For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Psalm 51:3 NASB I know – There are very few things we know for certain. We don’t know what will happen tomorrow. We don’t know if our relationships will last. We don’t know the weather. We don’t know even the apparently unalterable “laws”…
O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting. 1 Chronicles 16:34 NASB Give thanks – The story of this psalm is found in the chronicles of the kings. David receives the ark and offers sacrifices, installing Asaph and his line as priests. Then David offers this song. Its…
“I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin? Job 31:1 ESV Gaze – Maybe this verse is just for men. Maybe. In its simplest rendition, it declares Job’s promise not to determine to know. It isn’t that Job says he will never look at an appealing woman….
“but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord. Jeremiah 9:24 NASB Knows – yada’, yada’, yada’. Did you ever think that this colloquialism is the equivalent of…
“So bathe, anoint yourself, dress up, and go down to the threshing floor. But do not disclose yourself to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.” Ruth 3:3 JPS Disclose – Your mother-in-law suggests that you prepare yourself for an evening seduction. She gives you specific instructions that remind you of the kind…
“And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’” Matthew 7:23 NASB Never knew you – Rosh Hashanah is gone. Yom Kippur is over. The Feasts will wait for another year. We have studied many words, examined many concepts, learned some theological truths. There is a…
The LORD’s counsel is for those who fear Him, and His pact He makes known to them. Psalm 25:14 Robert Alter translation Makes known – God keeps secrets. He just doesn’t keep them from those He calls His own. The counsel of YHWH is the Hebrew word sod. You will recognize it as the last…
Make me know Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths. Psalm 25:4 NASB Make me – Robert Alter’s translation of this verse carries a decidedly different tone. Alter translates the verbs as petitions; the NASB translates them as imperatives. Our previous citation from TWOT establishes the biblical emphasis on choice.[1]You are responsible. Not even God…
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,…
A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will know no evil. Psalm 101:4 NASB I will know – End of the Roman calendar year. Most people are making some sort of resolution. Usually these last but a short time and the ordinary routine returns. Most resolutions are statements of positive self-improvement. I have a few. …
