Wash me thoroughly from my guilt and cleanse me from my sin. Psalm 51:2 NASB Guilt/ sin – “This time I will praise the Lord.” So said Leah (Genesis 29:35) on the birth of Judah. But “praise” isn’t the only derivative of this Hebrew word, yādâ. It can also mean “confess, give thanks.” It is the…
Therefore, since we also have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let’s rid ourselves of every obstacle and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let’s run with endurance the race that is set before us, Hebrews 12:1 NASB So easily entangles – I’ve always struggled with this verse. There are a few reasons (and…
I erased your transgressions like a thick cloud, and like a cloud have I erased your sins; return to Me for I have redeemed you. Isaiah 44:22 Chabad Erased – māḥâ. God’s solution to our transgressions. As you recall, David asked for his guilt and his misdeeds to be washed away. God has another word…
Wash me thoroughly from my guilt and cleanse me from my sin. Psalm 51:2 NASB Guilt/ sin – Jonathan Sacks makes a very important point about guilt. Do you remember? “. . . Judaism is overwhelmingly a guilt rather than a shame culture. Shame attaches to the person. Guilt attaches to the act. . . In…
Wash me thoroughly from my guilt and cleanse me from my sin. Psalm 51:2 NASB Wash/ cleanse – David employs two verbs in this verse. They don’t mean the same thing. The first, translated “wash,” is kābaš. “This root occurs fifty-one times, all in verbal forms. Of these, all but nine appear in the Pentateuch, thirty-one…
Against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified when You speak and blameless when You judge. Psalm 51:4 NASB You only – When we read this verse, we are often offended. We think to ourselves, “Wait a minute! David’s saying that the only one he offended…
Be gracious to me, God, according to Your faithfulness; according to the greatness of Your compassion, wipe out my wrongdoings. Psalm 51:1 NASB Wipe out – Do you know the pseudepigraphical “Prayer of Manasseh”? Perhaps you should. Here it is: O Lord Almighty, God of our ancestors, of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and of their righteous…
Then Joshua built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the sons of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, . . Joshua 8:30-31 NASB Then – The Torah is not a chronological account of Israel’s exploits. In…
Listen to the word of the Lord, you sons of Israel, because the Lord has a case against the inhabitants of the land, for there is no faithfulness, nor loyalty, nor knowledge of God in the land. There is oath-taking, denial, murder, stealing, and adultery. They employ violence, so that bloodshed follows bloodshed. Hosea 4:1-2 NASB Employ violence – Are you addicted? Ah, then you need to…
“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it?” Job 38:4-5 NIV Surely you know! – That’s the rub, isn’t it? Here we are recognizing in good pagan fashion the endless repetition of the universe. Once more…
