Thought Police (rewind)

You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar.  Psalm 139:2  NASB Thought – God knows it all, right?  He knows every thought you have, every fleeting desire, every inclination, every unvoiced declaration.  We all agree.  God knows us—perhaps better than we know ourselves.  After all, He is the omniscient external…

The Short List

I long for Your salvation, Lord, and Your Law is my delight.  Psalm 119:174  NASB Long – Twice.  The Hebrew tāʾeb is used only twice, here and in verse 40 of this psalm.  The derivative, taʿăbâ, is only used once, in verse 20 of the same psalm. Psalm 119:40 “Behold, I long for Your precepts; . . .” Psalm…

Forced Joy?

Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, for I delight in it.  Psalm 119:35  NASB Make me – What do you suppose would happen if you asked God to make you do something?  If He responded to that request, do you think there is any chance it wouldn’t happen?  Could you resist the ultimate omnipotence…

Prayers of Desire

Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart.  Psalm 37:4  NASB Will give you – What a great promise!  Be greatly pleased with God and you’ll get everything your heart desires, right? Take pleasure in God and you’ll be guaranteed divinely provided health, wealth, and happiness (unless, of course, you desire…

The Hitchhiker’s Guide (17)

“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing?”  Matthew 6:25  NASB Do not be worried – We often read Yeshua’s words in…

What Do You Want?

Now the rabble who were among them had greedy cravings; and the sons of Israel also wept again and said, “Who will give us meat to eat?  Numbers 11:4  NASB Had greedy cravings – It’s unfortunate that English translations convert this Hebrew phrase into modern psychology.  “Greedy cravings” removes the deeper impact of the Hebrew doubled word. …

On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand

Lord, all my desire is before You; and my sighing is not hidden from You.  My heart throbs, my strength fails me; and the light of my eyes, even that has gone from me.  Psalm 38:9-10  NASB My desire – Edward Mote (1797 to 1874) wrote the famous hymn, “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and…