My eyes fail with longing for Your salvation, and for Your righteous word. Psalm 119:123 NASB Longing for – Yesterday we discovered that the psalmist wants a guarantee about life. He asks God to act as his bond, to ensure he will not fall victim to his enemies. It sounds so good to hear that God cares enough to…
Be a guarantor for Your servant for good; Do not let the arrogant oppress me. Psalm 119:122 NASB Guarantor – Who guarantees your life? Does that sound like an odd question? It probably should. We don’t think about guarantying life. We think about guarantying death. That’s what life insurance really is. It’s a guarantee that someone will…
I have done justice and righteousness; do not leave me to my oppressors. Psalm 119:121 NASB Ayin 121 I have done justice and righteousness; Do not leave me to my oppressors. עָשִׂיתִי מִשְׁפָּ֣ט וָצֶ֑דֶק בַּל־תַּ֜נִּיחֵ֗נִי לְעֹֽשְׁקָֽי 122 Be a guarantor for Your servant for good; Do not let the arrogant oppress me. עֲרֹ֣ב עַבְדְּךָ֣ לְט֑וֹב אַל־יַֽעַשְׁקֻ֥נִי זֵדִֽים 123 My eyes…
My flesh trembles from the fear of You, and I am afraid of Your judgments. Psalm 119:120 NASB I am afraid – Something is wrong here. If we follow the NASB, we think that in his current condition the psalmist is terrified of God’s judgments. That’s what the present tense of these two verbs sāmar (to tremble)…
You have removed all the wicked of the earth like impurities; therefore I love Your testimonies. Psalm 119:119 NASB All the wicked – Well, I certainly wish this were true. Perhaps some day it will be, but right now this statement seems as fictitious as you could imagine. I can’t think of any period in any culture in human…
You have rejected all those who stray from Your statutes, for their deceitfulness is useless. Psalm 119:118 NASB Rejected – This is a verse we might want to erase, especially after a few centuries in the evangelical world. Is it true that God has rejected all those who do not follow His ḥōq? Remember what ḥōq means? …
Sustain me so that I may be safe, that I may have regard for Your statutes continually. Psalm 119:117 NASB May be safe – If you read the Hebrew text, you’d recognize this verb immediately, not as “may be safe” but rather as “be saved.” It is the verb yāšaʿ from which we derive the name Yeshua. …
Sustain me according to Your word, that I may live; and do not let me be ashamed of my hope. Psalm 119:116 NASB Do not let me be ashamed – One of the most terrifying words of the Tanakh is bôš. It means “be ashamed, put to shame, disconcerted, disappointed.” In the ancient world, shame was not an…
Leave me, you evildoers, so that I may comply with the commandments of my God. Psalm 119:115 NASB Leave me – soor. Leave, go away, depart. Yes, but also “to turn off (lit. or fig.):—be [-head], bring, call back, decline, depart, eschew, get [you], go (aside), × grievous, lay away (by), leave undone, be past, pluck…
You are my protection and my shield; I hoped for Your word. Psalm 119:114 Chabad Protection – Interpretive translation. That’s when the translator decides that the reader isn’t smart enough to understand the text as it is written and so he interprets the text by changing the translation so that it actually becomes the meaning…
