Do not hide Your face from me on the day of my distress; Incline Your ear to me; On the day when I call answer me quickly. Psalm 102:2 NASB I call – Do you remember the introduction of this psalm? “The afflicted man when he pours out. . .” šāpak. Then there’s the first verse…
He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Job 1:21 NASB Taken away – Acceptance. This is the Job answer to the first stage of catastrophe. God gives. It is a blessing to recognize that God is…
Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Romans 7:24 NASB Wretched – Have you been taught that this verse is a cry for personal salvation? Are you the product of Augustine’s error, claiming that this is Paul’s personal pre-conversion state of mind? Do you employ theological categories when…
He heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3 NASB Brokenhearted – How are you doing today? Things going “fine,” like we always say no matter what’s really happening? Today I am in South Africa (God willing), confronting my own life traumas. A history of a broken heart. And not just mine. There…
To the woman He said, “I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth, in pain you will bring forth children; yet your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” Genesis 3:16 NASB Pain – What a twisted verse! When you read this, doesn’t it make you question the justice of…
There is a Jewish rabbinic legend that everyone is taught Torah in the womb, but the moment the person is born, all God’s instruction is forgotten. It takes the rest of our life to recover what we once knew before birth. It’s a very nice legend. It makes me feel as if I didn’t arrive…
Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.” But you, Lord, are a shield around me, Psalm 3:2-3a NIV Many – “Many are saying.” But who? Whose voices are telling us that God will not deliver us? If I listen very carefully, I know those voices. I have heard them before—many times. It…
Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, “I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage. I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. Then I will take you for My people, and I…
Jabez called upon the God of Israel saying, “Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain.” 1 Chronicles 4:10 ESV Pain – The key Hebrew word encompassing the verbal…
To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Genesis 3:16 ESV Pain – We have examined this verse in some detail in the past (it is also analyzed in my book, Guardian Angel). We pointed out that a small emendation in the syllabication…
