This will probably get me banned, but it needs to be said. The Solution There is a biblical solution to the inhumanity of Hamas—although no one will talk about it and no politician has the fortitude to enact it. But before we actually voice the biblical solution, we must acknowledge some facts that are also…
How long the wicked, O LORD, how long will the wicked exult? Psalm 94:3 Robert Alter How long – It’s the question of every age. It’s the critical question of all theology. It’s the torturing question of every good man and woman. How long? How long will the wicked get away with it? How long…
Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy; I will not endure one who has a haughty look and an arrogant heart. Psalm 101:5 NASB Destroy – This psalm makes an incredible claim. God will totally eliminate those who slander others in secret. It’s hard to miss the audacity of this statement. The Hebrew verb, ṣāmat, used…
I, Wisdom, dwell in shrewdness, and cunning knowledge I find. Fear of the LORD is hating evil. Proverbs 8:12-13a Robert Alter Hating evil – Doing good isn’t quite enough. It matters, of course. Micah makes that clear: “He has told you, mortal one, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and…
Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God. Job 1:22 NASB 1995 Nor did he blame – But the Hebrew isn’t quite what we think of when we read these words in English. We think of “blame” as assigning responsibility or finding fault. So, in our Western theology, if God is…
You renew Your witnesses against me and increase Your anger toward me; Hardship after hardship is with me. Why then did You bring me out of the womb? If only I had died and no eye had seen me! I should have been as though I had not been, brought from womb to tomb. Job 10:17-19 …
You who have shown me many troubles and distresses will revive me again, and will bring me up again from the depths of the earth. Psalm 71:20 NASB Revive – Don’t jump too quickly to those comforting thoughts about revival. Pay attention to the beginning of this verse. Who is the one who showed the poet’s many troubles…
The debased in his eyes is repugnant but to LORD-fearers he accords honor. When he vows to his fellow man, he does not revoke it. Psalm 15:4 Robert Alter Repugnant – The NASB translation offers some synonyms that help us understand the sense of this verse: “A despicable person is despised in his eyes, but…
For we too were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. Titus 3:3 NASB Spending our life – “To behave in a certain way.” That’s the meaning of Paul’s Greek word diagō. It’s about a lifestyle, a constant behavior, a way of conducting oneself. The verb is…
How long, O Lord, shall I cry out, and yet You do not listen? I scream “outrage” to You, and You do not rescue! Habakkuk 1:2 Robert Alter Outrage – Taken directly from the Psalms, the prophet Habakkuk applies David’s words to his circumstances. We might do exactly the same. “How long?” That’s the real…
