One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” Luke 11:1 NIV Teach – Do you know how to pray? Do you know the purpose of prayer? Do you understand the importance of prayer? Great, you’re…
Regarding completion. Among hymns. Of understanding. Pertaining to David. Psalm 54:1 LXX Of understanding – Now that we’ve had a few days to investigate the differences between the Greek LXX and the MT, we need to back up. You see, in the LXX, as in the Hebrew Bible, the first verse of a psalm is…
“Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord, Isaiah 1:18a NKJV Reason – Just to be clear, the verse from Isaiah is not an invitation to enter into cognitive cooperation with God. The Hebrew verb is yākaḥ, and a better translation might be “let us debate,” or “let us argue (as in a court of…
Yet I have been the Lord your God since the land of Egypt; and you were not to know any god except Me, for there is no savior besides Me. Hosea 13:4 NASB Any god except Me – Martin Buber comments on passages like this one in Hosea: “Only by acknowledging YHVH as One, Whom they are willing to follow in…
For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly practice justice between a person and his neighbor, if you do not oppress the stranger, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor follow other gods to your own ruin, then I will let you live in this place, in the land that I…
but they mingled with the nations and learned their practices, Psalm 106:35 NASB Learned – In this verse, David described Israel in the 10th Century BC. He might as well have penned this line 3000 years later. Haven’t we mingled with the nations and learned their practices? Aren’t we in the same place as Israel…
I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds. Jeremiah 17:10 NASB Results – Frankly, this verse scares me. There are a few others that give me equal fright, but this one might be at the top of that list. …
He who practices deceit shall not dwell within my house; He who speaks falsehood shall not maintain his position before me. Psalm 101:7 NASB Practices deceit – Who practices deceit? Who’s on your list of liars? Let’s see. Maybe some politicians (or may be all of them?). Maybe your ex-spouse. Maybe your business competitor. Maybe that…
Little children, let no one deceive you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous, the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. 1 John 3:7-8a NASB Practices – Rudolph Bultmann was one of the most important Christian theologians of the last…
And if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:2 ESV Have not – How we agonize over this verse! Paraded before the cringing audience in the pews, preachers hammer believers for…
