My Personal God

“O LORD, rebuke me not in Your wrath, and chasten me not in Your burning anger.”  Psalm 38:1  NASB O LORD – The Hebrew text does not use the word “Lord,” but rather the personal name of God, a name that is never spoken among the Jews.  Worshippers were careful to substitute the word “Lord”…

The Introduction Matters

A Psalm of David, for a memorial.  “O LORD, rebuke me not in Your wrath, and chasten me not in Your burning anger.”  Psalm 38:1  NASB For a memorial – Have you ever prayed like this?  Have you reached the point, long after the Lord has redeemed you, long after you recognize your sinful condition…

The Slow Burn

O Lord, rebuke me not in Your wrath, and chasten me not in Your burning anger.  Psalm 38:1  NASB Rebuke – How long is your fuse?  How long can you hold out before that deep anger about the injustice in life explodes? Oh, I don’t mean all the social injustice we observe every day.  I mean that sense…

Emotional Wasteland

“O LORD, rebuke me not in Your wrath, and chasten me not in Your burning anger.”  Psalm 38:1  NASB Burning anger – Can you identify with David’s emotional state or are you so far away from a God who is enraged at sin that you can’t even imagine what it would be like to fear the…

Ex-Con

“O LORD, rebuke me not in Your wrath, and chasten me not in Your burning anger.”  Psalm 38:1  NASB Rebuke– “Rebuke me not.”  The verb is yākaḥ.  To convict.  To judge.  To reprove.  Perhaps the translation does not give us the fullest appreciation of David’s plea. Literally, “YHVH, not to me in your wrath convict.”  Don’t bring…

The Other Side of Redemption

“O LORD, rebuke me not in Your wrath, and chasten me not in Your burning anger.”  Psalm 38:1  NASB Wrath – “Rebuke me not in Your wrath” we read in English.  But the Hebrew is more dramatic.  The first word is the prefix “not.”  David has fixed the emphasis on what is most desperately needed.  “YHVH,…

My Personal God

“O LORD, rebuke me not in Your wrath, and chasten me not in Your burning anger.”  Psalm 38:1  NASB O LORD – The Hebrew text does not use the word “Lord.” It uses the personal name of God, a name that is never spoken among the Jews today.  Worshippers were careful to substitute the word “Lord” whenever…

The Introduction Matters

“O LORD, rebuke me not in Your wrath, and chasten me not in Your burning anger.”  Psalm 38:1  NASB Rebuke me not– Have you ever prayed like this:  reaching the point, long after the Lord redeemed you, long after you recognized your sinful condition and your desperate need for grace, you are still overwhelmed by the…

Emotional Wasteland

O LORD, rebuke me not in Your wrath, and chasten me not in Your burning anger.” Psalm 38:1 Burning anger – Can you identify with David’s emotional state or are you so far away from a God who is enraged at sin that you can’t even imagine what it would be like to fear the…

Ex-con

O LORD, rebuke me not in Your wrath, and chasten me not in Your burning anger.” Psalm 38:1 Rebuke – “Rebuke me not”.  Yakah.  To convict.  To judge.  To reprove.  Perhaps the translation does not give us the fullest appreciation of David’s plea.  Literally, “Yahweh, not to me in your wrath convict.”  Don’t bring the…