Just Give Me Money

The Law of Your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces. Psalm 119:72  NASB Is better – We missed it!  If you read this verse in Hebrew you would immediately notice that the same word we found in the previous verse (ṭôb- lî, “good for me”) is the opening word in this…

A = B

You are good and You do good; teach me Your statutes. Psalm 119:68  NASB Are/ do – In order to see what’s happening in this verse, we need to look at the Hebrew. טוֹב אַתָּ֥ה וּמֵטִ֗יב לַמְּדֵ֥נִי חֻקֶּֽיךָ Let’s transliterate and follow the Hebrew syntax:  “Good You and doing (causing) good; teach me statutes Yours.” You will…

Teth – Keep Your Eyes Open

You have treated Your servant well, Lord, according to Your word.  Psalm 119:65  NASB טוֹב עָשִׂ֣יתָ עִם־עַבְדְּךָ֑ יְ֜הֹוָ֗ה כִּדְבָרֶֽךָ ט֚וּב טַ֣עַם וָדַ֣עַת לַמְּדֵ֑נִי כִּ֖י בְמִצְו‍ֹתֶ֣יךָ הֶֽאֱמָֽנְתִּי טֶ֣רֶם אֶֽ֖עֱנֶה אֲנִ֣י שֹׁגֵ֑ג וְ֜עַתָּ֗ה אִמְרָֽתְךָ֥ שָׁמָֽרְתִּי טוֹב אַתָּ֥ה וּמֵטִ֗יב לַמְּדֵ֥נִי חֻקֶּֽיךָ טָֽפְל֚וּ עָלַ֣י שֶׁ֣קֶר זֵדִ֑ים אֲ֜נִ֗י בְּכָל־לֵ֚ב | אֶצֹּ֬ר פִּקּוּדֶֽיךָ טָפַ֣שׁ כַּחֵ֣לֶב לִבָּ֑ם אֲ֜נִ֗י תּוֹרָֽתְךָ֥ שִֽׁעֲשָֽׁעְתִּי טֽוֹב־לִ֥י כִֽי־עֻנֵּ֑יתִי…

Divinely Ordained

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.  Romans 8:28  NASB Causes – Oswald Chambers wrote, “The circumstances of a saint’s life are ordained of God.  In the life of a saint there is no such thing as chance.”[1]  The…

Emphatic Duplication

For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly practice justice between a person and his neighbor, if you do not oppress the stranger, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor follow other gods to your own ruin, then I will let you live in this place, in the land that I…

The Fall

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!  Isaiah 5:20  NASB Evil good – The history of Mankind, as the rabbis note, is a nightmare.  Empire after empire followed the path falsely attributed to Alexander Tytler:…

Common Humanity

They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.  Psalm 14:3 NASB Not even one – Psalm 14:3.  The corruption of men.  If you thought that things changed after the Messiah, well, you’d be wrong.  In Paul’s last letter he cites the same Davidic idea.  “as it…

The Uncreation

God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Genesis 1:31  NASB All that He had made – Gutenberg destroyed the Bible.  Oh, yes, he printed it in German, but in the process he forever changed that way we understand the…

The Relative Right

Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.  James 4:17  NASB Right thing – What is the right thing to do?  Ah, doesn’t that depend entirely on your particular view, your culture, your environment?  Is there such a thing as universal “right,” an ethical demand…

Sinfully Correct

“For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”  Genesis 3:5  NASB Knowing good and evil – Read the text again. What does the serpent claim will happen?  Sometimes we think that the serpent offers eternal life (“You will be like God”), but that…