We have become a disgrace to our neighbors, scorn and contempt to all round us. How long, O LORD, will You rage forever, Your fury burn like fire? Pour out Your wrath on the nations that did not know You and on the kingdoms that did not call on Your name. Psalm 79:4-6 (Hebrew Bible)…
But of Zion it will be said, “This one and that one were born in her”; and the Most High Himself will establish her. The Lord will count when He registers the peoples, “This one was born there.” Selah Psalm 87:5-6 NASB Born there – The psalmist’s assertion that all citizens of the Kingdom will carry “born in Zion” passports…
A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning Cush, a Benjaminite. Psalm 7:1 (Hebrew) NASB translation Shiggaion – What is a shiggaion? Oh, and why should we care? First, let’s notice how Christian translations handle this Hebrew word. The NASB footnote defines it as “Dithyrambic rhythm; or wild, passionate song,” The NIV…
So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and…
Lord, how my enemies have increased! Many are rising up against me. Psalm 3:1 NASB Enemies – Have you noticed how often the psalms speak about enemies? This verse from the third psalm is just one example. Psalms 4 and 5 contain the same idea, and, of course, so do many, many others. These psalms are…
They have surrounded me like water all day long; they have encircled me altogether. Psalm 88:17 NASB They – Suddenly, a change. Through seventeen verses the psalmist has decried God’s absence. His lament holds God responsible for the sorry state of his life, for the nearly impossible burden he must carry, for the approach of death. But now,…
The Lord has become like an enemy. He has swallowed up Israel; He has swallowed up all its palaces, He has destroyed its strongholds and multiplied in the daughter of Judah mourning and moaning. Lamentations 2:5 NASB Like an enemy – We live in the “God is Love” age. I’m not sure when we transitioned from “Sinners in the…
There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil. Job 1:1 NASB Job – Do you know anyone named Job? Ah, I didn’t think so (if you do, you might ask him how he feels about his name). This is a name we…
Make friends quickly with your opponent at law. . Matthew 5:25 NASB Make Friends– God reminds me that I need considerable improvement in the area of interpersonal conflict. It’s not that I am an angry, hostile man. Most people find me congenial, friendly, and helpful. That’s how I like to think of myself. But God lets me…
Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? Psalm 139:7 NASB Flee– “Basically bāraḥ means to go or pass through, and to flee or hurry. It occurs mostly in narratives, referring to flight from an enemy.”[1] But how can this be true in this psalm? Is God the enemy? Do we…
