Make me understand the way of Your precepts, and I will meditate on Your wonders. Psalm 119:27 NASB Make me – Not many of us would willingly ask God to do what the psalmist asks. He uses the Hebrew bîn which means“understand, consider, perceive, prudent, regard.”[1] That seems pretty tame. The verb and its derivatives are…
When you live in places that have winter 8 or 9 months a year, flowers in the summer are important. Here’s a few I found in the Baltics.
I have told of my ways, and You have answered me; teach me Your statutes. Psalm 119:26 NASB My ways – God’s history isn’t the only history. You have one too. A personal, very private, history of your ways. All of them. Most of which you probably wouldn’t want to share in public. But that…
For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter shall pass from the Law, until all is accomplished! Matthew 5:18 NASB Pass away – When God created, what did He create? Oh, I don’t want you to give me a list of all the…
My soul clings to the dust; revive me according to Your word. Psalm 119:25 NASB Clings – Before we start the next “chapter” of this poem, let’s take a quick look at the letter Daleth. Here’s the text of this section: דָּֽבְקָ֣ה לֶֽעָפָ֣ר נַפְשִׁ֑י חַ֜יֵּ֗נִי כִּדְבָרֶֽךָ דְּרָכַ֣י סִ֖פַּרְתִּי וַֽ֜תַּֽעֲנֵ֗נִי לַמְּדֵ֥נִי חֻקֶּֽיךָ דֶּֽרֶךְ־פִּקּוּדֶ֥יךָ הֲבִינֵ֑נִי וְ֜אָשִׂ֗יחָה בְּנִפְלְאוֹתֶֽיךָ דָּֽלְפָ֣ה נַ֖פְשִׁי…
Your testimonies also are my delight; they are my advisers. Psalm 119:24 NASB Advisors – How much would you pay for really good advice? I suppose the answer depends on the seriousness of the problem. So, suppose the problem is a life or death issue. What’s that worth? Those are the stakes in this verse. The…
Even though rulers sit and speak against me, your servant meditates on Your statutes. Psalm 119:23 NASB Against – You will translate this tiny preposition according to the way you read the previous verse. Why? Because bĕhas a very wide range of meanings and context is often the only way to tell which English word to use. Harris notes:…
Take disgrace and contempt away from me, for I comply with Your testimonies. Psalm 119:22 NASB Disgrace and contempt – How do you read this? Is the poet asking God to remove something that is happening to him, or is he asking God to removing something that he too often does? What is his situation? Are…
You rebuke the arrogant, the cursed, who wander from Your commandment. Psalm 119:21 NASB Arrogant – We have a contemporary proverb, based on an ancient one (Proverbs 16:18-19). It goes something like this: pride comes before a fall. If we wanted to say it in Hebrew, we’d most likely use the word zēd. Here it is plural encompassing…
My soul is crushed with longing for Your ordinances at all times. Psalm 119:20 NASB Crushed – Put in the place of emphasis, gāraš is first in the sentence. Of course, that also continues the acrostic, but here we have a word used only once (maybe twice) in the Tanakh. It’s a good thing a derivative…
