When Bad News Comes

Today's #WordNerdWednesday post from She's So Scripture over on Substack was on the Hebrew word samakh (סָמַךְ).

This word is typically defined as to lean, support, uphold, rest.

Her post. This word.
It sent me back to Saturday, April 18, 2026, at 11:46 p.m.

Because it's found in the verse I ran to whenever Laney busted into the house wailing that Patrick was dead.

Let's backtrack two years earlier.

In June 2024, after literally starving for one entire year due to a medical condition later diagnosed as gastroparesis and autoimmune autonomic ganglionopathy, I started a study by Vaneetha Risner called 'Desperate for Hope', Questions We Ask God in Suffering, Loss & Longing.

In Session 4: She walks us through "What If the Worst Happens" and in that section, on Day Two, she referenced Psalm 112:7-8

"He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. His heart is steady; he will not be afraid, until he looks in triumph on his adversaries."

At that moment in time, I had a few worst-case scenarios on my mind. The likelihood that my death was right around the corner was one of them, but it wasn't the most prominent fear and still isn't. My worst-case scenario has always been the death of one of my children and their eternal resting place.

The impact this section had on me caused me to make a tab for this verse in my Bible and label it "Bad News"



God knew I would need it whenever my worst-case fear came true. As soon as my mind could comprehend what was being said, I stumbled to my Bible, opened it to this passage and posted it to Facebook asking for everyone to pray.

This morning the LORD has brought me back to this verse to sit. To study the Hebrew behind it. To soak it all up because I've been struggling.

Patrick's birthday is one month away, and I've been bracing for it for days now.

I'm not entirely sure what grief looks like for the unbeliever. I know I've been told over and over again through various resources that "everybody grieves differently".

But for me, as a believer, grief is very much disorienting. It's having to find my bearings over and over again. I often get too close to feelings of despair, forgetting where my Hope is because I'm so focused on the ache and the longing to see his face, to feel his arms around my neck, to hear his voice call me "Momma".... his scent has drifted from everything except his truck. I sit in it often and sob.

But God is faithfully holding me up. Samakh (סָמַךְ). Deuteronomy 31:8 says, "The LORD Himself goes before you; He will be with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid or discouraged." And He has proven Himself faithful more times than I can count, but in this specific situation it was in my morning study that began three days before Patrick died and the theme continued over the next two days. So, for three days the LORD was speaking to my heart directly about the concept of viewing myself as a boat and that I would find myself buffeted (basanizó) [torment, torture, vex, distress]. Further study on this topic, especially from the spiritual perspective, led me to Jesus' conversation with Peter in Luke 22 where Jesus tells him "Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. " Luke 22:31-32
Those words, fresh on my mind, became my prayer that night. I prayed them as I stumbled to my Bible Study desk to look up this Scripture in Psalm 112, "Jesus hold me and keep my faith intact." And then today, as I began to sit with Psalm 112 again, it struck me, that I don't fear bad news because of the good news -- that is Christ. Again, my bearings. He is my anchor, my True North, my Center. Where I return day after day, difficult hour after hour, difficult moment after moment. I wanted to look at the Hebrew behind this "bad news". It's literally bad/evil and the Hebrew word often translated as report, news, rumor, or tidings. It's the word shemuʿah (מִשְּׁמוּעָ֣ה). I then went to my favorite Hebrew word study tool, entered it into the search bar, hit enter, and began to read. It references Isaiah 53:1 "Who has believed in our report (shemuʿah)? And the arm of YHWH—to whom has it been revealed?" One of my favorite sections from this tool is the "common misreadings" since so much has been misunderstood once Hebrew/Jewish concepts were filtered through Greek ideologies. Under that heading one rendering says: "Who has believed our report?" (Isa 53:1) read as a statement about intellectual credence — imports Greek epistemology (belief = mental assent). Hebraically the concern is heeding-response, aligned with emunah as structural reliance, not cognitive agreement. Did you catch that? Structural reliance -- as in something you can reliably lean on. Go ahead and click that word emunah and read what faith looks like the Hebrew lens. My favorite line: It is not about what you think. It is about what you do, consistently, over time.

My emotional spirals and distraught days are not a sign of a lack of faith, in fact where I turn to for comfort and clarity in the midst of them, consistently, over time, day after day, is a sign of faith. This reminds me of a post I saw earlier this week that challenged the way 1 Peter 5:10 is often understood—as though the suffering itself is what God uses to build us. When we back up and read the preceding verses, Peter specifically connects this suffering with resisting the devil who is prowling to devour believers. I wonder if Peter was remembering Jesus' words to him about being sifted by Satan whenever he wrote these words.

Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in your faith and in the knowledge that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering. And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore you, secure you, strengthen you, and establish you. To Him be the power forever and ever. Amen.

Establish. Do you know another word that is translated as establish? Samakh (סָמַךְ). Specifically in Psalm 111:8, which is mentioned as a footnote to Psalm 112:8 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Going back to the words Jesus spoke to Peter in Luke 22, He said "But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith will not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." Since this is from the New Testament, we need to look at the Greek behind the word translated fail (eklipē). For this word study I used this tool. The point is made that this word doesn't speak of a gradual fading but a definitive cessation. I trust that my faith will not fail because Christ is the One who establishes and steadies me through His Word. In the words of Robert Murray McCheyne,

"If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me."

***I have to pause to mention that I had gone to Facebook to search for the above quote about Jesus' praying for us... and in that search I came across this post from a month before Patrick died (March 8) and as I read my prayer, I'm astonished at its accuracy.

Father, help me to keep my eyes on you. Help me to "do hard things" that you have assigned for me, and to do them well. Forgive my missteps and thank you for always being there whenever I discover I have gotten off the path, in order to lead me back. Help me to remember the purpose and necessity of prayer. And to know with you all things are possible. Keep giving me faithful words and counsel, even when it hurts and I don't want to hear it. And whenever I'm tempted to think you look at me with disapproving judgement, to remember while you may disapprove and you are just you look at me and LOVE me. The purpose is always restoration not condemnation. Help me to have the humble endurance required to continue getting up from the dust. Thank you for all of it. Amen.

Has He not been so absolutely faithful? He knew the hard things assigned for me. Patrick's death. He went before me on the cross. He went before me by providing His Word. He went before me through the millions of seemingly impossible circumstances that had to fall precisely into place to put those words before my eyes and draw my heart nearer to His. And now, every time I sink deep into grief—into the dust—He is there again, reorienting my gaze toward the inheritance He has promised because of His own faithfulness in His own hard portion. Samakh. He holds me.
"My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Psalm 73:26