They have surrounded me like water all day long; they have encircled me altogether. Psalm 88:17 NASB They – Suddenly, a change. Through seventeen verses the psalmist has decried God’s absence. His lament holds God responsible for the sorry state of his life, for the nearly impossible burden he must carry, for the approach of death. But now,…
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…
Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” Genesis 28:16 NASB I did not know it – lo yada’etti. But how could he not know? Isn’t God everywhere? How could Jacob think for a moment that God wasn’t in the place where he…
“The Lord said to him, ‘How?’ And he said, ‘I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ Then He said, ‘You are to entice him and also prevail. Go and do so.’ Now therefore, behold, the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; and the Lord has proclaimed disaster against…
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28 NASB Causes – “God is the God of the entire cosmos; God has to do with every creature, and every creature has to do with God, whether they recognize it…
Then all the wicked and worthless men among those who went with David said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away and depart.” 1 Samuel 30:22 NASB…
Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” Genesis 28:16 NASB I did not know it – lo yada’etti. But how could he not know? Isn’t God everywhere? How could Jacob think for a moment that God wasn’t in the place where…
Do not fret, it leads only to evildoing. Psalm 37:8 NASB Fret – Why is fretting such a bad thing? Don’t we all worry about the future? Certainly the news is full of things to worry about. That’s what sells newspapers. Why would the Psalmist say that fretting leads to evildoing? It seems to me…
For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Romans 1:21 NASB Honor/give thanks – Addictions affect the mind. You probably assumed that was the case with drug abuse, but it is just as true…
“Moab is My washbowl; over Edom I shall throw My shoe; shout loud, O Philistia, because of Me!” Psalm 60:8 NASB Because of Me – If you read this verse in ESV, you will find “shout in triumph.” The Hebrew is hitroai. The root is rua, spelled Resh-Ayin. As TWOT notes, “An unusual verb, although…
