Lord, lead me in Your righteousness because of my enemies; make Your way straight before me. Psalm 5:8 NASB Because – What is the psalmist’s solution to an enemy attack? “Lead me in Your righteousness.” Doesn’t that seem strange? How can God’s guidance in justice and ethical behavior make any difference in an enemy’s assault? Wouldn’t it be…
You destroy those who speak lies; the Lord loathes the person of bloodshed and deceit. Psalm 5:6 NASB Destroy/ loathe – Two verbs of consequence: ʾābad and tāʿab, “to destroy” and “to loathe.” The meanings are a bit tangled. The verb ʾābad is a common word for to die, or, in the case of things, reputation, etc., to pass…
The boastful will not stand before Your eyes; You hate all who do injustice. Psalm 5:5 NASB Injustice – The God of love hates something—ʾāwen. Maybe we don’t think about the “loving” God as a God who hates, but we need to. Why? Because the ethical foundation of the creation isn’t the work of a “Santa Claus” God. …
For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness; no evil can dwell with You. Psalm 5:4 NASB No evil – Mercy is important. In fact, mercy is essential. Without it, we would all be ruined. Why? Because there’s another side of the mercy coin. That other side of the coin is wrath, judgment,…
Listen to my words, Lord, consider my sighing. Listen to the sound of my cry for help, my King and my God, for to You I pray. Psalm 5:1-2 NASB My cry for help – I’m feeling discouraged these days. It just seems like the forces of evil in this world are so overpowering, so ubiquitous, that righteousness is…
Leaving Funchal today to cross the Atlantic
and do not give the devil an opportunity. Ephesians 4:27 NASB Opportunity – “Opportunity” isn’t quite what the Greek text implies. Paul’s word is topos, i.e., place. It’s a topographical term. “Don’t give the devil any space.” “In common usage this word means a. ‘territory,’ ‘land,’ ‘area,’ ‘locality,’ b. ‘district,’ ‘town,’ ‘dwelling place,’ and c. ‘place’ in…
Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, Ephesians 4:26 NASB Angry – At last we’ve returned to the citation in Psalm 4:4 (26 October 2025). Now we’ll have to look at the Greek background of Paul’s vocabulary and then determine how his rabbinic orientation modifies the term. First,…
Therefore, ridding yourselves of falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, because we are parts of one another. Ephesians 4:25 NASB Ridding yourself of falsehood – Speak the truth! Ah, not always so easy, is it? We don’t typically outright lie. We just modify things a bit to fit the occasion. We don’t want to offend. We don’t…
and that you are to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Ephesians 4:23-24 NASB In the spirit of your minds – What comes first—the chicken or the egg? What comes first—a change in thinking or a change…
