How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word. Psalm 119:9 NASB How – The poet continues the acrostic with a sequence where every verse begins with bet. You won’t see this in the English translation, so here it is in Hebrew: בַּמֶּ֣ה יְזַכֶּה־נַּ֖עַר אֶת־אָרְח֑וֹ לִ֜שְׁמֹ֗ר כִּדְבָרֶֽךָ בְּכָל־לִבִּ֥י דְרַשְׁתִּ֑יךָ אַל־תַּ֜שְׁגֵּ֗נִי מִמִּצְוֹתֶֽיךָ…
How then can mankind be righteous with God? Or how can anyone who is born of woman be pure? If even the moon has no brightness and the stars are not pure in His sight, Job 25:4-5 NASB Righteous – Before we try to answer Job’s rhetorical question, we need to know the standard he employs. That is the Hebrew term…
And these three men left off answering Job because he was right in his own eyes. Job 32:1 Robert Alter Right in his own eyes – The book of Job is a disturbing story. It’s hard to imagine that God would allow such terrible suffering for a man who served Him with all his heart. …
Then he believed in the Lord; and He [a]credited it to him as righteousness. Genesis 15:6 NASB Believed – As you know, Paul cites this verse from Genesis to justify his claim that Abraham was not considered righteous due to his own efforts but rather by the free act of God. He uses this citation in Romans…
They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one. Psalm 14:3 NASB Not even one – Psalm 14:3. The corruption of men. If you thought that things changed after the Messiah, well, you’d be wrong. In Paul’s last letter he cites the same Davidic idea. “as it…
Do not fret because of evildoers, be not envious toward wrongdoers. For they will wither quickly like the grass and fade like the green herb. Psalm 37:1-2 NASB Wither quickly – Stop! Before you read my homily on Psalm 37:1-2, read the entire psalm. It will only take a minute or so. I’ll wait. Ready? What was your…
O my God, in You I trust, do not let me be ashamed; do not let my enemies exult over me. Psalm 25:2 NASB Ashamed – We have encountered this word, bôš, many times in the past. We’re familiar with the fact that the Hebrew idea of shame is public disgrace, not the inner attitude we ascribe to…
For he will never be shaken; the righteous will be remembered forever. Psalm 112:6 NASB Righteous – What do you want on your tombstone? Born: xxxx. Died: xxxx. And then some words about who you were. Hopefully: ṣaddîq, the one word that will be the final marker of your life here. The one word that describes what…
I know, O Lord, that Your judgments are righteous, and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me. Psalm 119:75 NASB You have afflicted me – We give the devil way too much credit. If something bad happens, he is to blame. If we are tempted, he is responsible. Tragedies and horrors follow in his wake….
One who gives a sum to charity in order to gain a share in the world to come or save a life his child is regarded as perfectly righteous. Babylonia Talmud, Pesahim 8a Gain – If you accept God’s forgiveness in order to get to heaven, is your choice righteous? Haven’t you really made that…
