Take Two Aspirin

For I am ready to fall, and my sorrow is continually before me.  For I admit my guilt; I am full of anxiety because of my sin.  Psalm 38:17-18  NASB Sorrow – What is “continually before” the psalmist?  If we thought he is experiencing “deep distress caused by loss, disappointment, or misfortune,” we would convert this ancient Hebrew into modern…

Time Enough

Well, two things for you to contemplate. First, this photo from Cittadella.  The time of Fall colors.  Time makes it all happen. And second, this link CLICK HERE to perhaps the most important thing I’ve ever heard from Heschel.

Low Hanging Fruit

For I am ready to fall, and my sorrow is continually before me.  For I admit my guilt; I am full of anxiety because of my sin.  Psalm 38:17-18  NASB Ready to fall – These two verses are so full of deeper meanings that it’s impossible to feel the full impact in a one-page analysis.  Let’s explore these Hebrew words,…

What Do You Want?

Now the rabble who were among them had greedy cravings; and the sons of Israel also wept again and said, “Who will give us meat to eat?  Numbers 11:4  NASB Had greedy cravings – It’s unfortunate that English translations convert this Hebrew phrase into modern psychology.  “Greedy cravings” removes the deeper impact of the Hebrew doubled word. …

Liberation

Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter, the one that remains faithful. Isaiah 26:2  NASB Remains faithful – What is the character of a people (a nation) that remains faithful?  Isaiah’s word choice here (employing the verb šāmar and the derived adjective from ʾāman) tells us that this people, this gôy (nation), is a people…

Unintentional

then it shall be, when he sins and becomes guilty, that he shall restore what he took by robbery or acquired by extortion, or the deposit which was entrusted to him, or the lost property which he found,  Leviticus 6:4  NASB Becomes guilty – It is often claimed that Leviticus deals only with unintentional sin.  Verses…

A Matter of Conscience

then it shall be, when he sins and becomes guilty, that he shall restore what he took by robbery or acquired by extortion, or the deposit which was entrusted to him, or the lost property which he found,  Leviticus 6:4  NASB Becomes guilty – When are you guilty?  As soon as you commit a sin?  As…

Missing “Faithful Words”

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures throughout all generations.  [b]The Lord is faithful in His words, and holy in all His works.  Psalm 145:13  NASB [b] – Did you notice the footnote in this verse?  Ah, maybe your Bible doesn’t have such a footnote.  Maybe your Bible translates verse 13 like this: Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,…

Stand and Deliver

Yes, I am like a person who does not hear, and in whose mouth are no arguments. For I wait for You, Lord; You will answer, Lord my God.  Psalm 38:14-15  NASB No arguments – Maybe the psalmist read Job.  Maybe we should before we try to understand this poem.  The word he uses is tôkaḥot, “reproofs, arguments.” …

Quarantine

My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague; and my kinsmen stand far away.  Psalm 38:11  NASB Plague – Perhaps the modern world is finally uncomfortably familiar with this word, negaʿ.  Translated “plague,” we discover that the root (nāgaʿ) is about touching.  The noun, which we have in this verse, isn’t always about…