“For His lovingkindness is great toward us, and the truth of the LORD is everlasting. Praise the LORD!” Psalm 117:2 Beginning and End Praise the LORD – Psalm 117 opens with a command to praise. Halelu. It ends with the same resounding note. A single word. Haleluyah. By adding the syllable “yah” the word adds…
“Praise the LORD, all nations; laud Him, all peoples.” Psalm 117:1 Worshipping in Silence Laud – David chooses not to repeat the word halal in this second phrase. Like a great Hebrew poet, he chooses to modify or amplify the meaning of the first phrase with an extension in the second phrase. We are to…
“Praise the LORD, all nations; laud Him, all peoples.” Psalm 117:1 Words That Matter Most Praise – In the shortest Psalm (only two verses), David gives us the greatest command: everyone, everywhere is to praise God. When life is boiled down to its absolutely essential ingredient, one thing remains: praise. Without praise, life is empty…
“Forever, O LORD, your word is settled in heaven.” Psalm 119:89 The Context of Time Forever – We are a mathematically derived temporal society. We mark the passage of time by the use of mathematically precise divisions. We view our world, in fact, our universe through the lens of the clock so much so that…
“May my heart be blameless in Your statutes, so that I will not be ashamed.” Psalm 119:80 Life Without Shame Blameless – Shame destroys. It is far more crippling than guilt. If I am guilty, I can repay. If I am guilty, I can repent. If I am guilty, I can recover. But shame is…
“Listen, O heavens, and hear, O earth; for the LORD speaks” Isaiah 1:2 Giving An Ear to God Hear – When Isaiah uttered this phrase, “Hear O earth”, he used the Hebrew verb ‘azan. For the people who listened, the allusion would have been obvious. It’s the same phrase found at the beginning of the…
“Listen, O heavens, and hear, O earth; for the LORD speaks” Isaiah 1:2 The Ears of the Universe Listen – English fails us. We need to read more than just “listen”. We are to hear the sound of the voice of God echoing through the ages, right back to the beginning of creation. “Hear, O…
“But you have not obeyed Me; what is this that you have done?” Judges 2:2 Listen Obeyed – You wouldn’t know the awesome implication of this word unless you read it in Hebrew. It is shama, the verb that means, “to listen”. While it certainly includes the idea of obedience, it is the powerful history…
“But you have not obeyed Me; what is this that you have done?” Judges 2:2 Just a Little Change Obeyed – Victory, victory, victory. When the book of Judges opens, Israel’s army seems unstoppable. But something accompanies the triumph that sets the stage for terrible consequences. The Angel of the Lord appears before Israel and…
“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness” 2 Timothy 3:16 God’s School Training – The root behind this word is paideuo, a word that means “instruction and spiritual education of a child”. Of course, since we are all God’s children, the word applies to…
