For You are my hope; O Lord GOD, You are my confidence from my youth. Psalm 71:5 NASB 1995 Hope – How can we hope? Does that seem like a strange question? Maybe not in a world that seems to be falling apart. Yes, we could espouse the theological assertion that “God is our hope,”…
The eyes of the Lord are in every place, watching the evil and the good. Proverbs 15:3 NASB Eyes of the Lord – Is God everywhere? Does He “see” everything? Answers to these questions are straightforward for most believers. The doctrine has the official title “Omnipresence.” It simply means that God is present in all His creation. There…
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Deuteronomy 6:5 NASB You shall love – Love God—or else! Is that what it sounds like? Is that how it makes you feel? How can you be forced to love someone? You can’t! Impossible! So, if that’s what…
How blessed is the man who fears always, but he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity. Proverbs 28:14 NASB Fear always – How can a man be blessed if he is always afraid? This just doesn’t seem to make any sense. If perfect love casts out fear, and we are exhorted to enter…
The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Genesis 2:23 NASB Shall be called – When did you become self-aware? Before you try to think back to your infancy, let’s ask the question a different way….
How blessed is the man who fears always, but he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity. Proverbs 28:14 NASB Fear always – How can a man be blessed if he is always afraid? This just doesn’t seem to make any sense. If perfect love casts out fear, and we are exhorted to enter…
The Way of God – Moshe Chaim Luzzatto I consider Luzzatto’s book, Mesillat Yesharim, a critically important work in the explication of the power of the yetzer ha’ra and the obligation each of us has toward others. The book elaborates a step-by-step evaluation of the “fearless moral inventory” needed to combat the subtleties of the…
I shall delight in Your statutes; I shall not forget Your word. Psalm 119:16 NASB Delight – Moses Luzzatto published Mesillat Yesharim in 1740. His insights into the relationship between righteous acts, joy and obligation are just as important today as they were two hundred and fifty years ago. Luzzatto argued that human beings are…
“As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you…
How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! Psalm 32:1 NASB Forgiven – Martin Luther broke ranks with the Roman Catholic Church over the practice of selling indulgences; the offer of providing forgiveness for sinful actions to be committed in the future for a monetary payment now. Actually, it was a…
