I shall delight in Your statutes; I shall not forget Your word. Psalm 119:16 NASB Delight – Moses Luzzatto published Mesillat Yesharim in 1740. His insights into the relationship between righteous acts, joy and obligation are just as important today as they were two hundred and fifty years ago. Luzzatto argued that human beings are…
Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. Genesis 26:5 KJV Kept – Why does God watch over you? Why are you so lucky in life? Why does He keep protecting and providing for you? Do you suppose that you are the recipient of a generational…
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. I John 5:3 NASB Love of God – Whom do you love? Visualize that person sitting in front of you. His or her presence makes your heart feel a bit lighter. You have a smile on your…
For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 2 Timothy 3:2 NASB Unholy – Describe the unholy person. Write down his character traits (or flaws). What you will end up with is a list of culturally conditioned spiritual and behavioral attributes. And you won’t come…
“For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’ Nor is it beyond the…
And showing mercy to thousands of those who love me, and keep my commandments. Exodus 20:6 Jewish World translation Love Me, and keep – Back to the pictographs. Here is the phrase “of those who love Me” in pictographic Hebrew. Once again the word begins with the preposition le signifying “control” or “authority.” It…
All the paths of the Lord are lovingkindness and truth to those who keep His covenant and His testimonies. Psalm 25:10 NASB Lovingkindness – By now you certainly know the difficulties of translating hesed. And you certainly know just how important this word is. Hesed is the single most important expression of the character of YHWH. …
Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. James 4:4 (almost NASB) Friend of the world – Who is a philos tou kosmou (friend of the world)? This is a vitally important question, perhaps equal to the scribe’s inquiry, “Who is my neighbor?” If we have the…
I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage. Exodus 20:2 JPS I am – Before we can look into this verse and this word (anoki), we have to step backward, to the first verse in the twentieth chapter. Why? Because there is something unusual…
For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome. 1 John 5:3 NASB Not Burdensome – Rules are heavy. Regulations weigh us down. So when John says that God’s commandments are not burdensome, we should be reminded of two other men who say that same thing. …
