I was mute—in silence. I kept still, deprived of good, and my pain was grievous. Psalm 39:2 (Robert Alter translation) Mute – You’re pummeled by the world. Your friends insult you. You are misunderstood. What do you do? Keep quiet, of course! No one likes a complainer! Don’t you know that it’s not nice to…
Then Abigail quickly arose, and rode on a donkey, with her five maidens who attended her; and she followed the messengers of David and became his wife. David had also taken Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they both became his wives. 1 Samuel 25:42-43 NASB Wife – Number 2 and Number 3. Of course, we all know…
Then Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab; I will give her to you as a wife, only be a valiant man for me and fight the Lord’s battles.” For Saul thought, “My hand shall not be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.” But David said…
It happened as they were coming, when David returned from killing the Philistine, that the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy and with musical instruments. The women sang as they played, and said, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his…
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy; six days you shall labor and do all your work; and the seventh day is a sabbath to YHVH your God; you shall not do any work, . . . Exodus 20:8-10 J. Green translation Work – Work/worship/serve is the combination of meanings associated with the…
Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; and she refused to be comforted, because they were no more.” Matthew 2:17-18 NASB Was fulfilled – It should be obvious. Herod’s brutal slaughtering of the infants in Bethlehem…
“Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood.” Acts 15:19-20 NASB Contaminated – What’s in your refrigerator? That…
But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks also preaching the Lord Jesus and the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord. Acts 11:20-21 NASB Greeks – Perhaps we should petition the…
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, Jude 24 NASB Keep you from stumbling – Sometimes it just feels like we can’t keep going. The weight of living in Babylon, the rejection of those we thought…
Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. Genesis 32:24 NASB A man – Perhaps you’ve read Crossing.[1] If you haven’t, then you should. It’s a book about Jacob’s struggle for self-identity, and, of course, it’s in Scripture because it isn’t just about Jacob. It’s about Abraham, Isaac, Jacob—and you…
