The Only True Response

Blessed are You, Lord; teach me Your statutes.  Psalm 119:12  NASB Blessed – Hebrew uses two words translated “blessed.”  The one that applies to us, the one used in verses like Psalm 1:1, is ʾāšār.  The second word, bārûk, is found in this verse.  The difference between the two isn’t obvious in English, but it’s quite…

Toil and Tears

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…

The Un-Beatitude

“Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”  Matthew 25:34  NASB Blessed – If you turn to the Beatitudes in Matthew 5, you will find that each one begins with the Greek word makarioi.  This word should not be translated “blessed are” since…