Today’s Word
Get Mad!
Burning indignation has seized me because of the wicked, who abandon Your Law. Psalm 119:53 NASB Burning indignation – Once more the poet finds a rarely used word to arrest our attention. zalʿāpâ shows up only here and in Lamentations 5:10. It’s about heat, lots of heat. In Lamentations it describes the results of famine. Here it…
You’ll Feel Better in the Morning
I have remembered Your judgments from [t]of old, Lord, and comfort myself. Psalm 119:52 NASB Comfort myself – Wait a minute! Didn’t we just look at this idea (v. 50)? Remember the discussion about “comfort” versus “consolation”? And what is “consolation” in these situations? The poet chooses the term, neḥāmâ, found in this form only once more in…
Strength in Numbers
The arrogant utterly deride me, yet I do not turn aside from Your Law. Psalm 119:51 NASB Utterly deride – How do you handle insults? How do you react to blame? What does it feel like when someone shows contempt toward you? What happens when someone mocks you? All of these questions seem to be front and center…
The Psychology of Exegesis
This is my comfort in my misery, that Your word has [s]revived me. Psalm 119:50 NASB Comfort/misery – The NASB translation renders the Hebrew ʿŏnî as misery. This derivative comes from the root (ʿānâ) III, afflict, oppress, humble.[1] “The primary meaning of ʿānâ III is ‘to force,’ or ‘to try to force submission,’ and ‘to punish or…
A Hymn of Thanksgiving
And I shall lift up my hands to Your commandments, which I love; and I will meditate on Your statutes. Psalm 119:48 NASB Lift up my hands – First, the Hebrew: וְאֶשָּׂ֚א כַפַּ֗י אֶל־מִ֖צְוֹתֶיךָ אֲשֶׁ֥ר אָהָ֗בְתִּי וְאָשִׂ֥יחָה בְחֻקֶּֽיךָ Now, some familiar words: miṣwâ, command—from the previous verse (Remember?), ʾāhēb, to love (“that I love”), and śîaḥ, to…
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