Blessed are those who comply with His [b]testimonies, And seek Him with all their heart. Psalm 119:2 NASB With all – It’s the last bit that counts. bechol-lev yidreshoohoo—“with all their heart.” “All their heart” is interesting in itself because we would expect the plural “with all their hearts” but we get the singular bechol-lev. It’s a common heart, that is,…
Blessed are those whose way is [a]blameless, who walk in the Law of the Lord. Psalm 119:1 NASB Blameless – The Hebraic world knows no systematic theology. That’s a Greek invention. What it knows is the lived reality of God’s interaction in the everyday world of men and women. The Hebraic world doesn’t have creeds or hard-and-fast doctrines…
Happy who seizes and smashes your infants against the rock. Psalm 137:9 Alter Happy – It’s difficult to believe God in the midst of great trauma. If God is good, if He cares about us, then why do we suffer so much? It doesn’t feel like a test. It feels like abandonment, or divine failure. …
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:3 NASB Blessed are – Perhaps you’ve read my book, The Lucky Life. If you haven’t, I forgive you. But you should. Because you will discover that Yeshua didn’t teach these lessons in Greek. Yes, of course, they have been transmitted to us in Greek, but…
Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, but happy is he who keeps the law. Proverbs 29:18 NASB Unrestrained – “Why can’t you just leave me alone?” Of course, that doesn’t mean I want no one around (well, sometimes I really don’t want to have anyone around). What I mean is that I…
Happy those who keep justice, who do righteousness at all times. Psalm 106:3 (Robert Alter translation) At all times – “If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands. If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands. If you’re happy and you know it then your life will surely show it.” So…
