Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope for His lovingkindness, Psalm 33:18 NASB Hope – “Take two aspirin and go to bed. Things will be better in the morning.” Have you ever heard that advice? It might be the most common home remedy ever offered. But…
Yes, let all who hope in You be not shamed. Let the treacherous be shamed, empty-handed. Psalm 25:3 Robert Alter translation Hope – After our recent discussion of batah, you might expect to find that word behind the English “hope.” To trust is to hope. The result is a public display. But that’s not what…
You are my hiding place and my shield; I wait for Your word. Psalm 119:114 NASB Wait for – Once more David opens the line with a samech. Here the first word of the verse is sitri’ – “hiding place, covering, protection.” The verb in translation (“are”) is implied, not expressed. The idea that God…
O Israel, hope in the LORD; for with the LORD there is lovingkindness, and with Him is abundant redemption. Psalm 130:7 NASB Hope – How long will you hope? How long before you run out of patience with the Lord? How long before your once-exuberant expectation turns to disappointment, then discouragement, then anger? How long…
I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope. Psalm 130:5 ESV Wait – I don’t like to wait. I don’t like to wait for anything. I hate lines. I want to get there now. No red lights, no detours, no queues. Just a freeway without traffic. Pedal to the…
Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength Isaiah 40:31 NASB Wait – The Hebrew root is qawah. It means “to wait, look for or hope with eager expectation.” Faith is often expressed in patient endurance confidently knowing that God will act. In fact, in our environment, learning to wait with expectation…
But the righteous shall live by his faith. Habakkuk 2:4 But – Once more the vocabulary is simply an appended vav. The word for the righteous (tsadik) becomes ve-tsadik (the vav is appended). Context determines the translation and “but” seems appropriate because the text is about a contrast. However, that isn’t quite enough for us…
I waited, waited for YHWH; And He inclined to me, and heard my cry. Psalm 40:2 (Hebrew Text) Waited – Soon we will all have additional opportunities to wait. Try seeing a doctor next year. Of course, our cultural framework for waiting isn’t the same as waiting in David’s Hebrew view. If we read our…
