You have removed lover and friend far from me; my acquaintances are in a hiding place. Psalm 88:18 NASB You have removed – A short excursus into enemy territory followed by an immediate return to the major theme: God is sovereign. This poem describes whatever happens as under God’s control and direction. Therefore, even if “they”…
My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague; and my kinsmen stand far away. Psalm 38:11 NASB Plague – Perhaps the modern world is finally uncomfortably familiar with this word, negaʿ. Translated “plague,” we discover that the root (nāgaʿ) is about touching. The noun, which we have in this verse, isn’t always about…
You have removed lover and friend far from me; my acquaintances are in a hiding place. Psalm 88:18 NASB You have removed – A short excursus into enemy territory followed by an immediate return to the major theme: God is sovereign. This poem describes whatever happens as under God’s control and direction. Therefore, even if…
I did not sit in the gathering of revelers to make merry. Because of Your hand, alone I sat, for with wrath You filled me.Jeremiah 15:17 Robert Alter Alone – Brené Brown convincingly argues that being human means being connected. The greatest punishment a man can feel is isolation: “ . . . the most terrifying…
For it had seized him many times; and he was bound with chains and shackles and kept under guard, and yet he would break his bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert. Luke 8:29 NASB Seized – What if the story of the demoniac isn’t about demon possession? What if it’s about an ancient…
Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” Genesis 3:9 NASB Where – Man was created to be useful. In fact, he was assigned an indispensable role on the earth—to steward it on God’s behalf. “Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it…
“Riposo a casa” said the banner hanging from the balcony on Via Goito in Parma. “I rest at home.” The world on hold. Annoying, disturbing, disruptive, perhaps deadly, we experienced the results of a pandemic of fear. Isolation is not a fundamental human condition. In fact, enforced isolation is a method used in torture. Brené…
Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. Genesis 32:24 NASB Left alone – I just can’t get past Jacob. Maybe it’s because years ago when the financial collapse happened that started this written journey of recovery, I was tempted to think I was kind of like Job. You know, innocent. Not deserving the…
Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. Genesis 32:24 NASB Left alone – Who is the “man” Jacob wrestles? Perhaps we need to listen to another story of psychological isolation. “You are the man!”[1] As I have explained in my book Crossing, Jacob isn’t wrestling with some apparition nor with the supposed pre-incarnate Christ nor with YHVH. Jacob…
When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, You knew my path. In the way where I walk they have hidden a trap for me. Psalm 142:3 NASB Overwhelmed – The biblical idea of a heart attack is slightly different than our medical definition. A heart attack in Hebrew thought is the consciousness of separation from…
