Yahweh's Grieved Heart
Yahweh is Love. Therefore, when the objects of His love do not walk in that same love, He is hurt by it. When He sees those whom He loves walking in hatred, anger, murder, and everything else that denies His nature, He is grieved in His very Heart.
5Yahweh saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart was continually only evil. 6Yahweh was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him in his heart. Genesis 6:5-6
This testimony of scripture reveals Yahweh as truly interested in His creation. He made Man to be His glory, to show forth His wonderful nature and power; but Man had chosen another way, to try to be independent of God and to please his own fleshly nature at the expense of the lives of others. Because of this, scripture testifies that Yahweh was grieved in His Heart. However, the Hebrew underlying this translation is more graphic and specific.
Literally, it says that "Yahweh caused pain to His Heart." The Hebrew verb for "grieve" has several meanings, including to hurt, pain, grieve, displease, vex, wrest. In this instance it is also in the hiphil conjugation, which is reflexive. That means that God did this to Himself; He didn't do it to another nor did it happen to Him by another. Rather, He caused grief or pain. But what was the object? His Heart!
The Heart is the seat of emotion, of feeling and the soul. As King Solomon says, out of it are the wellsprings of life (Proverbs 4:23). The descriptions of and teachings concerning the heart of man reflect the real truth of the Heart, as the Inner Person of God the Father.
Looking back to ancient Hebrew and knowing that the letters themselves were pictures of something and represented a basic idea, we can gather the deeper meaning of "heart" in Hebrew: it is the inner dwelling of taking direction.
Again looking to the deeper meaning of the words used here, "to grieve" is made up of three letters meaning "Eye, Fish Hook, Inner Dwelling." Because of this fact, the word is sometimes used in scripture to mean "to shape, fashion, form" in addition to the more common "to grieve, pain, hurt." One could see a meaning of an inner watch-and-wait mentality in order to snare something.
God caused pain to His own Heart because of what Man was doing. He had desired certain things for Man, but he was not cooperating. Therefore, Yahweh decided to change the direction that Man was taking, and in the process, although a short-term change of direction in respect to Yahweh's original plan, ultimately would guide Man back to the ideal—that of reflecting the nature of God in being righteous and showing mercy.
As we know from the rest of the story, mankind and all land-dwelling animals were wiped out by the flood that soon followed (Genesis 6:7). God chose a man, Noah, who had been doing good and walking in the light of Yahweh; therefore he found grace in God's sight because he was in fact searching for it. He was consciously living rightly, as he was created by God to do (Genesis 6:8-9).
But to get to this point, it began with the Heart—Yahweh's. He grieved His Heart in order to cause Himself to do what He didn't desire (destroy Man) so that His true desire (the exultation of Man) might eventually be fulfilled (as later accomplished through the work of His Son made flesh, Who came through the lineage of this man, Noah).
Yahweh reveals that sometimes it is necessary to suffer in order to bring good.
14But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “Don’t fear what they fear, neither be troubled.” 17For it is better, if it is God’s will, that you suffer for doing well than for doing evil. 1 Peter 3:14,17
Because Man has often chosen evil over good, he has brought a whole way of life into the world that should have never existed. This causes decisions to be made that should never have been a consideration; but the goodness of God demands they be made in order that His will ultimately comes to pass.
We, imitating Him, see what is happening and have to snare ourselves inside so that we might change course. This can actually be a good thing when done to oneself, because we are ready for it and know it is for the best. When it is done to us by someone else (they grieve us), its meaning can become more clear. We do not enjoy being snared or hunted by something or someone else when we don't know what their intentions are. It causes us pain and grief. But when we are confronted with a need to change direction, we sometimes must cause ourselves pain in the process of making that change.
This is the kind of God that we were created to serve: one Who is willing to cause Himself grief in order to see His will done. And what is His will concerning us, but for good and for our union with Him? We don't need to fear that He will leave us to ourselves, to drown in our own sin and sorrow and guilt, but that He loves us so much that He will go to great lengths to see us filled with the joy of our reason for being.
How much then should we imitate Him, being willing to cause pain to our heart for a time, in order to see good happen!
7For you know how you ought to imitate us. For we didn’t behave ourselves rebelliously among you, 2 Thessalonians 3:7
11We desire that each one of you may show the same diligence to the fullness of hope even to the end, 12that you won’t be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and perseverance inherited the promises. Hebrews 6:11-12
11Beloved, don’t imitate that which is evil, but that which is good. He who does good is of God. He who does evil hasn’t seen God. 3 John 1:11
6You became imitators of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit, 1 Thessalonians 1:6