Unutterable

Daily Office Lectionary for Morning Prayer 7-9-18 (I started it yesterday and didn’t finish…..)

Romans 8: 26-30 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. 27 And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:26-30 Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)
26 Similarly, the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we don’t know how to pray the way we should. But the Spirit himself pleads on our behalf with groanings too deep for words; 27 and the one who searches hearts knows exactly what the Spirit is thinking, because his pleadings for God’s people accord with God’s will. 28 Furthermore, we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called in accordance with his purpose; because…
Romans 8:26-30 The Message (MSG)
26-28 Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.

The way we 'should'; the way we 'ought'? The Greek says “necessary” and “proper.”

The sentence could be translated,  “we don’t know how to pray ‘according to what’s necessary’,” or ‘in proportion to what is inevitable’.”

All three translations say “groaning unutterable” or “inward sighs unexpressed”.

Please note, except in the translation in The Message, it’s not us that’s doing the deep sighing, it’s the Spirit, the Breath of God, The Wind from Nowhere.


Between my shut teeth— 

past the gate still shut;

 

Over my still tongue— 

that empty Wind still sighs 

and—

God’s Face 

Turns

This

Way.