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…
I have been young and now I am old, Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken Or his descendants begging bread. Psalm 37:25 NASB Not seen – Perhaps David was senile or maybe he suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. No matter what the excuse, his claim is preposterous. Is there any person alive who hasn’t seen the…
“And you, son of man, say to your fellow citizens, ‘The righteousness of a righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he will not stumble because of it in the day when he turns from his wickedness; whereas a righteous man will…
I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are righteous, and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me. Psalm 119:75 NASB Your judgments – I wonder if we can confidently echo David’s poetry. Do we really know that the judgments of the Lord are righteous, every one of them? The Hebrew is ki-tsedeq (righteous, just, justice,…
The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. James 5:16 NASB Righteous – Now we reach the critical word of James’ statement about prayer. The Greek is dikaiou. This is a word derived from the concept of justice. The man who is just (righteous) is the man who has been declared “not guilty”…
“Behold, his soul is puffed up, it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.” Habakkuk 2:4 ESV Righteous – What does it mean to say, “He is righteous”? Would you answer, “That means he has a right relationship with God”? Answers like this are common among Christians, but maybe…
But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, that shines brighter and brighter until the full day. Proverbs 4:18 NASB Righteous – This Hebrew word (tsedeq), occurring more than 250 times in the Old Testament, carries the connotation of moral conformity to norm or standard. It is used to describe the…
