Today’s Word
Hey
Teach me, the way of Your statutes, Lord, and I shall comply with it to the end. Psalm 119:33 NASB To the end – The next acrostic begins each verse with hey (ה). The entire section looks like this: הוֹרֵ֣נִי יְ֖הֹוָה דֶּ֥רֶךְ חֻקֶּ֗יךָ וְאֶצְּרֶ֥נָּה עֵֽקֶב הֲבִינֵנִי וְאֶצְּרָ֥ה תֽ֜וֹרָתֶ֗ךָ וְאֶשְׁמְרֶ֥נָּה בְכָל־לֵֽב הַדְרִיכֵנִי בִּנְתִ֣יב מִצְוֹתֶ֑יךָ כִּ֖י ב֥וֹ חָפָֽצְתִּי…
Back to Jericho
I shall run the way of Your commandments, for You will enlarge my heart. Psalm 119:32 NASB Enlarge – The Hebrew verb rāḥab has two completely different sematic contexts. The first is used with open spaces like broad plains. The second, as we find here, is about the physical body. “ . . its most frequent…
Reputation
I cling to Your testimonies; Lord, do not put me to shame! Psalm 119:31 NASB Put me to shame – In order to feel the impact of the psalmist’s plea, we must notice his use of dābaq, the word first found in Genesis 2:24. Looking back a few verses, we see the poet’s deliberate allusion to…
Certainly Uncertain
I have chosen the faithful way; I have [l]placed Your judgments before me. Psalm 119:30 NASB Placed – What does “I have placed” really mean? TWOT notes the difficulty with this word in translation: “The use of šāwâ in Ps 119:30 is open to question. Is it, ‘Your judgments have I “placed” before me,’(šāwâ II); or, ‘Your…
First Things Last
Remove the false way from me, and graciously grant me Your Law. Psalm 119:29 NASB False way – dĕrĕk šĕqĕr. We know dĕrĕk, the common Hebrew word for the pathway of life, the journey we travel from birth to death, and, in particular, the right road of God. Now we add šĕqĕr. “šāqar [the root…
Primal Cry
My soul weeps because of grief; strengthen me according to Your word. Psalm 119:28 NASB Weeps – The psalmist likes unusual words. That’s stock and trade for poetry. It makes the reader pay attention. So, here he uses dālap, found in only two other places (Job 16:20 and Ecclesiastes 10:18). The context tells us that once it…
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