Yet You are holy, O You are enthroned upon the praises of Israel. Psalm 22:3 Holy – Perhaps this is the wrong word for our inquiry. Perhaps we should have looked at the conjunctive “vav” (a single Hebrew letter attached to the word). It can be translated in a dozen different ways, usually “and,” “but,”…
O my God, I cry by day, but You do not answer; and by night, but I have no rest. Psalm 22:2 Do Not Answer – If you had to boil all of life’s heartaches down to a single characteristic, what would you choose? David provides the Biblical perspective in this Hebrew phrase, lo (not)…
My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Psalm 22:1 (English) My God, my God – In the Bible, when God really wants someone’s attention, He calls the name twice. This doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it is critically important. “Abraham, Abraham” (Genesis 22:11), “Samuel, Samuel” (1 Samuel 3:10), “Saul, Saul” (Acts…
My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Psalm 22:1 (English) Forsaken – If you want to understand the depth of David’s cry, you must know something about the verb he chooses. ‘Azav has a special history; a history that colors this opening line in lampblack. The first time we see ‘azav in Scripture…
For the choir director, upon the hind of the morning. A psalm of David. Psalm 22:1 (Hebrew text) The Hind of the Morning – If you thought the contemporary passion for praise and worship songs started in this generation, then you haven’t read the Psalms. In fact, Moses started the whole genre with his song…
O afflicted one, storm-tossed one, and not comforted, behold; I will . . . Isaiah 54:11 Not Comforted – There was a time when God was not comforted. You can read about it in Isaiah 22:4. The Hebrew words lo nuchama (not comforted) describe God’s refusal to accept the bad news of the destruction of…
O afflicted one, storm-tossed one, and not comforted, behold; I will . . . Isaiah 54:11 Storm-tossed One – Circumstances aren’t the only source of trauma in this world. The Bible recognizes that a lot of life’s pain comes from another kind of storm; the kind that we experience in the angry wind of human…
O afflicted one, storm-tossed one, and not comforted, behold; I will . . . Isaiah 54:11 Afflicted One – The life of a believer is not peaches and cream. (But you already knew that, didn’t you?) In fact, believers have a deeper, more disturbing experience of affliction than those who do not follow the way…
I have blotted out your transgressions like a thick cloud Isaiah 44:22 Thick Cloud – Have you ever been in a fog so thick you couldn’t see the front of your car when you tried to drive? It’s a very scary feeling. At any moment, something might suddenly appear and you will helplessly run into…
“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, and there will be none after Me.” Isaiah 43:10 I am He – So, you’re a witness. A witness to…
