The Dead Speak

Because of the loudness of my groaning my bones cling to my flesh.  Psalm 102:5  NASB Loudness – Read this again.  How can the volume of my groaning be the cause of bones clinging to flesh?  Does sound have anything to do with the consequences of malnutrition?  In fact, severely malnourished human beings, bones exposed because of…

Who Died?

A Song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. For the choir director; according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.  Psalm 88:1 (Hebrew text – NASB) Sons of Korah – Our story begins with the rebellion of Korah against Moses’ authority.  The event is recorded in Numbers 16 and again in Numbers 26. But there…

Cogito Ex Nihilo

Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O Lord, You know it all.    Psalm 139:4  NASB Even before– We are fond of claiming that God created out of nothing.  The theological term is creation ex nihilo.  Although the first verse of Genesis is often read as a proof text for this doctrine[1], theologians also employ…

Finally, the Answer

The Lord has made everything for its own purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil. Proverbs 16:4 NASB Everything – The scope of Solomon’s statement is universal. Kol, everything, is included in the vision of this short verse. Since there is nothing that exists unless God made it, there are absolutely no exceptions to this claim….

Me Too

The Lord sustains all who fall and raises up all who are bowed down. Psalm 145:14 NASB All – Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t see this happening in my world. I don’t see YHVH sustaining those who fall and raising up those who are bowed down. I see chaos, agony, oppression and abuse,…

The Hebrew Edition

They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, Genesis 3:8 NASB Walking – Walking presupposes feet. That assumption changes the picture of this verse. We imagine that God, in some physical form, is doing what we do when we walk, that is, moving on feet….

The World At My Door

I have seen that every labor and every skill which is done is the result of rivalry between a man and his neighbor. This too is vanity and striving after wind. Ecclesiastes 4:4 NASB Every – One of the claims of some religious systems is that only those actions taken “in the Spirit” and only…

Backtracking

All the LORD’s paths are kindness and truth for the keepers of His pact and His precepts.  Psalm 25:10  Robert Alter translation All – Do you really believe that all of YHWH’s ways are kindness and truth?  Are you just as likely to proclaim this with David when the plane crashes and everyone is killed,…

BIG!

All Your works shall give thanks to You, O LORD, and Your godly ones shall bless You.  Psalm 145:10  NASB All – How big is the universe?  If you want to have some appreciation for the size of our environment, take a look at this.  Then reflect on your significance in the vast expanse of…

Yom Kippur

Do You Trust Him? Yom Kippur.  On this day I have a chance to review my relationship with the Lord, to look deeply into the commitment I have made.  What I find upsets me.  What I find is riddled with compromise and conditions.  I am not a man of clean hands and a pure heart. …