Help, YHWH; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men. ² They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak. (Psalm 12:1-2 KJV)

YHWH looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. ³ They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one. (Psalm 14:2-3 KJV)

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and YHWH hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6 KJV)

But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. ⁷ And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities. (Isaiah 64:6-7 KJV)

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23 KJV)

The truth of these words cuts deep into my heart.  There is no cause for pride among us. It is a sad reality to think that of all the billions of people on the face of the earth, and of all the millions who claim to be genuine believers, there is not one (including the author of this writing) that has not sinned, fallen, and been defiled.  God created us all to be the vessel or vehicle of his presence.  Adam (male and female) was created to be the expressed image of the Creator in the world.

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. ²⁷ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Genesis 1:26-27 KJV)

But after the fall of Adam and Havah bore mixed seed…and their off spring was no longer in the image of God but in the image of fallen Adam.

This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; ² Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. ³ And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth: (Genesis 5:1-3 KJV)

As a disciple of Messiah Yeshua, I am grieved, that I myself have been so defiled and polluted by my own wickedness. I recognize that even if everyone else in the world was without sin, the Messiah still would have gone to the cross because of me.  I am often overwhelmed in my prayer by the great shame that I feel when I consider how profoundly I have defiled the vessel that YHWH gave me to fulfill his sacred calling.  The creator has so graciously honored me with a profound calling to teach his word and tend to his people.  Yet, even with this great honor I have tarnished his image through my own rebellion, stubbornness, and wickedness. I have failed miserably in this divine calling to be his image in the world.

 Recently, I found myself in the Father’s refining fire.  It was a most painful and confusing time.  I wanted so desperately to turn to a tzadek (a righteous one) for counsel, understanding, wisdom and prayer, but found myself with nowhere to turn, and no one to turn to. I was afraid that if I turned to my brethren anything I said would be used against me, repeated as gossip, used to further hurt my already broken heart.  I know that I am not alone in this fear.  I have talked to many others who have lamented the same situation.  Who do we trust? Where are we to turn? There seems to be a great lack of godly and righteous men in the world.  It is true that all of us have sinned.  All of us have fallen and continue to fall short of the glory of YHWH.  We have all been touched and stained by the pollution and leaven of false religion, lack of understanding, worldliness, and overactive carnality.  We have all gone astray from the divinely appointed way that we were called and created to live in the world.  There are no perfect vessels.  The light of YHWH in man is greatly diminished by all of the defilement and pollution of sin, religion and worldliness.  While it is difficult to see the image of YHWH in the world today, the image of fallen Adam is quite evident in the world and even within the believing community. Therefore we must learn to turn to the Father in every circumstance. We must not depend on or follow man.

Thus saith YHWH; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from YHWH. (Jeremiah 17:5 KJV)

It is better to trust in YHWH than to put confidence in man. ⁹ It is better to trust in YHWH than to put confidence in princes. (Psalm 118:8-9 KJV)

Let Israel hope in YHWH: for with YHWH there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. (Psalm 130:7 KJV)

Let Israel hope in YHWH from henceforth and for ever. (Psalm 131:3 KJV)

Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in YHWH his God: (Psalm 146:5 KJV)

YHWH taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy. (Psalm 147:11 KJV)

This great dearth of righteousness and righteous ones should also cause us to hunger and thirst for righteousness. This hungering and thirsting for righteousness should provoke us not only to grief but to repentance.  As disciples of Messiah Yeshua we should all be striving to cleanse ourselves of the stains of worldliness, religion and unrighteousness.  We should not allow ourselves to become content with whom or what we are until all the leaven and dross has been removed from our lives.  We must be ready to daily take our old polluted, defiled, and deformed self to the cross, until all that is left is the pure and perfect image of YHWH.  Like gold in the refiner’s fire we must remain in the heat until all of the dross is removed, and the refiner can see his face in the remaining pure gold.

As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness. (Psalm 17:15 KJV)

While we may lament the lack of righteous ones in the world today, we cannot point the finger of blame at others for this dearth.  When the Creator looked down he saw not one who had not gone astray.  The finger pointing must stop with ourselves.  We have fallen short.  I have fallen short.  And therefore I must repent and ask the Father to grant me the grace to embrace the cross and endure his refining fires until the leaven and the dross are removed and only his perfect image remains.