Therefore, ridding yourselves of falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, because we are parts of one another. Ephesians 4:25 NASB Ridding yourself of falsehood – Speak the truth! Ah, not always so easy, is it? We don’t typically outright lie. We just modify things a bit to fit the occasion. We don’t want to offend. We don’t…
I hate and loathe falsehood, but I love Your Law. Psalm 119:163 NASB Loathe – As you will recall, we encountered the English translated word “loathe” in verse 158. There we discovered that the Hebrew qûṭ meant “intense disgust, repulsion,” in other words, something that makes you sick to your stomach. Now we have the same English word,…
Therefore I carefully follow all Your precepts concerning everything, I hate every false way. Psalm 119:128 NASB Carefully follow – Step one: recognize that the miṣwōt are designed to ensure the success of society. Step two: do them! Now you know why ʿǎl-·kēn opens each of these last two verses in this section of the acrostic. There’s no…
All Your commandments are faithful; they have persecuted me with a lie; help me! Psalm 119:86 NASB Faithful – It’s unfortunate that this translation pushes us to view the commandments as spiritual. “Faithful” makes it sound as if miṣwâ belong in the realm of religion, where “faith” operates differently than the rest of our “practical” lives. Such would…
May the arrogant be put to shame, because they lead me astray with a lie; But I shall meditate on Your precepts. Psalm 119:78 NASB Lead me astray – How many lies have you believed? How many of your usual assumptions about life are actually based on lies? Those seem to be particularly important questions in the political…
The arrogant [z]have forged a lie against me; with all my heart I will comply with Your precepts. Psalm 119:69 NASB Forged – I’m not sure why the NASB translators decided to use the English verb “forge.” The Hebrew is ṭāpal, “to smear, to plaster over.” It’s only used three times (the other two are in Job 13:4; 14:17). Those…
Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper [a]suitable for him.” Genesis 2:18 NASB Alone – We all die alone. From birth to death we struggle to find connection. Sometimes we succeed. Sometimes we don’t. But the drive is there, only to be extinguished at the…
Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us now fall into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into human hands.” 2 Samuel 24:14 NASB Fall into the hand of the Lord – Are you in great distress? Oh, maybe not now, but have you…
Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago, Titus 1:1-2 NASB Who cannot lie – We hope that God always tells the truth. How else could we…
But they will say, ‘It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’ Jeremiah 18:12 NASB It’s hopeless! – Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg’s book, The Particulars of Rapture: Reflections on Exodus, is a difficult read. Just so we clear up the title, it is not about…
