Oh that my ways may be established to keep Your statutes! Psalm 119:5 NASB 1995 Oh that – Pay attention to the first word in this aleph sequence: ʾaḥlâ אַחלָה It’s an emotional outburst. “Ah that!” is the TWOT rendering. Alter renders the verse: “Would that my ways be firm to observe Your statutes!” But notice the…
Where Were You? Today is 07/07. On my birthday this year I turned 77. I was in Mumbai, India. I never expected to have a birthday in Mumbai, and certainly not my 77th. So, on 07/07, now that I am 77, I just wanted to show you a few photos from that day. Who knows…
You have [c]ordained Your precepts, [d]that we are to keep them diligently. Psalm 119:4 NASB Precepts – Perhaps “ordained” isn’t quite the word we want. We’re more familiar with this term in regard to priests and ministers, but it has a second, and perhaps original, meaning as well. It means “to decree,” for example, when a king officially…
I will also speak of Your testimonies before kings and shall not be ashamed. Psalm 119:46 NASB Shall not be ashamed – If you’ve discovered anything at all in this vav section, it’s that each of these verses not only begins with a vav but also is a past statement of God’s faithfulness and the poet’s…
They also do no injustice; they walk in His ways. Psalm 119:3 NASB Injustice – Are those who keep God’s torah social justice activists? Well, that depends on how you translate ʿawlâ. Livingston comments: “ . . . in Hebrew the basic meaning of this root means to deviate from a right standard, to act contrary to…
Blessed are those who comply with His [b]testimonies, And seek Him with all their heart. Psalm 119:2 NASB With all – It’s the last bit that counts. bechol-lev yidreshoohoo—“with all their heart.” “All their heart” is interesting in itself because we would expect the plural “with all their hearts” but we get the singular bechol-lev. It’s a common heart, that is,…
אַשְׁרֵי נֹֽצְרֵ֥י עֵ֜דֹתָ֗יו בְּכָל־לֵ֥ב יִדְרְשֽׁוּהוּ Psalm 119:2 נֹֽצְרֵ֥י – Blessed are those who comply with His [b]testimonies, And seek Him with all their heart (NASB). This verse poses a serious question. It comes without a rhetorical answer. Here’s the question (but don’t answer too quickly): Do you want to be happy? Pause! Ask yourself again: Do you really want to be…
Blessed are those whose way is [a]blameless, who walk in the Law of the Lord. Psalm 119:1 NASB Walk – It really doesn’t matter what you think. It’s what you do that counts. In the Hebrew worldview, it’s not necessary to understand why you should do the things you are asked to do. It’s nice when they…
Blessed are those whose way is [a]blameless, who walk in the Law of the Lord. Psalm 119:1 NASB Blameless – The Hebraic world knows no systematic theology. That’s a Greek invention. What it knows is the lived reality of God’s interaction in the everyday world of men and women. The Hebraic world doesn’t have creeds or hard-and-fast doctrines…
