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 – Suppose you are at last confronted by your worst sin. Suddenly it comes to the light. There is no more denial,…
For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Psalm 51:3 NASB I know – There are very few things we know for certain. We don’t know what will happen tomorrow. We don’t know if our relationships will last. We don’t know the weather. We don’t know even the apparently unalterable “laws”…
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Psalm 51:2 NASB Wash – Clean clothes! Not clean body. Let’s be sure we appreciate the difference. Kabas is the Hebrew verb for “to wash, to be washed, to perform the work of the fuller,” that is, to launder clothing in cold water…
Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. Psalm 51:1 NASB Blot out – When a scribe writes a Torah scroll, meticulousness is absolutely required. Not one extra mark or mistake is allowed. Today the sofer stam follows strict guidelines regarding the size…
For the choir director. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Psalm 51:1 [Hebrew Bible numbering – NASB] After – “The quality of cleanliness consists in being free from evil traits as well as from sin. . . Only the man who is entirely…
For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Matthew 7:2 NASB Measure – There is no doubt that Yeshua endorsed the Hebrew biblical concept of measure-for-measure. He used it to express watchfulness with regard to judgment of others and he used…
Yet if in spite of this you do not obey Me, but act with hostility against Me, then I will act with wrathful hostility against you, and I, even I, will punish you seven times for your sins. Leviticus 26:27-28 NASB With hostility – The Hebrew word keri occurs appears seven times in the passages…
A heart at peace gives life to the body. Proverbs 14:30 (J. Sacks) At peace – John and Paul said it all. “Give you all I’ve got for a little peace of mind.” Without this, life fades to oblivion. Without this, it’s not worth continuing. Solomon understood what the boys from Liverpool were looking for….
“They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ but there is no peace.” Jeremiah 6:14 NASB Saying – The first stage in the collapse of a civilization is the intelligentsia of the culture questioning the values and rituals that established the identity of the civilization. In this stage, the intellectuals of…
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. John 14:6 NASB No one – The Greek is oudeis. It could hardly be stronger, or clearer. “Not even one, none, nobody, no one.” Or could it? Jonathan Sacks makes an interesting…
