“Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,
Habakkuk 2:4
but the righteous shall live by his faith.
This is the most famous verse in Habakkuk’s little book. We will look at the more well-known, second line next week. Today I want to focus on the first line. What does it mean to be upright?
The Hebrew word יָשַׁר (yashar) translates to “upright”. This verb means to be straight, level, or right (i.e. correct). This root and its variety of forms are used over 200 times throughout the Hebrew Bible. While it describes things literally being straight or correct (how they’re supposed to be), it more often figuratively describes how people are supposed to act. Let’s look at some examples.
The Straight Way
The Philistines captured the ark of the covenant. After being passed from city to city because of plagues that seemed to follow in its wake, they decided to return it. They placed it on a cart and hitched two cows. “And the cows went straight (yashar) in the direction of Beth-shemesh along one highway, lowing as they went. They turned neither to the right nor to the left” (1 Samuel 6:12). This does not mean the road is straight (roads curve to fit the landscape) but that they stayed on the road and did not stray from it.
Another famous passage from Isaiah talks about straight paths: “A voice cries: / ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; / make straight (yashar) in the desert a highway for our God'” (Isaiah 40:3). This isn’t just about the straightness of the road, but about it being level and staying on course.
Another straightening of paths appears in Proverbs 3:6: “In all your ways acknowledge him, / and he will make straight (yashar) your paths”. Other translations say “he will direct your paths”, which also captures the concept well. When God straightens and levels our paths, he is guiding us in the way he wants us to go. Our response is to stay on the right paths he prepares.
It Was Right in His Eyes
Another way we find the word used is “right in the eyes of”. For instance, Jeremiah watched a potter struggling with some clay. “And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good (right/yashar in the eyes of) to the potter to do” (Jeremiah 18:4).
The time of the judges is describes each person doing “what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6, 21:25). For instance, when Samson found a Philistine girl he wanted to marry, he said she was right in his eyes (Judges 14:3, 7).
David was in love with King Saul’s daughter Michal. “Now Saul’s daughter Michal loved David. And they told Saul, and the thing pleased him (right/yashar in his eyes)” (1 Samuel 18:20). Saul sent his servants to tell David the bride price for her. “And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well (right/yashar in his eyes) to be the king’s son-in-law” (1 Samuel 18:26).
As we can see from these examples, being yashar in someone’s eyes is to be pleasing and desirable – the way one wants them to be. However, just because something (or someone) is right in his eyes, doesn’t make it right in others’ eyes. Samson’s parents were not pleased that he chose to marry a Philistine rather than among his own people. Our ultimate goal is that it should be pleasing in the Lord’s eyes (for example, God says he gives the earth to whoever is “right in my eyes”, Jeremiah 27:5).
A Level Place
One noun form, mishor, is a geographical term, describing a flat/level place, which could be a plain or plateau. For instance, across the Jordan from Jericho, rising high above the Dead Sea and Jordan River is the Medeba plateau (“the tableland (mishor) of Medeba”, Joshua 13:9).
Back in Isaiah, after making straight paths, he also says “the uneven ground shall become level (mishor)” (Isaiah 40:4). The Psalmist requests that God “lead me on level ground (mishor)” (Psalm 27:11, 143:10). In a land filled with hills and valleys, having level ground to walk on is a blessing!
An Upright Heart
Given the various examples, perhaps you are getting a better sense of yashar. Oftentimes, it is translated as “upright”. God is yashar (Deuteronomy 32:4, Psalm 92:15) and we should emulate that. Job is described as “blameless and upright/yashar” (Job 1:1, 8, 2:3). Some have an “upright/yashar heart” (Psalm 7:10, 32:11, 64:10, 97:11).
To Ponder…
What does it look like to live a yashar life? What does it mean to have a yashar heart?
Are you more interested what is right in your eyes or in God’s eyes?
I know, my God, that you test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness (mesharim). In the uprightness (yosher) of my heart I have freely offered all these things, and now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you.
1 Chronicles 29:17