Salvation belongs to the Lord; May Your blessing [h]be upon Your people! Selah Psalm 3:8 NASB To the LORD – It goes without saying that the Psalms consistently ascribe salvation to YHVH. So do the prophets. No one would argue this point. Therefore, we are pressed to ask, “If the Tanakh views YHVH as the source of salvation, why does Christianity…
Arise, Lord; save me, my God! For You [d]have struck all my enemies on the [e]cheek; You [f]have shattered the teeth of the wicked. Psalm 3:7 NASB Have struck – If you wanted to rid yourself of all your enemies, would you be satisfied to simply strike them each on the cheek? I don’t think so. You and I would probably want…
I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. Psalm 3:6 NASB Not be afraid – The verb is familiar– yārēʾ. Perhaps that’s because we find it in the phrase “fear of the Lord.” But, of course, “fear of the Lord” doesn’t mean emotional trepidation or potential physical…
I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustains me. Psalm 3:5 NASB Awoke – There are times, perhaps too often, when I just can’t sleep. I lay down and the memories of past actions creep into my consciousness, reminding me of my failures, my guilt, my remorse. I can’t shove them aside. They pursue me…
I was crying out to the Lord with my voice, and He answered me from His holy [b]mountain. Selah Psalm 3:4 NASB Crying out – There’s not much debate about the sense of this verse. The psalmist feels his desperate situation and voices his concerns to God. God answers. Hallelujah! We get it. But there is a bit of grammatical mystery…
But You, Lord, are a shield around me, My glory, and the One who lifts my head. Psalm 3:3 NASB Shield – You wouldn’t know it from the English, but the Hebrew word translated “shield” evokes something primeval. The root is gānan, “ to defend.” Its derivative is first found in Genesis 2:8. That derivative is, of course, găn,…
Many are saying of my soul, “There is no salvation for him in God.” Selah Psalm 3:2 NASB No salvation – Man on Fire Do you think God will forgive us MOVIE CLIP “You think God will forgive us for what we’ve done?” Rayburn replies, “No.” Such is the life of those who sin. Oh, wait a…
Then Joshua and all Israel [a]pretended to be defeated before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness. Joshua 8:15 NASB Pretended to be defeated – Have you ever watched a movie with dialogue in your native tongue but with subtitles added? You’ll notice immediately that the subtitles often flatten the conversation, reducing the nuances and…
Lord, how my enemies have increased! Many are rising up against me. Psalm 3:1 NASB Have increased – I want to take this out of context. Why? Because there’s something important here that is not related to the physical enemies David faced. There are other kinds of enemies. Most of us don’t live in a war…
