On this last day to the Gregorian calendar, it’s good to reflect on what has happened since the beginning of this year. First, I want to tell you about the amazing success story of Children Under the Bridge. This year we have grown from the original 35 children to about 200. We started skills training…
“Turn Your gaze away from me, that I may smile again before I depart and am no more.” Psalm 39:13 NASB Away from– The end of David’s autobiographical, public revelation is just as counter-intuitive as the beginning. Having reached the point of a desperate cry for mercy, and an identification with YHVH estranged from creation, we expect David to…
African couple
“Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; do not be silent at my tears; for I am a stranger with You, a sojourner like all my fathers.” Psalm 39:12 NASB Stranger with You– David’s short autobiography is coming to an end. It is coming to the only end possible: a cry for mercy. “Hear my…
“There is nothing so whole as a broken heart.” Rabbi Mendel of Kotsk
“With reproofs You chasten a man for iniquity; You consume as a moth what is precious to him; surely every man is a mere breath.” Selah. Psalm 39:11 NASB Precious– By now we should have noticed that David’s vocabulary pushes us back into the history of Israel. From allusions to Moses, we returned to Egypt. From Egypt we made our…
“With reproofs You chasten a man for iniquity; You consume as a moth what is precious to him; surely every man is a mere breath.” Selah. Psalm 39:11 NASB Reproofs– The apostolic letters don’t stray far from roots in the Tanakh. We should not be surprised. The letters are commentary on the Bible of the apostles, the Tanakh. So…
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“Remove Your plague from me; because of the opposition of Your hand I am perishing.” Psalm 39:10 NASB Am perishing– There’s a lot of important vocabulary here. There are also a lot of “connect-the-dots” clues. Let’s start with “remove.” The verb is sur, here in the imperative, ha-ser. In other words, David doesn’t ask. He demands. “YHVH,…
