I will keep Your statutes; do not utterly abandon me! Psalm 119:8 NASB Utterly abandon – The Hebrew text isn’t exactly like this English translation. The syntax in Hebrew is “not forsake me even with power.” “Utterly abandon” might capture the emotion but what’s interesting is the implication that God would deliberately, and with strength, leave…
And I on My part gave them statutes that were not good and law through which they could not live. And I defiled them with their gifts when they passed every womb-breach in sacrifice, so that I might desolate them, so they might know that I am the LORD. Ezekiel 20:25-26 Robert Alter Not good…
You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. James 4:2 NASB You do not ask – You might treat this verse rather lightly because of the way it begins. After all, you aren’t…
After the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing. 1 Kings 19:12 NASB Not – Where is YHVH? Perhaps the better question is: Where is YHVH when everything seems like it is falling apart? We know where He is when things…
the one who does not love does not know God for God is love 1 John 4:8 NASB Not – This is a harsh verse. It may not seem harsh because we are likely to modify its meaning to accommodate our own failures. We want to feel better about our efforts to meet its demands,…
the one who does not love does not know God for God is love 1 John 4:8 NASB Not – This is a harsh verse. It may not seem harsh because we are likely to modify its meaning. We want to feel better about our efforts to meet its demands, so we lessen the impact…
“Fear not for you will not be put to shame; neither feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced; but you will forget the shame of your youth, . .” Isaiah 54:4 NASB Neither feel humiliated – The translation of ve-al-tikalmi as “neither feel humiliated” shifts the paradigm from a Hebrew point of view to…
Do not labor for the food which perishes but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give to you; for God the father sealed this one. John 6:27 Do Not Labor – The daily devotional of Oswald Chambers for July 27 is profound. One of the sentences reads,…
