But those who seek my [f]life to destroy it, will go into the [g]depths of the earth. Psalm 63:9 NASB Life/depths – Did you notice the two footnotes in this verse from the NASB? The tiny (f) and (g) indicate that the translators want the reader to notice something about the Hebrew words. But if you looked at…
My soul clings [e]to You; Your right hand upholds me. Psalm 63:8 NASB Clings – You know this verb. It’s used in the famous marriage verse, Genesis 2:24. “For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.” Of course, the NASB translation changes…
For You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy. Psalm 63:7 NASB Help – Psalm 63 seems to be filled with emotional contradictions. It begins with an agonizing plea. God is absent. The psalmist is in deep distress. We expect the lines to continue with yearning for connection, perhaps…
I recently listened to an excellent lecture by Elaine Ruffolo, an art historian, who spoke about Michelangelo’s women (the title of the lecture available on YouTube). In it she points out that the center of the paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is not God’s creation of Adam (perhaps the most famous of the Sistine…
When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches, Psalm 63:6 NASB Remember/meditate – “Now I lay me down to sleep,” but it rarely happens so easily. Nursery rhymes are wishful fables. Sleep is far more difficult. The room is dark. The noise of the day is finished, but there are…
My soul is satisfied as with [d]marrow and fatness, and my mouth offers praises with joyful lips. Psalm 63:5 NASB Marrow and fatness – What does David’s poetry have to do with the official English Burial Service? Well, “ashes to ashes, dust to dust” comes from the Burial Service, not the Bible. It is supposed to be derived…
So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. Psalm 63:4 NASB Bless You – You probably grew up in the ethos of the omnipotent, immutable God. You know, the God who can do everything and doesn’t really need anything. That is the philosophical epitome of a…
One of my readers replied to my recent article about “Losing.” I thought it was insightful enough to be widely published. Here it is: All the goings-on in the States reduces the society to the non-society of suspicion, slavery, spies, and policing, as you so well said. It is a repetition of pre-war and WWII…
Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips will praise You. Psalm 63:3 NASB Better – Let’s correct the syntax. ki-tov comes first. “Because good” Your ḥesed me ḥayyîm. The last phrase (me ḥayyîm) adds the “than life” part. Min is the preposition of comparison, in this case ki-tov me becomes “better than.” But min…
Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory. Psalm 63:2 NASB Have seen You – David’s parallelism explains why he didn’t die from divine exposure. “I have seen You” isn’t a violation of “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live” because what David…
