“ If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had not been for me, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God has seen my affliction and the toil of my hands, so He rendered judgment last night.” Genesis 31:42 NASB Fear – We are a fragile audience. At least that’s…
As for me, I said in my alarm, “I am cut off from before Your eyes”; nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications when I cried to You. Psalm 31:22 NASB My alarm– So scared you can’t move. Petrified by fear. Traumatized. Ah, when did that happen to you? Maybe it was so bad that you really…
And You have not given me over into the hand of the enemy; You have set my feet in a large place. Psalm 31:8 NASB Not given me over– What does it mean to fall into the hands of the enemy? Pay attention to David’s parallelism and you will understand just how much Hebrew is a language…
“O LORD, rebuke me not in Your wrath, and chasten me not in Your burning anger.” Psalm 38:1 NASB O LORD – The Hebrew text does not use the word “Lord.” It uses the personal name of God, a name that is never spoken among the Jews today. Worshippers were careful to substitute the word “Lord” whenever…
Say to God, “How awesome are Your works! Because of the greatness of Your power Your enemies will give feigned obedience to You.” Psalm 66:3 NASB Feigned obedience – Why do you obey the laws of the land? Specifically, why do you pay taxes? Why obey speed limits (sometimes)? Why don’t you steal from the grocery…
When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. Psalm 56:3 NASB Afraid – We know this Hebrew word. yārēʾ, “to fear, be afraid, revere.” Yes, it’s the same word used in the verse about the “fear of the Lord.” But yārēʾ has five different nuances, and one of them is simply the psychological experience…
For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7 NASB Timidity – “If I am to tell you who I really am, I must tell you about my feelings, whether I will act upon them or not.”[1] If this is true for human beings, don’t you…
Praise the LORD! How blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in His commandments. Psalm 112:1 NASB Blessed – Congratulations! You who follow God’s instructions are blessed. Of course, that doesn’t mean you have all the measures of success in this world. The psalmist might go on to say that those…
“Indeed, you do away with reverence and hinder meditation before God.” Job 15:4 NASB Reverence – Eliphaz (whose name means “God of gold”) offers some silver-tongued advice to Job. In a word, “Stop!” “Stop asking questions!” “Stop presuming your should know any of this!” “Stop showing disrespect to God!” In other words, “Shut up and remember…
The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” Matthew 8:27 NASB What kind of man – We are not equipped to encounter real holy men. Peter once exclaimed how wonderful it was to see his Messiah in the presence of the…
