskiness · red-bloodedness · sexual potency · potency · sexuality · fertility (5)
Hased: Lovingkindness: the forever covenantal, always unconditionally unwaveringly loyal, kind love of inseparable bonding, of divine family, of eternal attachment. Hased love is the perfect attachment love that our souls need to grow up healthy and whole. This is what the Bible refers to as the lovingkindness of God. (6)
Nearly two thousand years ago a baby was born into a brutal and barbaric world that held his Father’s jewels captive. He chose to be born human, male, vulnerable, and as a KING. Thirty-three years after his birth, he would die a barbaric death and earn the title Champion, King of Kings and the right to descend into Hell and claim the ultimate prize—freedom for you and me.
Come, King Jesus.
I mentioned in my last post how God surprised me, no, shocked me with the concept of virility as I was pondering a message for a women’s retreat on the passage from Zephaniah 3:17. Let me share a personal experience I had
about 15 years ago. I think this will shed some light on why I struggled, and why I believe many other females have struggled with this part of the masculine soul.
Several years ago, my husband and I were attending our friends’ son’s Little League football game. We enjoy Little League games of all sort; however, this was the first Little League football game I attended in the South. Significance? Football in Georgia is like basketball in Indiana. Folks take their football here very seriously. As we got out of our car, carrying our chairs with us to the field, I could hear a lot of shouting. My thoughts were, wow, everyone is really excited. But as we got closer to the field, I was not prepared for what I encountered. It felt like a roar filled my ears and vibrated though my soul. As I looked around, I saw moms sitting in the background and all along the sideline; I saw dads standing, each shouting instructions to their sons. My husband was walking a few steps in front of me and was oblivious to the intimidation and fear I was experiencing. I was genuinely scared. I have never been surrounded by so much raw testosterone on physical display. (Side note, I grew up in a single parent home and that single parent was my mom. My father died when I was young. My husband grew up with both parents and five brothers—five. He was right at home on that field.) He finally looked around and saw me moving very slowly behind him. He came back to where I was, as I was almost frozen with fear. I explained quietly of how scared I was and asked why these men were yelling at these little boys?! I thought it was brutal and barbaric. I had a few other condescending thoughts as well. My husband laughed a bit and tried to console me. He told me this was normal and that I was okay. Then he walked off to go find our friends and say hello. I was almost in a panic when he walked off. I was trying to comprehend his words that this was okay and normal. I kept looking around, watching the physical demonstration before me, listening to the yells, the instructions, the grunts and howls, and all I could think was that this can’t be right or normal, not if it makes ME feel this scared and uncomfortable. I would glance back at the moms who seemed just fine, and then I found our friends, whom I loved and respected. The dad was on the sideline like the other dads making male sounds to his son on the field, and the mom was in the stands aware of her son’s plays and perfectly fine with the male drama on the field. What a dilemma. Who is right here? My cultural paradigm or theirs?
The truth of that day is that I was perfectly safe.
Back to my story, as I continued to prepare for the women’s retreat, I heard in my spirit, Do not be guilty of the sins of Michal. And then I knew why God had put this in my spirit before a women’s retreat and why this message was so relevant. As I pondered the sins of Michal, God took me back to my experience on the Little League football field. He reminded me of every snide remark I have ever made when I would see aggressive forms of camaraderie in men. I realized that I had formed a belief that the true masculine was King David tending sheep in a field, writing Psalms, and playing a harp but had no room in my masculine imagery for the rugged shepherd who tore a bear and lion apart with his bare hands, or for a warrior who cut off a giant’s head and lifted the bloody mess up in the air like a trophy for all to see, or for a violent worshipper dancing aggressively before God.
Indeed, if I had been there, I would have been very uncomfortable and probably abhorred the very sights that would have brought my own freedom. By rejecting and despising the virility I can see in my brothers operating in the true masculine, I reject and despise the virility of God. I don’t want to do that anymore. I need all of God. How about you?
When our warrior God dances, he is mighty, powerful, and he does it motivated by fiery and passionate love for you and me. This is the God-man, the babe in a manger, who grew up perfectly aligned with the heart of his Father. Posturing himself as the greatest warrior of all times. He rides the winds of heaven singing passionately over us and dancing violently on our enemy’s head.
Yahuwah your God is in your midst (present with you),
the Mighty one (the all-powerful one who never loses),
will save (will fight, battle to the finish to defeat your foes and triumph): He will rejoice over you with gladness (the very thought of you causes Him to smile from every part of His being),
He will quiet (cause all objections, anxieties, fears,
and condemnation to cease) you with His love.
He will (passionately) dance (leap, skip and violently spin)
over you with singing. (7)
I will repeat myself. My brothers, let me apologize for judging your virility as foolish, non-essential, and archaic. I was wrong, very wrong. And for every woman who has ever misjudged the true masculine parts of your soul, please forgive us. I personally want to learn how to align and partner side by side with all aspects of the true masculine. Brothers, I invite you to turn towards your warrior God, see his face and shake off the emasculation and shame our society has placed upon you. Whether your strength is seen physically, mentally, emotionally, strategically, creatively, scientifically, artistically, academically, etc., please show up. Be you. Be who God created you to be. We need you.
My Prayer for Us Today
Father, there are so many layers to this story. God, you are taking down strongholds of lies and replacing them with confounding truth. Would you breakthrough every barrier in our souls and remove every wrong structure of unbelief that prevents each of us from receiving ALL of YOU? We need all of YOU, GOD, ALL of YOU! In Jesus’ name, amen.
Zephaniah 3:17 NLT, Biblegate
II Samuel 6:14-16 ESV, Biblegateway
Strong’s Concordance
Wikipedia
Oxford Dictionary
Michael Card, Inexpressible: Hased and the Mystery of God’s Lovingkindness, Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Pres Books, 2018, Ann Voskamp, Waymaker, W Publishing Thomas Nelson, 2022, 33. As it appeared in Waymaker by Ann Voskamp.
Zephaniah 3:17, Tim Rowe, Goodness of God Ministries