“Give heed to my cry, for I am brought very low; deliver me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me.” Psalm 142:6 NASB Persecutors – “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness.” That familiar phrase found in the teaching of Yeshua in Matthew, chapter five, should have…
I cried out to You, O Lord; I said, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.” Psalm 142:5 NASB The land of the living – We bandy about the biblical phrase, “land of the living,” as if it were quite familiar. Perhaps the words are, but I wonder if we…
Look to the right and see; for there is no one who regards me; there is no escape for me; no one cares for my soul. Psalm 142:4 NASB Regards – The Hebrew verb, nakar, has some very unusual derivatives. At least they appear unusual to our Western thinking. Let me explain. Nakar means “to…
When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, You knew my path. In the way where I walk they have hidden a trap for me. Psalm 142:3 NASB Overwhelmed – The biblical idea of a heart attack is slightly different than our medical definition. A heart attack in Hebrew thought is the consciousness of separation from…
I pour out my complaint before Him; I declare my trouble before Him. Psalm 142:2 NASB Complaint – An unfortunate translation. “Complaint” makes it seem that David is whining before God, voicing his grievance. We all do this, so maybe a translation of shiah as “complaint” simply demonstrates our experience. But I suspect David is…
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 6:1 NASB No reward – The biblical idea of reward went through some development from Moses to Yeshua. Some of its development incorporated ideas from sources outside the Bible. But…
I cry aloud with my voice to the Lord; I make supplication with my voice to the Lord. Psalm 142:1 NASB Cry Aloud – Men don’t cry. Crying in a sign of weakness and men must be strong, powerful, in control. A man who cries is clearly not a real man. He is effeminate, a…
“Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “I remember concerning you the devotion of your youth, the love of your betrothals, your following after Me in the wilderness, through a land not sown.’’” Jeremiah 2:2 NASB I remember – I have been reading the devotional by Oswald Chambers for many decades….
Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— Genesis 3:22 NASB Tree of Life – We’ve investigated this verse in the past.[1] Perhaps it’s…
“but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” Genesis 2:17 NASB The knowledge of good and evil – Only one poisonous plant. Just one in a Garden full of feasting. But it all comes down…
