Be gracious to me, O YHWH, for I am in distress; my eye is wasted away from grief, my soul and my body also. Psalm 31:9 Be Gracious – What does it mean to be gracious? If we approach this word from a Christian evangelical perspective, we are likely to think in terms of grace. …
I will rejoice and be glad in Your lovingkindness, because You have seen my affliction; You have known the troubles of my soul Psalm 31:7 NASB Known – Omniscience. Oh, it’s a great doctrine. God knows everything that can be known. It’s a significant statement about the scope of His observation and understanding. But it’s…
“Thy Kingdom come,” Matthew 6:10 Come – There is little doubt that the Greek text of Matthew reads eltheto. Literally, the verse is “Let come the kingdom of You.” Eltheto is an active imperative. That means it is a command – a call to action – not simply an observation. There are plenty of commentaries…
“even these prophets of the deception of their own heart, who intend to make My people forget My name by their dreams which they relate to one another,. . .” Jeremiah 23:26-27 Intend – The Hebrew verb hashav covers a lot more than intentions. It means “to devise, to invent, to consider and to reckon.” …
“Then if they will really learn the ways of My people, to swear by My name, ‘As the LORD lives,’ even as they taught My people to swear by Baal, they will be built up in the midst of My people.” Jeremiah 12:16 NASB As The LORD Lives – OK, you’ve read the verse in…
“Our Father in heaven” Matthew 6:9 Our Father – If you spend any time with Christian commentaries on the Lord’s Prayer, you will soon discover the common assertion that this prayer is unusual because Jews did not address God as “our Father.” This idea seems to come from the work of a Christian German theologian…
And it happened as the sun was setting and a deep sleep fell on Abram, and behold, a terror of great darkness falling on him Genesis 15:12 Deep Sleep – One of the principles of Hebraic interpretation is connecting thoughts based on similar words. When a word appears only a few times in Scripture, the…
Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, YHWH God of truth. Psalm 31:6 (Hebrew text) Redeemed – Jesus cries out from the cross, “Into Your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46). There wasn’t a single Jew in the audience who didn’t recognize the words of David in that cry. But…
For You are my rock and my fortress, therefore for Your name’s sake lead me, guide me. Psalm 31:4 (Hebrew text) Lead me, Guide me – It is unfortunate that our efforts to produce a smooth-flowing English translation often result in hiding subtleties in the Hebrew. It’s unfortunate because those subtleties help us understand the…
Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” 1 Corinthians 15:33 Corrupts – I won’t deny it. Why would Paul even mention this? Isn’t it obvious? If I hang around with the wrong crowd, I am more than likely to start acting like them. Everyone knows this, right? Well, not exactly. You see, I…
